Deela is Repurposing Old Afrobeats for Today

In Nigeria’s alternative scene, colored by a bristling pace of evolution, and a wholesome communion of often disparate sounds, a new upstart has captured everyone’s attention. Deela, with a nostalgic, dreamy sound that marries vintage Afropop with modern elements, is eliciting the sort of excitement that portends an ascent to fame. Her voice is slippery and pliant. Her fashion, like her sound, mines from Nollywood and Afrobeats in the early aughts. Her rapping is at once whimsical and hard hitting, evoking the sense of two separate worlds colliding. 

Her latest single, Patience Ozokwor, is a collaborative effort with Genio Bambino and Teni. Genio has, since 2017, been a luminary in the Alté scene, with production credits with everyone from Cruel Santino, to Teni. Patience Ozokwor sees Deela straddle her myriad of creative interests. On the song, 2000s Afropop and underground British pop coalesce beautifully. The video, colorful and whimsical, feels reminiscent of  The KKB Show. Even before its official release, Patience Ozokwor, by way of a snippet released across social media, earned Deela a slew of fans enamored by her unique slant. Today, the song is one of the buzzing offerings from Nigeria’s subterranean alternative scene. Culture Custodian caught up with Deela, to discuss her latest single and her imminent collaborative project with Genio Bambino, Good Girl No Dey Pay.  

This conversation has been edited for clarity. 

It’s exciting to speak to you. Bring me up to speed with what you’ve been up to of late. 

Lately, I’ve just been traveling and trying to expand my sound outside Nigeria. I’ve been to Toronto, and Detroit. Now I’m in New York for a week. And I’ve just been pushing out the new EP, in collaboration with Genio. So we’re dropping a joint EP in October, and the lead single is Patience (Ozokwor), featuring Teni, and I’m now gearing up to release another single, mid-September, with visuals as well. And with a lot of content and rollout strategies that I started recently, which have skits and interactive content. I want to be able to fully give a full picture of “good girl no dey pay” and fully delve into my Nigerian heritage because I grew up in Lagos. This is what I grew up on, and it’s how I picture myself when I’m writing lyrics and performing on stage.

Let’s talk about your latest single Patience Ozokwor. It’s been gaining a lot of traction. How are you feeling about that? 

I feel great. It’s a lovely song. It’s definitely outside of my usual discography. But what Genio and I made is crazy, and it goes without saying, we have good chemistry. That song was made in the first session we had with each other.

I didn’t know what type of vibe we were going for in this joint project, but I just knew that I wanted to work with him. And I didn’t want to take away from the distinct bounce, that we all know him for in his beats. I still wanted to rap. I didn’t want to make a traditional Afrobeat, a traditional bounce song. When we finished the song, I was like “Oh, this sounds very nostalgic, old Nollywood type.” It reminded me of the KKB show. After that session, I was like, okay. You know what? Next session the references are going to be old-school Nigerian, so from Bumper to Bumper, to Who Born the Maga. 

Have you been paying attention to the response from fans?

I’m actually looking out for what people are saying because the people that love it are the ones that are gonna put me in that position of success that I want. So I interact with the people that show love. I’ve been seeing a lot of comments saying, old school Afrobeats is back or 2016 Afrobeats back. I didn’t really mean to go into that realm of Afrobeat, but I’m not worried because I’m still an emerging artist , and I like going into different pockets and trying different things. It’s really encouraging and nice to see that, you know, Nigerians are very accepting towards the sound because it can go either way when people hear something new that they’re not used to hearing. 

So earlier, when we started speaking, you mentioned being in New York and then in Toronto and then somewhere else. Where are you based?

I’m based in London, but I will soon be based in Lagos. So, I’m actually transitioning to moving back into Lagos later this year.

We’ve talked about you shuffling between cities. Is there anything in particular you are trying to achieve with that? 

My fan base is very spread out. Last year, I had a collaboration with Coco & Clair Clair. That really put my music in the US. The majority of my fans are in the US. It was, like, the US, United Kingdom. Nigeria was, like, number 6 on the list. So I threw a party in New York last Saturday. It was sold out, with over 300 people. I performed new songs on Good Girl No Dey Pay, and it was very well received.  People had fun because it’s like I said, my twist on old Afrobeats music with, like, my rap influences that I grew up with and I love. I’m in New York now, going to shows that New Yorkers love to watch. So, like, The Lot Radio. I had a set there with a DJ. Also talking to journalists in New York, and integrating myself into the fashion scene here. It’s just, like, trying to do things that are outside of music because outside of music, I enjoy fashion. I enjoy acting. So it’s just using music as a platform to connect me to other things that I enjoy doing. And the same, trying to bring the fans to that journey.

