Seyi Vibez: Taking ‘Afro-Trenches’ to the World; One Hit at a Time

Today’s piece has us opening the vault for some refreshing conversation we had with Seyi Vibes, the sensational Afrobeat artiste who has just made headlines for buying his own house. Seyi Vibes has been making waves in the music industry with his unique blend of music, combining Afrobeat and R&B. With about 4 bodies of work to his name, Seyi Vibez has constantly put his music on the lips of millions of music lovers across Nigeria and abroad.

However, there have been rumors of a potential beef between Seyi Vibes and Asake, another rising Afrobeat star. While we’re waiting to get the inside scoop on this ongoing issue, we want to share with you, what we call a heart-to-heart convo with the King of AfroTrenches. 

Hopefully, in future interviews, we get to know what Seyi Vibes has to say about his recent success and his potential feud with Asake.

The below interview will probably make you understand that Oluwaloseyi has been pushing his P for a long time and you will agree with us that the limelight is shinning on the right person.

Here…

SeyiVibez has only one mission; to make his fans happy. This is perhaps the most potent tool driving his ambition to put his name among the list of legendary Afrobeat Musicians from Africa.

“No record labels, just me and my guys” and SeyiVibez is gradually becoming the King of the New Breed, dropping street-conscious and relatable music that speaks to the reality of his die-hard fans.

When SeyiVibez started out as a studio rat at the age of 15, hitting up Ikorodu’s finest producer, ‘Phynest’, he was ready to take the risk in order to be the next big thing in the Nigerian Afrobeat scene.

We would have thought he sang in the church choir due to the finesse that comes with his sultry voice but SeyiVibez is a Muslim who stayed focused on his dreams amidst the initial rejection from his dad and limited opportunities that naturally surround upcoming artistes with little or no support.

The (then) 22-year-old LASU Sociology student had been booked to perform at Abraham Adesanya Polytechnic Ijebu-Igbo’s Student Week event on the day the AfroLife team caught up with him. The budding star had decided to catch a nap before talking but nature could not be bribed as he slept for about 5hours, making the team wait at the corridors of the Posh hotel he was lodged in.

The time was 11:30pm and after his manager had assured us of his willingness to talk to us, SeyiVibez showed up in a PISTON basketball sport wear and a joggers; oozing confidence and poise in his modern-day bop mode. With neatly woven dreads and glittering diamonds on his ears, SeyiVibez looked a little worn out but still put on the expressive trademark smile that followed a few handshakes. No, he didn’t have his grills on like you imagined. 

“I was sleeping since, that’s why. I swear to God. I don’t like delaying people especially when I know they are my fans. You guys are my first priority” he says as he calmly sits and forms a grip with his hands.

His team of 4 guys; his manager, bodyguard and two other close associates had been making sure he got enough rest before hitting the stage as he was arguably the biggest star with the most anticipated performance for the night.

“I can’t do anything without them” he says as he gets more attentive.

AfroLife: Why Music for you?

SV: Actually, I wasn’t the musical person. I’m a Muslim. I was not even in the choir and I knew nothing about music. However, in school, the gang-gang freestyle thing started and we would be the ones making the noise in class and getting booked for noisemaking. That’s where the music started from. I went to the studio when I was in SS2; 2014 and since then, I’ve been on it. My first single was titled ‘Life’. It dropped 2016.

AfroLife: Inspiration behind your relatable lyrics?

SV: My first inspiration has to be God. Then things around me. I’m from the trenches so everything in my mind is basically about the streets and where I come from. I love what I’m doing so much because of the Streets Credibility so I just want to give the streets the kind of music they yearn for...cool music and all.

AfroLife: Relationship with artistes like Diamond Jimma, Otega and others?

SV: Every artiste; whether on my level, below me or above me, I’m cool with everyone. I take everyone as my brother. Whether we are acquaintances or not, we do music together and we respect eachother.

‘My fans are the most important thing in my life’

AfroLife: Social media presence?

SV: Every artiste has a platform where he or she is well known. There are some artistes that blew on twitter and others on Instagram. I’m trying to move my fanbase to Twitter right now. I only have a working Instagram account. I have to get closer to my fans on Twitter too and I’m working on that. My fans are very dear to me and I hold them in high regard.

