Victony Posits Vulnerability as an Act of Defiance

If one word could summarize Victony’s character, his default state in the face of life’s vicissitudes, it would be the word stubborn, which is interestingly the title of his debut album, released in June this year. His voice is tender and feathery. His face is constantly enveloped in a halo of placidity. His aunt Linda Opara describes him as the funniest member of the household. “Even with friends, there’s never a dull moment with him. He’s either cracking jokes or mimicking some funny personality.” But beneath his genteel exterior is a spiritedness that borders on intransigence. Having spent his formative years in Ojo, a densely populated, low-income town situated on a peninsula in Lagos, he set out to forge a career for himself in music, joining the interminable sea of young hopefuls in the city aspiring towards renown. 

The harsh economic realities and the siloed social dynamics that constitute the Nigerian experience have rendered upward social mobility a distant fairytale: incredibly tough to attain but every now and then, someone breaks through, stoking the embers of hope in the hearts of other young dreamers. It was this milieu, where incandescent hopefulness collides ceaselessly with an unfiltered variation of the human experience, that forged Victony. “Ojo is a place that gives life lessons that you need to excel anywhere. A lot of the people I grew up around were older than I was. And they were either cultists or decent, well-to-do people. So I had those choices right before my eyes,” he tells me. In 2021, just when he had started to build up momentum around his fledgling career, a tragedy that threatened to upend his life struck. He was involved in a car accident that claimed the life of a friend and left him wheelchair-bound for a year. In the midst of this upheaval, he proved his mettle, turning a situation that would perhaps have marked the end of a career for some other artist into fuel for a forward vault. 

In our conversation we talk about his debut album Stubborn, a heartfelt exploration of the panoply of emotions that define his internal state; growing up in Lagos; meeting Billie Eilish; and balancing fame with his personal life. 

(This conversation has been edited slightly for clarity.)

Let’s talk about your album Stubborn, one of the best projects of this year. Its lore goes that you had originally intended it as a loose collection of songs, an EP perhaps, but Olamide goaded you into fashioning it into an album. After the prompting from Olamide, how did you go about curating the album? Because it very much feels like a cohesive body of work.

I’m the type of artist who records a lot, so I already had so many songs, but we were focused on putting out an EP because we had to satisfy the terms of my deal at the time. But we could have created three albums from the songs I had in store, and they would all be cohesive because I record in seasons. Depending on how I feel I can record say 20 songs with a particular vibe. Prior to putting the EP together, I did a lot of recording in Los Angeles and most of the songs that eventually made the album are from that short trip (in Los Angeles). 

Stubborn, the Asake-assisted titular track, is one of the most exciting Afropop songs this year. Can you walk me through how it came together?

So, I had made it in Los Angeles and after this session, I kept thinking that the song needed a feature to make it more familiar; someone who would understand what I was trying to do, but also make it more familiar to the people because Stubborn, the song itself, was a very new sound. Asake was the perfect feature because first of all, I’m a fan of his music. I think he’s an amazing artist. I was confident that he was going to understand what I was trying to do. So I sent it to him, and he liked it. 

Like I said earlier, this album feels very carefully curated, and very cohesive. Saint Jhn, Teezo Touch Down, and Shore Moore are not exactly the standard fare of features on a Nigerian album; so what informs your choice of collaborators? 

Honestly, whatever the music demands. For me, picking the right roster of collaborators is easy because It’s music first. I think of what or who will do justice to the piece of music I’m working on. 

This album, Stubborn, is deeply personal, even though it’s not exactly diaristic. When one listens through, they get the feeling that you’re excavating portions of your personal life, even though you don’t divulge too much detail. In certain moments, however, you weave in anecdotes from your life, such as on Street Affair, which feels like an ode to your home city, Ojo. Was it an intentional choice to keep personal information at a minimum?

I don’t think it was a conscious choice, instead, I think that was where I was. I wanted to talk about it (my personal life), but I also wanted to be comfortable with expressing my true self on this project: exploring personal experiences. So, that’s just where I was at the time. That’s as close as I could get to being vulnerable. Future releases will be more specific because, putting out the album, and the reception by my fans, everything has given me the confidence to put myself out on records a bit more. 

I wrote a piece on you earlier this year. It was a review of your album. One of the things I broached in the piece was how, unlike the archetypal celebrity, you’re never in the news for controversy. Instead, you’re single-minded in your focus on the music. This gives the impression that you’re a reserved person in real life. Is there any truth to this?

