If you are reading this then it means Love Like Mr. Bassey, the new album from Afro-soul singer Beekay is out. For the uninitiated, Bassey ‘Beekay’ Kenneth is an Afrosoul and Afro R&B artist whose musical sojourn dates back to 2013. Over the years, through the release of projects like Afro-soul Therapy (2019), 7TH CRUSH EP (2022), Road Trip EP with the legendary Tee-Y Mix (2024), and All Men Are The Same EP (2024), he’s established himself as one of the foremost singer-songwriters in Nigeria’s burgeoning soul scene and a prominent voice in the alternative music circuit.
Beekay’s 2021 record, Light, notably featured in Director BB Sasore’s multiple AMVCA-winning film, Breath of Life (2024). He’s also the mind behind the AFTERDARK Concert series, which has brought together alternative music icons like Timi Dakolo, Praiz, Johnny Drille, and Ric Hassani. And Vibe Therapy Sessions, a quarterly gathering of music lovers and some of Nigeria’s top talents.
In conversation with Culture Custodian, Beekay talks about his songwriting process for Love Like Mr. Bassey, carrying on his father’s legacy in his music, the origins of the term ‘Afro-soul’, and what listeners should look out for on the new LP he calls ‘vintage heavenly’. Enjoy!
This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.
How does it feel to finally be putting out Love Like Mr. Bassey?
I feel good. I mean, it’s not a new feeling to put out work because I’ve been doing that for some time now, I think. I started dropping songs in 2013. From the days Bruno Mars dropped I Want to Be a Billionaire, and I did a cover.
I’ve been dropping projects [even] at my very young age, you know, so it’s a familiar feeling, but it’s different because of the kind of songs, and because of the sound and the story. The story is different for me. So yes, I feel fresh, like I’m about to push a native, sweet meal.
In a 2023 interview, you mentioned the forthcoming release of an album titled Tales of Mr. Bassey. Since then, there have been two other EPs. Can you run us through what happened with that project?
I’ve always wanted to tell my kind of stories and the stories about my dad and me. My dad is the Mr. Bassey, I just adopted the name. I wanted to share many stories from my perspective and his. How he grew up from Calabar to Lagos, back to Port Harcourt, got married, everything he went through as a man, as a dad, and as a father in society. I wanted to capture that story in one album and also tell my story, my journey, how I moved from Port Harcourt to Abuja and then Lagos. That’s Tales of Mr. Bassey.
For a long time, I’ve been working on that project, and you just know when there’s the right time for everything. I knew it wasn’t the time for me to put it out.
So I had to put out my first project, Afro-soul Therapy. Then I put out the second one, 7TH CRUSH , and 7TH CRUSH (Deluxe). And I still wanted to drop it but I was still building the album. From that album, I got songs like Light. But even after dropping Light, I felt like there was still something I needed to do. I want to travel to where I’m from, Akwa-Ibom, Cross River, and just sit there and soak in the energy, the passion, the emotion of what my dad told me about his upbringing: how he moved from Calabar to Oron to Port Harcourt. I wanted to just be in those areas for a while, so I told myself, “it is still not time.” I had to come up with Love like Mr. Bassey, which is more like a glimpse of Tales of Mr. Bassey.
Tale of Mr. Bassey is going to drop in 2027, because I’m still working on the songs, a documentary, and other music projects. It’s still in the works.
What was your songwriting process for Love Like Mr. Bassey like? Especially with the storytelling on the lead single, Another Man.
I like to say that I can’t let out every part of my life, but Another One was just a glimpse of my experience and my journey through love. I wanted to sort of capture moments. My love life has not been entirely rough. Just one moment and that’s Another Man, that reflection there. Other times, it’s been really beautiful, you know? So I did not spend too much time trying to think of what to say. I knew that because of what I felt, which is the love I have inside of me, when I sit with a producer, I would create.
For instance, I think Another Man is peculiar because it was a song I spent maybe three to four years writing. I like to take my time with some songs. I don’t rush through it.
For For Life [a second lead single] and a few other songs, I already had an idea of the part of my love life I wanted to speak about: the time where we had little downtime but still loved each other, or a time where I was calling her sweet names from my dialects—that’s a song called Kokomma. I sit down, think about a moment and write. I didn’t have to go through all the phases of songwriting. And I did that just for another month.
But the other songs, the process was pretty simple because I already knew the melodies. So when I think about those moments, I just know the melody fits them. I called my producer, Darren Clinton, and we started creating. It wasn’t anything complicated at all.
