‍ru. did not plan to make music. In 2024, the young songbird, born Ru Robert, recorded I Think I Love You in Abuja, an intimate song drawn from a real experience, and shared it without a strategy or a rollout. 

The song found people anyway. A remake featuring Magixx followed, and between the two versions, the tracks crossed one million combined streams. She credits Abuja’s slower, more reflective pace for the sound she makes, which is smooth, soft and unhurried, a deliberate contrast to the energy of Lagos. 

Her latest debut EP, SILK, takes its name from the qualities she sees in the material: fragile yet strong, soft yet resilient. The five-track project moves through five different emotional spaces. In this chat with Deeds, we talked about her accidental start in music, what it took to be vulnerable on record, and why softness and strength can exist together.

Sophia From Deeds: For anyone reading this and discovering you for the first time, how would you introduce yourself and your music?

First of all, I'm just a girl, but I'm a girl who deeply loves my craft, who is learning, who is discovering herself and just doing that in front of everybody. I like to tell people that listening to my music or experiencing my songwriting is almost like taking a page out of my diary.  I take authenticity very seriously. I like to make every single time I write from a genuine experience. Sometimes not that I have had directly, but, you know, we live vicariously through other people, through stories we've seen, through the things that inspire us.  But for every time I write or I make music, it's always about a feeling I'm feeling, truly.  So honesty, authenticity, love, fun, life, faith. You know, basically everything that makes me is everything that's in my music. It's very intimate, I would say. 

You're from Abuja - not Lagos, which is where most of the Nigerian music conversation happens. How has that shaped who you are as an artist?

I would say that compared to Lagos, Abuja is. It's much slower. It's chill. Not slow to the point where nothing is happening, but almost like it's right in the middle. It's a very steady pace that you can count on, right? As opposed to the hustle and bustle and quick movements in Lagos.  Abuja is the kind of town that allows you to breathe, you know, really take things in, smell the roses, you know, romanticize your life. I feel like because of that pace, I'm able to apply the same, what should I say? Technique when I'm making music. It's almost like you can breathe when you're listening to me.  It's not the most fast paced and I believe that I still will be able to do that in the future. Maybe I will be. But I would say those are the elements from Abuja that have entered my music unconsciously. That intentionality, breath, you know, just smooth, still, chill vibes.

In Lagos, they don't have a chill. In fact, when I greet people in Lagos, they don't even answer me. I'm like, what do people mean? Is it that bad? Everybody's angry.  Nobody has your time.  There's no time to spare a smile. There's no time to romanticize anything.  A walk to work or a drive to work is literally that. There's no, oh God can interrupt me or something beautiful can happen along the way.  

You said your entry into music was almost accidental - 'i think i love you' started from a real-life experience. What made you decide to share something that personal publicly?

It is. I like to be honest about the fact that it wasn't a dream I had growing up or anything. It was literally a hobby I stumbled into in 2024 and I decided to give it a chance. I've always been the type of person that, you know, goes with the wind.  And if something sparks my interest, I'm going to give it my attention because I do believe that I'm being led a lot of times.  And so I just, I leaned into that and that's how I got here.

Like I said, I feel like I do my best work when I'm telling the truth. Right. So because music started out, or writing specifically started out as an outlet, as a way to express myself, that has always been the case.  So when I'm expressing myself and I'm able to put it into melodies, you know, give it a nice beat or something, it hasn't changed the fact that I was doing just that, expressing myself.  It's honest in that sense. It's why I would tell you're literally taking a page out of my diary, because I've literally put my heart out on the page. I've given everything to you, everything that happened or didn't happen.

Sometimes it's not necessarily that it happened to me specifically, but maybe it happened to someone in my life and I was there and I documented it and how I felt indirectly or how I feel like the person who was the main character felt. It's a lot of storytelling, sometimes it's not directly me, but, yeah, I'm always honest about those things. Well, as much as I can be given the circumstances. Yeah, I think I love you was definitely a personal experience I shared.

SILK is described as a tribute to women navigating different stages of life and relationships. When you were making it, who specifically were you thinking about - yourself, women around you, or something broader?