I need to get comfortable around people before I start to express myself. I’m new in this space (the music industry). So, this is me taking my time to understand my position here. And like I’ve rightly said, my focus is primarily on music. So, I spend a lot of time making music. I spend a lot of time doing research, that’s really what excites me. I do this for love. 

Let’s talk about growing up in Ojo, how was that?

I feel like those experiences shaped me into who I am. I still have vivid memories of that period of my life. I grew up in a very regular family. I attended secondary school there. Ojo is a place that gives life lessons that you need to excel anywhere in the world in the sense that when you watch your environment and everything that’s happening around you, you realize that you need to make important choices. Many of the people I grew up around were older than I was. And they were either cultists or decent, well-to-do people. So I had those choices right before my eyes and I’m very grateful for that. But, yeah, I grew up in a regular family. Catholic. My family was very grounded in the church.

Are you close to any friends from your childhood? 

Not close to, but I keep in touch with some of them. 

I know, because I’m a fan, that you were enrolled in FUTO in your early days in the limelight, how did that work? How were you able to manage school with the demands of being a rising star? 

When I got into school I wasn’t, like, really popping, so it was easy to just do what I was doing and attend classes at the same time. It was freestyle videos on Instagram. Nothing too crazy. I went to the studio on weekends or after lectures. Sometimes they (my schoolmates) would be taken aback a bit. But I don’t think at any point it was a hassle to shuffle between school and music because it wasn’t conflicting at the time. I was doing music for the fun of it. Everything changed when I had the accident in 2021. I was also in my 3rd year. I just picked music, pulled back from school, and was only doing the necessary things to get by with school. 

Do you have any experiences from school of people acting starstruck toward you? 

When I used to write my exams at the time, after every paper, people would ask for pictures and stuff like that. 

Do you think fame has changed you? 

Yes, it has. Although my values are still the same, I see many things differently. Also, there are certain things old Victony could do that I can’t. I’m very conscious about what I do, and the things I say. There are things that I wouldn’t even think about before now that I have to think about. But, keeping friends and family close helps maintain that touch of the old me.

Last year a picture of you and Billie Eilish rocked the internet. Apparently, she had seen your fit and approached you to offer a compliment and take a picture with you. How did that feel? 

She didn’t exactly know who I was. We were at a party, and she just walked up to me and told me my fit was nice. That was crazy, especially because I’m a fan of hers. I didn’t expect that, because that’s Billie Eilish. 

You just put out an amazing album that has resonated intensely with the culture. This has stirred up anticipation for whatever you have coming. So, I could as well throw the question: What’s next for you? 

To be honest, I haven’t decided because I put out this album based on the fact that I had so much music. But the reception has put me in a position where I’m now thinking about what I want to do next. So next year, I’m thinking what’s next? I know I’ll figure it out soon. But as regards music, I have more in store.

Apart from music, you’re also regarded as a style icon. It’s not uncommon for artists with a passion for fashion to branch out into fashion, either by way of their own brand or a collaboration. Are you looking in that direction? 

Definitely. It’s something I want to explore. But I’m still understanding myself and expressing myself through my fashion. So, I’m not doing it because I want to dive into it. Of course, I want to, but that’s not my mindset now.

During the rollout of your album Stubborn, and even on the cover and subsequent videos and appearances, the Chainmail Coif, a flexible hood fashioned from a metallic mesh, was a recurring motif. That was so brilliant because it embodies the essence and vision of the album. How did you come up with that? 

Like I said, this album is as close to being vulnerable as I could get, and I wanted to reflect that through the fashion as well. I wanted to make sure people could feel it all around. 

The entire album is very heartfelt but Tiny Apartment especially stands out, for many reasons including the Saint Jhn feature. How did you guys make that song? 

I really like Saint Jhn. I like this music. He has influenced me, he’s up there for me. He’s someone I look up to songwriting-wise. I think that was one of the sessions where I let the other artist take the lead. Tiny Apartment was his idea, I just brought my authentic sauce to see what magic we could create, and I’m glad that was the product of that session.

Let’s switch gears a little, what artists inspire you? 

I mentioned Saint Jhn.  Wizkid and Davido obviously. Post Malone. Then Quentin Tarantino. I love his movies. I like Christopher Nolan as well. These are directors whose works are very mind-boggling. I want to know how their minds work because they just come up with new stuff.

When you want to step out of the world of the music business and relax, take a breather, or let off steam, what do you usually do?  

I was in Dubai a few days ago, and I went to the safari. That was a very nice experience. That wasn’t my first time in Dubai. But it was the first time I did something in Dubai. So yeah, just do fun stuff like that. Outside the country, I also like to take walks. Occasionally, I smoke weed too.