Kold AF looks destined for the top, and she is merely going through the motions of ascending to reach it. The last few years have seen her take one step after the other as she crafts her sound, immerses deeper into the industry, and embraces the weight of a life in music. 2023 heralded a significant milestone in her life—graduating from university after acquiring a Bachelor of Laws. She changed her stage name from Koel to the more SEO-friendly Kold AF in 2022, then released Kold Szn, a two-single pack that was the blueprint for her artistry. It mapped the sonic regions she would be exploring: Dancehall, Reggae, RnB, and Afropop.
A year later, she built a debut EP on these genres, working with French producer BGRZ for Kollide, which held well-received tracks like Broken and Tension. After its modest success, many expect that the next step on this journey would be a debut album, but, as she admits, a lot more funding and presence would be needed before that dream can materialize. In the meantime, she has worked to forge an identity for herself in Nigerian music’s fast-shifting waters. Her most recent effort was a joint two-pack with singer Aema which was released on 2024’s International Women’s Day. It contained the tracks Everyday and No PITY, and the former in particular has been lauded for the incredible talent and chemistry its creators share and has been a shining light in a year that has been particularly dull in Nigerian music.
In Culture Custodian’s interview with the Dancehall singer, she shares all about her artistry and choice of genres, the creative process behind her music, the intricacies of her transition from legal practitioner to Afrofusion artist, and more.
Congratulations on the release of your new two-pack of singles with Aema. I think the reception has been great. What do you think?
Thank you. I think it’s been great as well. I think we both knew that it was going to be good so I’m not too surprised.
Any chance we will ever get to hear some of the other songs from you two?
Maybe, but it’s money we need [to promote them].
I hope we do. We’ve seen you progress through the Kold Szn songs to the Kollide EP and now this. Before any of it started, what was your upbringing like? Did you grow up in Lagos?
Yes, I grew up in Lagos, born and raised, so Lagos is my village. I grew up in a normal nuclear family; mother, father, and one brother. My Mom and Dad were very into music but they had very opposing tastes, though I liked both their tastes.
That sounds cool. Was either of them into Reggae? Because it would make a lot of sense.
Oh yeah, 100%. My dad was into Reggae. My dad liked energetic music, music that gets you going. He even listened to Soukous a lot, even when I didn’t understand what they were saying, I liked the vibe.
Would you say any of that influenced your style of music?
Yeah. 100%, 1,000%. My mom was into R&B. Every single day music was playing depending on the time of day. From Gospel to RnB. It played a role. Reggae from my dad played a role in my type of flows today because I’m really big on flow and that’s because of how I was drawn to Reggae and Dancehall.
Right. That’s cool. When did you start making music yourself?
I’ve always wanted to do music, it was a dream of mine. Anything that had to do with creativity in general as a child, I was very drawn to it. My mom noticed it and always pushed me to the arts—music, and designing. That was my happiness, that was my happy place. But I was too scared and I didn’t want to take the risk. What I knew was I needed stability in my life and at that time I didn’t have sense. I thought “Okay go and get a stable job”. I was trying to play it safe and music is not safe, you know. So many people can sing but it doesn’t mean anything because it’s not by singing there are so many factors. I decided to sing in 2019, but the decision-making process started in 2018 and then 2020 is when I started fully.
And I think at that point you were already in school, right? How did you make it work with studying law?
It was the law that made me know that I can’t do the safe thing anymore. Not that I was failing…
You just realized this couldn’t be the rest of your life
Exactly! I’m like no no no no this is too serious. I love music. Music has always been my first love. Design and music.
After you decided to go into music, what did your parents say about it?
I think the person I was a little worried about was my mom. Because I knew she was either going to say yes or no. When I was very sure that this was the thing that I was going to do with my life I then told her. She was very supportive at first but she was like “I hope you finish school, hope you go to law school and practice for some months for experience in the real world” and I was like “This woman, you don’t know what’s going on.” But she was being supportive all the time with everything I needed. It took her some time to understand this child is not going to law school and she’s taking this [music] thing very seriously. Now she’s fully in my corner and she understands the picture and she wants to support me in any way she can. My dad is cool with it too.
A lot of people have that dream as well, but how did you make it work? Getting into the studio, getting a manager, trying to be a professional, and taking it seriously. How did you start?