Yes.  Navigating, growing through those things.  Mostly it's about becoming. It was me because I was writing and sharing some of the questions I've been asking in this era of my life, you know, who is a woman?   From I think I love you to now.  The past few years for me have been a time of self discovery. You know, what is my purpose?  How am I supposed to act?  Who am I really?  What's the purpose of a woman?  Am I an afterthought?  What am I doing here, really? You know, these are the questions I'm asking. How do I deal with love? How do I interact with someone who loves me? How am I supposed to be with my friends? These are the questions that have boggled my mind.

Because then when you're growing into a young woman, you're kind of trying to build identity.  Especially in an industry like this, where it's like who you are is so important because everything you do flows from there.  So that has basically been the philosophy of this era, these questions.  And that's where the music came from. The questions themselves and the answers. I feel like I'm getting so far.

The EP blends Afropop, soul and alternative R&B without committing fully to any one of them. Is that a conscious creative decision or just how the music comes out?

It's literally just how the music comes out. I go with the wind, like I told you. So sometimes you hear an instrumental, you hear a sound, and it kind of tells you where it wants to go, what it wants to achieve.  And I like to think of myself as a collaborator or a partner with the sound. None of us are trying to outdo each other.  Everybody is trying to shine. We just follow each other's leads in our respective strengths, basically. So I like to complement the music as it complements my writing as well and my voice. So I basically just go with where I feel like it's leading me. It's never a conscious decision.

Most times when I start, like, I don't even know what I'm writing about. A lot of times I go to the studio feeling like, oh, I'm sad.  I'm in love today, and I want to write about this. Most times when I hear beats, it reminds me of a story. It takes me somewhere. Some of these instrumentals are so immersive and is why I love the producers I work with. They literally build walls with the sound that are able to draw you in and paint pictures so vivid you can write about them and people can literally experience them with you know?

'Woman' debuted at number 25 on Nigerian radio and was produced by Mr Eff and mixed by Johnny Drille. How did that collaboration come together? 

Mr. F actually came to Abuja. We had a mini camp when I was just starting our music. It was my first recording session ever, and he came here. We made a couple of songs. It was beautiful.  Johnny Drille, there's many things to say about him. After my helper in Jesus, then we have him. He's one of those people who is so genuine about music itself. There's just a lot to say.  I pitched to him. He loved the music and we made it happen. Beyond that, he's given me so many opportunities, you know, I've performed at two JRLs, I think, and he's just someone who has been so supportive, you know, supportive. You know, just encouraging me and telling me how good I am and how there's space for me, and I'm so grateful for him. I know you didn't ask me that, but. Yes, that's just who he is. How did it happen? A friend knew a friend, I guess. I honestly can't tell you because I'm not sure how I did it myself.

SILK as a title is specific. What does it mean to you in the context of the project?

To be honest, I chose that because I thought it was the perfect paradox. I told you I'm discovering myself. I've realized a lot of times that from people's perspective, you know, if you look soft, you know, as a baby, you know, you're maybe you're sensitive, you're soft spoken, they don't expect much from you in terms of strength or how you show up.  But Silk shows you that you can be both at the same time. It's soft to the touch. It's very shiny, sparkly. So you would think, oh, fragile.  But spider silk actually rivals still in strength. It's literally that strong.  So you can be soft, sparkly without, you know, sacrificing strength.  And you can be strong without sacrificing, you know, your softness.

It's almost like you can exist in these two worlds at the same time and still make the most of both, because they are still you. You are still you when you're soft. You're still you when you're strong, you know, and who you are is beautiful, period. I shouldn't have to hide the fact that I like pink or want fluffy stuff or glittery stuff, because I'm trying to show you that I'm strong or I'm mature, you know, I don't subscribe to those things. Silk was basically the perfect name because that is the story I'm telling with the music.

I am who I am. I'm loving fearlessly, I'm discovering the facets of myself. I'm a creative, strong woman, Silk basically encompasses everything I'm trying to say.  It's why it was the perfect title.

Where does the music go from here? What does the version of ru. after SILK sounds like?

Honestly, ru. right now I am just very grateful. ru. is accepting who she is. Sometimes you take these steps even while you're scared. It's not that I wasn't scared to show my soft side or be vulnerable.  I was, but I did it scared anyway. I'm very proud of myself because a step in the right direction, like, I'm getting even stronger. I'm growing so much more. I'm so excited for everything that's to come. The music I've been making, it's almost like I've turned this page and, you know, it just keeps going because there's just so much more. This is a chapter and I also can't wait to see how it unfolds in the future.

Cover Credit: bluenotnice

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