 AfroLife: Lets look at features...

SV: I don’t really feature people on my songs. That makes me the artiste that I am. There are plans on working with A-list artistes though. I’m coming up with my EP soon. You might not find a single feature on the song.

AfroLife: 10million streams for Godsent?

SV: I feel great. It feels so amazing. Like okay, thank God. Getting such a huge number of streams without much publicity especially on twitter is a big win for me and its something I’m grateful for.

AfroLife: Inspiration behind ‘Payday’?

SV: I’ve recorded that song even before I came to limelight. I was with my friends and we were all down in the studio, vibing and that was how it came through. And one more reason why I dropped it was because my fans were like ‘Seyi...this song, Ashabi to sha Dollar, drop it...’ so I just had to drop the song.

AfroLife: Record Label?

SV: No record label. But I have a team. My guys. My guys on board. We pull up together and be like ‘lets do this’. I don’t have a label. I do things on my own. I had a deal with Allowed Records before now but that’s the past.

AfroLife: Inspiration behind Godsent?

SV: After everything you hear in the song, the ‘Eyintolaye, Edurotimi’... I found out that ‘Godsent’ is the main thing because, (sings) Maybe na me Godsend to make things right for my family...That’s actually the message I was trying to pass in the song.

‘I’ve dropped 8 songs this year’

AfroLife: You are the light in your family right now?

SV: (giggles) Arrrrgh...I’m not the main man. I’m not the main man.

AfroLife: General Acceptance of your music?

SV: You know...this year, I’ve actually dropped almost 8 songs since January. And nobody even knew me until ‘Godsent’. But because people in my hood listened and vibe with my songs, I saw no reason why other people would not. So, I continued pushing songs like Life, SaveMe, and surprisingly ‘Godsent’ just blew and people were like...‘Oh this guy sang this song, lets listen to his other songs...’ and that was what increased the acceptance.

AfroLife: What inspired the name Seyi Vibes?

SV: I started music very early. I was 15. And I started going to the studio and came across Phynest. He’s my mentor. After Olamide, Phynest comes next. He gave me the name Vibes. My mum calls me Oluwaloseyi and I thought I would be nice to infuse the vibes so; SeyiVibez.

AfroLife: Parents’ acceptance?

SV: From the beginning, my mum supported me. My dad wasn’t really a fan when I started. Gradually, he gave me his support when I started bringing noise to the house. People started buzzing my dad, telling him how big I was becoming and he left me to follow my path.

AfroLife: Legacies to live for?

SV: Like everyother artiste I’ve known, Olamide, Wizkid, Davido, they have actually laid down for us, legacies to follow. Same thing goes to artistes like me. I am here to stay. I am building a legacy for artistes coming after me so they can make reference to my achievements.

AfroLife: Education?

SV: I’m a Sociology student in LASU. I and Bella Shmurda (another fast-rising artiste) only became friends when we met in LASU. You know...the music sort of brought us together.

AfroLife: Fav Artistes?

SV: Internationally, Rihanna is my fav. I like her type of music. I listen to Popcaan a lot too. When it comes to Nigeria, Olamide is my mentor.

AfroLife: A future collab with Olamide?

SV: A collaboration with Olamide may be in the works...who knows?

AfroLife: Grammy?

SV: Many things. On God. 

AfroLife: To the fans...

SV: Some of my biggest fans do not have good phones. But they still vibe with me. Shout out to all my fans. You are the most important thing in my life. I love my fans a lot. My fans are my first priority.

End.

It has been an absolute pleasure to have the opportunity to interview Afrobeat musician Seyi Vibez. He is a talented artist who has already made waves in the Nigerian music scene with his unique style and catchy tunes. Our team is eagerly looking forward to sitting down with him again in the near future to discuss his current realities and future goals.

With Seyi Vibez's promising talent and dedication to his craft, there is no doubt he will continue to rise in the Nigerian music industry. Our team is excited to learn about his current projects and how he plans to evolve as an artist. We can't wait to hear more about his vision for the future and how he plans to achieve his musical goals. As we eagerly anticipate our next interview with Seyi Vibez, we look forward to sharing his insights and inspiring story with our readers.