Naya Akanji’s stunning voice merged with her rhapsodic lyrics keeps you yearning for more. For this reason today, we shine the spot light on a fast rising female act – Naya Akanji, in recognition of her “Vivid Emotions” album with Lemar Abdul.
As Naya herself describes the album, it journals the roller coaster journey of love and relationships.
“Vivid Emotions follows the beginning and decline of a relationship. From Eyes on You, a song about instant attraction and lust, to Company, which is about wanting to be with someone so very much and wanting to be their everything. From Ungrateful, however, we can see things start to take a terrible turn lmao. And by Set Me On Fire? Nah, that relationship is done and dusted”
Naya would like her listeners to be able to relate to her songs in whichever stage of their love lives. As Naya tells it “I wouldn’t say there’s a message to take away from Vivid Emotions, per se, it’s more of an auditory experience, I want people to listen to the songs and really feel the emotions in them”.
Naya gives us the impression that she is not to be taken lightly, so don’t be too surprised when you see her on your screen in future.
“Vivid Emotions will always have a special space in my heart, but I’m also really excited for the next phase in my career. I can’t say too much now but y’all can expect a different aesthetic, both visual and with my music and some fire collabs”.
Like many of the great musicians we have today, she traces her love for all things music to her childhood days. “Lagbaja is my all time favourite artiste. His music was like the soundtrack of my childhood”.
As sound engineer for this project, Lemar Abdul’s skill is undeniably beautiful and exceptional, and Naya attests to this fact. “Working with Lemar is bliss. We’ve been friends for years now so we understand each other’s sound perfectly. You can expect more singles from me, produced by Lemar. But a project like Vivid Emotions? I honestly don’t know if we’re ever going to do that again”.
On the question of artistes and producers she would like to work with in future, Naya has quite an impressive list. “There are a lot of awesome producers around right now who are doing wonders for the afro-fusion genre, but I so so so so so would like to work with Sarz and Spax right now. As for artists, I’d love to work with WurlD. He has a very interesting sound”.
In times like the present when everything is a chaotic mess, schools are locked down indefinitely, and life generally seems to be on pause, it has become important to stay safe and sane by doing things that interest us, completing those projects that you haven’t had time for, improving your skills, learning a language, and several other tasks that we did not previously have time for.
It has been the same for Naya. “The lockdown has been a real life changing experience. I came home with like two sweatshirts and a pair of jeans because of the ASUU strike and before I knew it, we were in [the] Corona Virus pandemic. The first couple of months were the worst; the fear of the virus, the fact that I wasn’t making music and the general boredom was not funny at all. As soon as the lockdown was eased a little, I started bouncing around studios in Lagos so I could create. So far I’ve made loads of songs with really great and talented producers and I’m really excited for y’all to hear them”.
From our viewpoint as music enthusiasts, we have seen the music industry evolve and come to embrace sounds from all races and countries. Today, Nigerian artistes are breaking boundaries, experimenting with sounds, and creating new genres every time. Naya is one of these artistes and we look forward to seeing where her journey takes her.
Listen to Vivid Emotions Here
Original article written on TXT’s medium on 19th July 2020
Go!
