Previously a seminary student who studied to become a Catholic priest, King Perryy quickly distinguished himself as one of Nigeria’s foremost ambitious artists since he dropped his breakout single Man On Duty featuring Timaya in 2018. Subsequent releases including the Teni assisted Murder and Work N Grind have further solidified his reputation as an artist to watch within Lagos’ exploding music scene. On the back of this slew of hits and ready to be fully absorbed in the industry’s mainstream, despite his versatility, he shares his debut album, the aptly titled Citizen Of The World, a seventeen-track take on a wide range of moods, emotions, and genres.
Citizen of the World is an introduction to King Perryy’s expansive self-dubbed continental Sound, a fusion of afrobeat, pan-African pop, reggae, and dancehall. Flexing his diversity, he also forays into drill, on the earlier released, YKTFV and Nigerian street rap, on the Phyno assisted, Paulina. Other standouts include the Guilty Beatz-produced afrobeat bop Yawa, and The Funicator, an afro-bashment anthem for women. The opener, the Teflon Zincfence-produced African Boy, a motivational, bass-heavy reggae manifesto, is also a personal favorite.
Citizen Of The World is a fusion of different genres, lifestyles, and cultures, King Perryy says of the project’s scope, “I’m not just of one place or Nigeria, I’m of the world.”