Recently you performed two culturally significant shows —The Lot Radio, and On the Rader. How did that feel?

That was really cool. It’s crazy that the song they were really excited about was Patience (Ozokwor). It just really shocks me because it’s like, I’m really out here in New York singing Patience (Ozokwor) on The Lot Radio. It was kind of funny, but it was so lovely. And I also performed an unreleased song there which is going to drop the day before it (the episode) releases. That’s going to be the next single off the EP. 

When you went into that first studio session with Genio, did you guys already have plans for an EP?

Yes. Funny enough, we’ve been fans of each other’s work for a while. It wasn’t until last year, like November, that he reached out to me saying he wanted to work on a project with me.

Tell me how it came together 

At that time, I’d never worked with just one producer before, and I’d been trying to find a producer that knows my style because that’s how the best of the best get to the top. So I was like, let me try to work with him. We went into the session knowing we were working on a project, but also knowing that it was our first session.

We didn’t want to put any pressure on ourselves because if it’s bad, then I don’t wanna come back and vice versa. So, yeah, it was lovely knowing like, going home after we had made that record, I was like, we really work well together, because in the process of making the beat, he would do something. I’m not afraid to say I don’t like that, or, I could have something in my head that adds to the beat. I vocalize that. He finds what I’m trying to describe. He adds it, and the beat sounds better. So the project, I’m very excited to put out. 

The song, Patience Ozokwor, is named after one of Nollywood’s most beloved titans. How did you arrive at that, for your song’s title?  

Because in the song, I said, wicked Girl, you fit call me, Patience. So I was just like, it doesn’t make sense with the song to be called anything other than Patience (Ozokwor).

Your sound and aesthetic lean heavily into vintage Nollywood and Afropop. You add your own flair, as well as modern elements. But vintage Nollywood and Afropop form the core. How did you arrive at that fusion?

It was just vibes. For example, the bass on Patience comes from me being like, we need something dark to bring the whole thing together because it still sounds very playful. I like a playful beat, but I also like it to sound like it’s about to mess up the speakers. Like, that’s the type of vibe I like with my beats.

Let’s go down memory lane. How did you start doing music professionally?

I would say I started in the pandemic, 2020, after my exams got canceled. I was in A levels at that point, writing my final exam to go to university. My friend, who used to be a rapper, told me to rap on a track. Then, I had never rapped or anything like that. I used to be interested in music of some sort. I was like, this is fun. When my exams got canceled, I would go on YouTube, find beats, and write songs. That’s what I did the whole summer. I started putting music out in the summer of 2020. 

Let’s go back to your childhood. How were you as a child?

I would say I have always been a tough cookie to crack. My parents would describe me as that. I’m a middle child, the only girl of 2 brothers. I was confident but also shy. I loved music. I loved movies. Trace was on 24/7 in my house. That’s how I introduced myself to a lot of the American music that I listened to, like Young Thug, Nick Minaj, and Future. I’m very into, like, acting. I thought I was gonna be an actor, and so did my parents. So it was very funny for them to see me go into music. 

In your last response, I caught Nicki Minaj and Young Thug, as your music influences growing up. Who would you say are your influences today?

I love Doechi’s music. I love Wande Cole. Rema, of course, he’s changing up the whole game, and I’ve been obsessed with his new album. Bloody Civilian as well. 

If you could work with any three Nigerian artists, who would they be?

Tems. I would love to do some sort of melodic rap with her. I would definitely love to work with Bloody Civilian. Her beat selection and my vocals would be crazy. I’d love to work with Rema. I don’t know what sort of song we’d make together but I just want to be in the studio and see where it goes. 

As a parting note, what should we expect from you, in the coming weeks or months, alongside your collaborative project with Genio?

So this rollout, it’s gonna be, like, a visual type of rollout for the EP. And honestly, I don’t know. I feel like you should expect the unexpected because I also don’t know what to expect. My life is always changing every week. Expect to be always amazed by what I put out because I really do enjoy the music I’m making right now.