“The sound of this album is just an elevation”, Nigerian troubadour FOLA says of 9, his widely anticipated sophomore album.  

After a year of personal transformation following his debut album, catharsis, FOLA, born Afolarin Odunlami, is ready to make a seismic impact with his bold new album, 9. 

Featuring collaborations with Bella Shmurda, Ayra Starr, BNXN and Zlatan, the project captures him embracing new possibilities without losing sight of the qualities that brought him here. It is also a fearless leap into uncharted musical territory.

In this conversation, he reflects on making 9, the lore behind honing his sound, as well as his determination to take his music to audiences worldwide. He speaks of growth — which is evident as you listen through to the album — and he takes us through his grandest ambition, which remains rooted in making music that people can return to years from now.  

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What led to this album? 

Initially, I didn't want to drop an album. I really like making music. I'm always making music. I have a lot of songs, so one day I sat down and thought, why am I just putting these songs together? Why can't I put a body of work together? I was in London one day and told my manager, I think we need to put out an album. So we actually drew out the plan and started working in that direction. We just did a couple of songs, and we joined it with what we had before, with the same storyline, same sort of music, same kind of sequence, and we put it out.

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How did you arrive at your signature sound? 

It's still me doing me at the end of the day. I just hopped on the beats, and I still wanted to sound like me. Obviously, that's not the regular FOLA. It's a little bit different. It's just showing people that, yeah, you can do this as well. The new set of songs encapsulates my new experience. After my last album, I've travelled around the world and had new experiences. So the sound of this album is just an elevation.

The album features a few collaborations, including Bella Shmurda, Ayra Starr, BNXN, and Zlatan. Tell us about your experience working with them. 

You can hear all the artists mentioned on the songs. Even before putting them on the song, I could hear them. Anytime I finish making a song, if I want to put someone on the song, I always think about it, and I'll be like, who fits this? Who can do this? And I reached out. Bella Shmueda, big shout-out to him; he doesn't stress me at all. BNXN, that's my brother, my friend. We have tons of songs together, so we picked one of the best ones for the album. Ayra Starr. I just finished "Treat U Right," before I featured Ayra, and I thought, you know, I needed a female magician on this one, so I put Ayra Starr on it.

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Did the focus for the album ever shift?

I always have my direction; I always know where I'm going. So I keep adding the right thing to the song, elevating the song. Nothing changes, not the storyline, not the beats. You keep adding to it. I always say this: a record is never done until you decide to leave it alone. You know, so like I'll pull my all in it, and when I see that this is enough, I like to get it done.

When did you know that it was finished?

I've been working on this album for almost a year and a half; you know I'm a perfectionist. Perfectionism is even tiring of me changing and adding things. There's a song titled 2 AM in Toronto. That was the song I added. One day in Toronto, I was listening to the song, and it gave me mad goosebumps, so I called the label and said I wanted to add it. I knew this was the one, and after that, I knew it was done.

How did making this album influence you as a person?

It's widening my horizons; how I think, the people, the food, the cultures, everything has influenced me. It's just a new piece of life. The world is so beautiful; you keep on getting to know things and learning new things. You know, and you can even hear it in the music. When you sit down and hear this album, you will know what I’m talking about. Such beautiful songs, a couple of beautiful songs. There are some things you're going to love. Like I'm happy for where I'm coming from. I'm happy with where I am right now, and I'm happy with where I'm going, too.

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Is there a particular message you want people to get from the music when they hear it?

I always try to send the message of whatever I'm going through in my songs because I want my music to be relatable; I want you to listen to my songs when you're 60. When you're seventy, I want you to put my song on for your grandchildren. I want you to tell them that this is what we were listening to when we were young, you know, that’s how much originality I put into my music. I want you to feel love, feel pain. I want you to feel like there is hope for something. I want you to be able to connect to this on a very different level.

Was there anything, as you were growing up and before you became an artist, like what do you think was the thing that drew you to music?

I won't say I came from a family of musicians, but I really loved music growing up. So it wasn't so hard for me. I knew what I wanted from the beginning. I started off listening to music, obviously, and got to a point where I just thought, you know what, these are the kind of songs I want to start making. This is how I want to make my own songs. This is music I want to make.

How has your attitude or relationship with music changed over the years now that you're in this position??

I'm more serious now. Shit is getting real. I can see what my music is doing for me. Like it's just like the things you've been wanting to do, and it's happening in front of your eyes, and it just makes me, it just makes me look more, you know. Like it just makes me want to do more.

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What are you excited for in terms of not even just the album, but just in general, like the next chapter and the next phase of your journey?

I really want it all. I want the album to reach larger audiences. You know, I want to perform songs on this song all over the world. I want to do the impossible, man. There are a lot of things I want to achieve. I have no limits.

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