Afromerge singer Marenikae seeks her voice and style

Marenikae has many music heroes: 9ice, Freddie Mercury, Plantashun Boiz, Raheem DeVaughn, Backstreet Boys and Wande Coal, to name a few. She isn’t content with admiring her heroes, she also wants to work with them, the ones still alive anyway: Wande Coal, for instance, who she features in a song in her forthcoming EP, Acquired Taste.

At age 14 Marenikae was already writing songs. In her teens she experimented with neo-soul and afro-pop music, creating what she calls afromerge. Growing up she hugged the literary scene, attending writing workshops, gorging on words by poets and orators. This long-standing relationship with lyrical words, she says, influences her songwriting.

Her earliest influence comes from her father, the musician, film director and producer Obafemi Lasode. Lasode produced and directed the epic film Sango (1997). His Afika ‘n Vogue is one of the oldest Nigerian record labels. 

Marenikae’s debut album, the 11-track Ajebutter, was released in March 2018. A remastered version was released in 2020, this time with fewer songs: 7. A number of singles line her discography: Smooth Operator (2017), Gidi (2017), Feel Alive (2019), among others. Her latest one, As I Be, is produced by Mikkyme Joses. The song, she says, is “a moment for me to grow and stretch myself”. The upbeat song is a breakaway from the mid-tempo music she typically makes.

As I Be will feature in her forthcoming EP. In this interview, Marenikae walks us through her backstory and creative journey.

How are you able to balance music and school? 

It’s a little bit difficult but it’s not so difficult, as I’m not a huge artist or anything, so I am able to balance school work and promotions and things like that.  

Did you grow up in Nigeria? 

Yeah, I was born in Nigeria. I lived there until I graduated from secondary school.  

How did your music journey start?  

My dad is Femi Lasode. He owns one of the first record labels in Nigeria. It’s called Afrika ‘n Vogue. He discovered Baba Fryo, Daddy Showkey, Julius Agwu, Plantashun Boys, and a whole bunch of those Nigerian artists from that time. He was friends with Fela. He had a couple of his pictures with Fela that he loved. He put some in his room. He is really into music and he can play several instruments like the saxophone, piano and guitar. He was my first introduction to music. As for my mum, she studied Theater Art and was an NTA broadcaster for a while and then she ended up producing some of my dad’s stuff. My parents played a huge part in showing me that I can have a career in creative arts and be successful. That’s definitely where my love for music began. In fact, I recorded my first-ever demo in my dad’s studio in Maroko.

Who produced As I Be? 

Mikky. He worked on Brymo’s first two albums and I really loved Brymo back in the day. I reached out to Mikky and he was able to do the whole project. 

This is the first time you and Mikky are working together. 

Yes. 

How would you characterize your experience of working with him? 

He was nice and accommodating. I’m someone that loves notes and corrections and he was very open to that as well. He really liked the fact that I was very receptive.

Where did you record the song? 

I recorded it in Lagos, in 2019. 

What’s behind As I Be?

It’s a really loving Afro house music. And then it’s me wanting to also grow and expand my sound a little bit. I typically do an afro-swing mid-tempo thing, so As I Be is definitely a moment for me to grow and stretch myself.

Let’s talk about your forthcoming EP, Acquired Taste

The EP has been in the works for a very long time. I wrote it when I was in NYSC camp in Nigeria in 2019. I was able to do 4 or 5 demos that I loved in that process and wrote some additional songs and then we picked the final 6 and yeah we are here now. 

Is there any chance that As I be will make it to Acquired Taste?

Absolutely.

Would you be collaborating with any artist in your EP? 

I’m collaborating with Wande Coal.

How did that come about?

The song had been made and I was editing stuff I had gotten from the original songwriter and then thought I should get Wande coal on the song. He is my hero and the face of Afro-fusion music. So my management reached out to him, and he said he would do it. We sent him the song, he loved it, and then we recorded it. 

Do you write your songs most of the time? 

Yes. I probably write like 95% of the writing. One song I didn’t write is the feature with Wande Coal. 

Where will you say you are currently in your creative journey

I will say that I am at the point where I am still experimenting, growing, changing, just doing more things, finding my voice, and finding my style. I feel like I have kind of already narrowed in on my style so I just want to develop that as I said. To grow and change.