When you’re not making music, which artists do you love listening to?
My music taste is quite odd. Recently, I find myself listening to Etta James, Marvin Gaye, Nina Simone, and Luther Vandross. I grew up listening to Luther Vandross and Fela alongside a lot of Rex Lawson, the highlife artist from the South-South. Till today, when I want to relax and just be inspired, I still go back.
So what would you say is the biggest difference between Afro-soul Therapy Beekay and Love Like Mr. Bassey Beekay?
On Afro-soul Therapy, I was kind of finding my voice and a path for myself. I’ve always known the journey I was on but Afro-soul Therapy was still a bit experimental for me. I think at the time nobody was doing or calling it Afrosoul. I remember the only person I found while searching about Afro-soul was Mama G (sings “My People of Africa”).
And I remember even doing that research in Abuja, based on what I’ve been listening to growing up. And that’s how I came up with that name, Afro-soul Therapy. The difference is that there was a discovery. Now there’s pure knowledge of self, of what I’m supposed to be doing, and of my purpose here on earth. So it’s just that purpose that gives it a color. That’s the difference.
I remember meeting Sarz one time in the studio in 2019/2020-ish. And he asked me what genre of music I do? I said, “Afro-soul.” He said, “Which one is Afro-soul again?” I started explaining, and he was like, “Nice, nice.” When I saw him years later do an Afro-soul project with Wurld, I just started laughing, like “Oh, okay, everybody’s catching up.”
Let’s go back to LIGHT. How did LIGHT end up on Breath of Life?
The truth about that song is the way I made it. It was one song I didn’t want to share because it was a reflection of what I was going through at the moment. Usually, I’ll use experiences from people, friends, family, to write about love, about whatever. For the first time, I wanted to tell my story. I was going through that part, and I decided to put it in writing. And I knew that because of how sincere I was, many people were going to relate to it.
When I got a call from Kaline saying that BB (Sasore) is creating a movie called Breath Of Life and she wants my song on it, I hesitated. I’m like, I don’t want to but I know Kaline. Kaline is well versed in music and she’s one of the best artists you can find in Nigeria. Then I thought about it. I’m like, “If it’s Kaline calling me, it’s going to be a good film.” But at the same time, we went back and forth on what should be, the financial part of it, and all. I think that at some point we couldn’t come to an agreement, so we decided to just let go.
Months later, I started thinking about the project again, “ If Kaline is on a project, I think it’s going to be fine.” I remember telling myself that if it’s going to be a Nigerian film, then it should be a good film. Because a few times they will come, and I will not allow anybody to use my song for anything. But for Breath of Life I prayed to God, I’m like, let it come back if it’s going to be.
When they did the private premiere, some people started tagging me on Instagram. “Oh, your song was used.” And immediately she [Kaline] reached out the next day saying that the director had forgotten to take it out, that it was a perfect song for that scene, and they felt we should just come back to have that conversation. So we had the full conversation and that was it.
When I finally saw the scene, I agreed totally with them that there was no other song. People would send me messages from different parts of the world saying that the song just fits perfectly in that scene.
For fans and day one Beekay listeners, if you were to pick that one song to really look out for on Love Like Mr Bassey, what would it be?
Yeah, I have my favorite out already, though. But maybe a song called Ufan. It’s a friendship with my friend Jadis. It’s such a beautiful song, and it’s in Ibibio and Igbo, so I think that people would really love it.
In your experience, what’s one thing you think more artists need to know more of or not enough artists explore when it comes to either the business aspects, production etc?
Back in the day, we used to have diversity. If you hear 2Face or PSquare, you can easily tell the difference. That’s what made us unique, we did music, but we did it in diversity. I would say that it’s okay for you to discover your path through another man’s journey. It’s okay for you to follow the sound of a Rema, Wizkid, or anybody, but don’t just stay there. Even Rema, when he came up, people said it was Wizkid’s influence. That influence grew and moved. So if there’s one thing I want artists like myself to know, it’s to stay original.
There’s a reason God gave you a personality and a character. Music is beyond genre. It’s about lifestyle, character, and personality? You want to put that to good use and create a sound for yourself, not just listening to someone and staying there and being a copy of an original. So just originality. Every other thing can be learned.
In one word each, describe Love Like Mr. Bassey and Beekay?
One word for Beekay would be ‘intentionality.’ For Love Like Mr. Bassey, that would be ‘heavenly’ like ‘retro heavenly’ or ‘vintage heavenly’ because my sound is tapped from the spiritual, not the physical.
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