Cover star interview: Nigeria’s Afrobeats artist Seyi Vibez

How his lifestyle is reflected in his music

It’s just happiness. At the end of the day, I think an entertainer should entertain. So the only job I have to do is to entertain everyone, both locally and internationally. So I think my lifestyle is just a reflection of my music. Me having luxury cars, a luxury house… I’m coming from the streets, or the trenches—that's my vibe. That's my story. So I like talking about my story in my songs a lot.

Vibez talks about his track, ‘MACHO’ featuring NLE Choppa

‘MACHO’ is just like luxury. I was doing the song and I was thinking about luxury. I was just proud of myself and I was just thinking about luxury. Later on, NLE Choppa—that’s my friend, that's my guy—he jumped on the song, and here we are.

The experimental sound of Vibez’s EP, Children of Africa, and his Track, ‘SHAOLIN’

I was being experimental and I just wanted the beats to feel lively. I didn't want something normal. I wanted something techno. I wanted something I could rave to, because I feel like my energy is a raving energy. That’s how I feel inside of me. I think it's my new vibe. So on this day, my producer just sent me a beat. I was up by myself in London and I recorded the song.

Vibez talks about his track, ‘HAPPY SONG’

I was thinking about Africa; Mama Africa. Because I feel like we all come from a woman too. That beat was a house beat that I think is originally from Africa. Singing ‘HAPPY SONG’ is me having that image of children of Africa in my head. That was actually what brought the title to the EP. So it's an image. Whether we are good, or we are struggling; we are hungry, or we are [in] any kind of position we are in as an African child... we are always happy! That's where we are brought up. So I feel that ‘HAPPY SONG’ is like my new image. Everyone is happy. Happy people.

This interview was compiled by Apple Music’s Africa Now Radio with Nandi Madida.