Meet The Afropop Superstar…Simi
If you been looking for a talented multi-faceted artist to listen to, then Simi is your girl. Born and raised in Lagos, Nigeria, the songstress first made her mark in music as a gospel singer. Simi’s sound and artistry soon evolved and the songstress began dipping her feet into the Afropop scene.
Since making her debut in 2008, the singer-songwriter has released three popular albums, launched her own record label and also became a mother. With her new project ‘RESTLESS II’ set for release on Friday, the award-winning singer is ready to give the world an inside look in the new era of Simi.
We were able to chat with Simi about everything from her new project, motherhood, music idols and more. Read the full interview below…
First off congratulations on having your baby! How has motherhood been treating you?
Thank you very much. Motherhood has been an incredible experience. It’s like I’m learning this entirely new person. It’s wild. It’s a learning experience, it’s also exhausting, you know [laughs] but also very likely the most beautiful thing I’ve ever done and also it’s almost like it creates a new purpose for you. I’m a very purpose-driven person and it’s like I have this whole entire purpose that just kind of outshines everything and I’m so blessed to be able to be on this journey.
Okay, let’s take it back to the beginning a bit, who were some of your music idols growing up?
One of my favourite artists growing up would definitely be Lauryn Hill and I love Natasha Bedingfield because her songs always seemed so happy. I loved Lauryn because there’s always so much soul in her music. Asa was one of my very earliest influences because when I was a kid I didn’t really listen to a lot of music and when I did start I listened to a lot of Asa because she was different and stood out. I would say those three people influenced me the most and then as I grew older I loved Adele as well.
Did you participate in any activities as a kid that has influenced you to pursue music?
When I was a young teenager I joined this music group called Outstanding in church. We used to sing and dance and do a bit of rapping as well. I would say that was the period where I honed my passion for music as I didn’t really have any musicians in my house per se so that’s where I would go and let out all the stuff I had inside my head I was feeling as an artist, I would just go and let it all out there and meanwhile, I would go to practice my writing a lot so I would say that helped me out with that. I knew pretty early that I wanted to do music as there was nothing else I was passionate about. I could write and I loved the radio as well but there was nothing that could hold my attention for as long or as intensely as music could.
When you first started in the music world you released Gospel music. Can you tell us how you evolved into the Afro-pop star you are today?
Yes, I did start with Gospel music. It wasn’t based off of any pressure honestly. I was in the teen choir at church but I wasn’t in the choir at school or I didn’t evolve into the choir at the adult church or anything. I just wanted to do Gospel music and I’m an advocate and try to live my life based on the things I’m convicted to do. I just follow my heart and that’s why I started with Gospel. And the funny thing is when i first started singing I tried to do love songs but I just couldn’t write any love songs, they weren’t coming so I said you know what i’m not going to force this, I’m going to write what comes to me and then there was a phase where I wanted to write more songs and wanted to just expand my content and emotionally for me it was a bit trying because I wasn’t sure and I was thinking oh is God going to be ok or will I be judged or whatever and then I remember I prayed and I said ‘God, I’m going to try this but if you don’t want me to do this then don’t make it work out.’ and then I had my peace and I didn’t worry much and I wasn’t concerned about what God would think about it and then I didn’t really worry about how people would judge me and then i started to write more music and love songs and I loved it and God has been with me through that journey and I honestly didn’t get a lot of judgement from the church as i thought I might and then I would have friends who would text me and say just keep your head and would give me good advice.
Would you ever want to revisit Gospel music?
Once in a while, I do write songs where definitely I’m referring to God or I’m having conversations with God. I might just not be as blatant about it. But even when I was doing Gospel, it wasn’t always so blatant, it was more conversational, it was more like a friend the way I was referring to God. So I do still release a bit of Gospel in terms of the content so I think it will always be a part of me.
You have been known to release a plethora of hits over the years like ‘Tiff’ ‘Jamb Question’ and ‘Love Don’t Care’. How has your sound evolved and artistry evolved since then?
That’s a good question. When I started, especially mainstream Afropop music, I was writing a lot of stories you know. I was writing love songs but I felt like there was a lot of angles to it, like ‘Tiff’ was about someone coming to steal your heart away and I tried to be a little literal about it and then ‘Jamb Question’ was how some people like you and instead of coming out straightforward they will ask you dumb questions to try to get your attention and ’Smile For Me’ talking about the things that you want someone to do for you, how you want people to go out of their way for you. I honestly say sometimes when I write my songs I’m not just talking to people, I’m talking to myself as well. I remember when I wrote ‘Remind Me’, that’s why I personalised the song, I was saying I hope God reminds you, remind me how, so that’s what I was going for with some of my other songs and then I started to have a bit more fun with it, like I wasn’t as serious in all of my songs and I wasn’t doing so much storytelling, I just wanted to have songs that were just like let’s just chill and that’s why I had some songs like ‘Lovin’ and ‘Jericho’. I mean all these things are still there, but I just try to add a little something else, so as I’m writing I try to expand more. I try to add a little something each time to see what works and what doesn’t.
We’ve gotta talk about your brand new single ‘No Longer Beneficial’. What was the inspiration behind this track?
I was just trying to be a bit edgy with it, actually through the whole of the ‘Restless II’ EP, I wanted to do something that was as different from Simi as possible, because this is really experimental and I haven’t really done anything like this before. I wanted to talk about how sometimes you’re not trying to chill or be together with someone, you just want to have fun and sometimes they catch feelings and it’s not really beneficial for what you’re looking for and that’s what I was going for. I wanted it to be fun and edgy and that’s what I was going for when I was writing the song.
You recently announced your upcoming project ‘Restless II’. Can you take us through the creative direction for this project? What themes or ideas did you want to explore?
It’s like I said, I was going for something as different from Simi as possible. I was seeing how edgy I could go and to see the kind of responses I would evoke with something unexpected from me. So that’s what I was going for with the whole EP and working with Platoon we worked on a creative strategy together in terms of visuals, artwork and the general direction alongside my vision and the team has been pretty incredible. We discuss ideas and see if what might work together and we all collaborate. I’m excited for people to hear the project
Make sure to check out Simi’s latest track ‘NO LONGER BENEFICIAL’ below, and stay tuned for her upcoming EP ‘RESTLESS II’