When it comes to decision-making, for me it’s very serious. When I am very focused on doing something it’s going to get done with every sweat and blood. When I realized that it seemed like this law was not going to work, I had this friend, Aisosa, who always encouraged me to go into music. So I just went in head first. I didn’t know anything about the industry and sometimes even though you know things about the industry you’re still going to get very surprised. I started doing covers of songs and freestyle challenges, getting some small engagements and it went off from there.
How would you describe your music?
I think about this question more than I’d like to admit. I ask myself what exactly do I do? I would say my music is a fusion. I like to use a lot of things but the main things that are always prominent are R&B, Dancehall, and Afropop. These three genres are always the fundamental genres and any other is extra so it’s a fusion, so if I had to pick something it would be Afrofusion.
You said on Twitter that you were going to commence your Dancehall era and then you kind of paused it for the no PITY two-pack, should we expect more Dancehall in the future?
I don’t know if people noticed but we didn’t plan for this EP to come out the way it did, because I was planning the Dancehall thing. But the No PITY thing had to happen for certain reasons. I had already started the Dancehall thing so you can hear it in Everyday, so no problems, no issues, we’re going to continue right after.
How did you get connected with Aema, and what was the experience working with her on the project?
We met at a Sony publishing camp. She was the first person I was slated to work with and it was really good vibes. I like that she just said her mind and it felt very real to me. We made a song and it was really good but that song did not come out, unfortunately. After the camp, somebody brought up the idea of having a joint project and we were like “Okay”. Then we had another camp and it was amazing, one of the best camps I’ve ever been in. We were bouncing off each other’s energy.
What do you have on the horizon? I know you have a lot of music in store.
Like I said, there’s a Dancehall era coming. I can do so many genres so there are always going to be different eras and that’s something everyone can look forward to. You’re not going to know what’s next until I tell you what’s next and when. So dancehall is next after this no PITY pack, I’m going to start warming people up. I have music coming as well this year. I can’t say when exactly it’s coming out because I’m still working but 100% this year. By that time I’m going to have a deal, we’re in talks with a couple of people.
That’s great. Any plans for a debut album?
Everyone keeps asking but, easy. I can’t do an album yet. I need time to ‘blow’ first. I’m a perfectionist. I can’t do an album when there’s no money. I’m doing the work now so that when I’m ready to do the album I’d have gotten funds. Imagine dropping a 13-track album and you can’t push it. I’m trying to work now so it’s going to be an EP.
What is your creative process? Do you have a melody in your head and you just have to get to the studio or do you create time and say this is when I’m going to make music?
I like to get the beat, I feel like the beat somewhat sets the pace for what you’re supposed to do. Sometimes I like to be part of the production process with the producer so I can direct them, other times the beat is already made and I write to it. When the beat is made it’s melodies first, then lyrics.
Aside from your music, what are some songs you’ve been enjoying recently?
Honestly, I need to start listening to music again. Since I started music I’ve become almost obsessed with my music. I like what I’m hearing, and I’m looking for what to improve on. I like this, maybe I should add this. I don’t know if this is bad (laughs). But let me check. I’ve been listening to a guy called Iver Rivers. I loved Usher’s new album, especially Ruin. I’ve been listening to No PITY and Everyday of course. I’ve been listening to Bagetti. I love Mirror Talk, I love that beat so much and I love what she did with it. I love Tems too, I’m looking forward to her album.
Any artists in particular you want to work with in the near future?
The list is so long. I probably can’t remember it correctly but Burna Boy is around the top of it. I like Burna Boy and his artistry. I love Wizkid, I love Tems and Qing Madi. Rihanna is on that list but I don’t know if that woman wants to release music anymore. Beyoncé too, I have big dreams. Then Black Sherif, Tay Iwar. I’m just very open-minded. I think the vibe is very important, you need to have chemistry with the person.
Finally, what do you think about women in the Nigerian music scene right now?
I’m very happy where we are right now because before it was like we could only have one woman at the top, we can’t accommodate too many women at the time. And then we had a situation where they put you in a box and expect you to be RnB or afro R&B and be sexy every single time. Now it’s opening up, women who are different, and have very unique styles are coming out and they are flourishing and moving, myself included.
