Tekno’s discovery: More love songs, more girls

“I went upstairs and ate the beat up,” he said. “The feeling I had when I recorded that? I fell in love with my own song like it wasn't mine.”

‘Pana’ then caught the attention of Imran Majid, senior vice president of A&R at Columbia, who watched a couple dance to the song on Instagram. "I heard it, loved the song, flagged it," Majid said.

Majid later got his man and has released the record in the US. Tekno, for his part, got an increased following across the Atlantic and a deal with Columbia. He got something more as well. "I found my sound: connecting with the ladies,” he said in the interview. “It's more love songs now than anything else."

Despite the success of ‘Pana’, Tekno claims 2015’s ‘Duro’ as the breakout song. After Duro, "I started traveling heavy, my fee went up, more girls, more attention," he said.

The singer has held onto the method. He has put out 'Diana', ‘Rara’, and ‘Yawa’, all in the ‘Pana’ mould. (Though ‘Rara’ is a more political song that the others.) He has also worked on a similar sound as producer of ‘If’, the new single released by Davido, whom he credits in the interview for “helping him earn recognition in Nigeria by contributing a verse to ‘Holiday,'” an early Tekno tune released in 2013.

Tekno’s habit of sticking to a tried and tested formula has been pointed out in a review on Music in Africa as consisting of a “single-word title, funny/silly love lines, goofy dance, propulsive drum-based beat, simple singalong chorus, (and) killer hook—all wrapped in a mild Igbo accent.”

Last year, the apparent novelty of his style led to award nominations in categories reserved for newbies, such as the Next Rated category at the 2016 Headies. Considering himself past the category, he responded to the nomination by saying, “Next rated after how many years! Let’s be honest pls,” via Instagram. He was eventually disqualified from the award for failure to participate in the “mandatory activities” required by its organisers.

The success of Tekno’s formula has, however, been proven. ‘Duro', was song of the year at the 2016 edition of the African Muzik Magazine Awards and Tekno was the winner of the Breakthrough Act at the 2016 MTV Africa Music Awards (MAMA).

Just ahead, Tekno will turn up at the SSE Arena, Wembley on 13 May for the One Africa Music Festival. Attendees can expect Tekno to sing any or all of his love songs.