Oxlade hails from Nigeria and is one of Africa’s biggest rap newcomers. He went on a world tour with his “Catch Oxy In Your City” tour and also performed in Berlin. We interviewed him and asked him questions about his upcoming debut album OXLADE FROM AFRICA, his tour and also his hit “KU LO SA”. With this song he went viral worldwide in 2022 and triggered a dance trend on TikTok. The videos under the hashtag #kulosachallange have almost 400 million views together and he got his own filter from TikTok to match the dance. His song “Away”, on the other hand, landed at number 23 in the 2020 List of the 50 best songs of the year from “Rolling Stone”.
Ikuforiji Olaitan Abdulrahman, as Oxlade’s real name is, was born in Suruleru, a district of Lagos. The 25-year-old broke through in 2018 with songs like “Shugar” and “Mamiwota”on which he only has a feature part, but it generated so much attention that he got a management contract.
Oxlade in the ME interview:
Davido, a Nigerian singer and producer, made it possible for him to perform at the City of David concert in Lagos in 2018. Together with WizKid, a Nigerian musician who also comes from Surulere, Oxlade opened the “Starboy Fest” in London in 2019. Performances like this made him realize what’s behind the streaming numbers. “It’s one thing when your song gets a lot of views. But it’s something else to see the impact your song has [auf die Menschen] hat,” says Oxlade, whose track “KU LO SA” is during another Concerts in Paris with WizKid was the most requested song on Shazam in France.
Both Davido and WizKid are musical inspirations for Oxlade. In addition to other greats in the music scene, it is his grandmother in particular who inspires him. She raised him and his younger brother from the age of three because his mother died giving birth to his brother. “That’s where my story begins,” he says of his time in the church choir, where he has sung since he was a child. Without even having a singing career in mind, he just kept going, that’s why he’s in the position he’s in now and, looking back, it all had a reason, he tells us. “It comes from God, from the church, from all the years of practice. It all comes together and makes sense.” Oxlade also emphasizes his faith in terms of his career, because “the story of my life defies logic. I came out of nowhere and suddenly I’m standing in front of 20,000 people in Paris who don’t even understand my language.” At the end he tells us about his next plan – another “real” world tour for his debut album OXLADE FROM AFRICA. Among other things, it is said to feature songs that have existed for four years, so his debut album is said to be a summary of “songs from Oxlade’s entire career”. And it’s really just beginning.
A release date for OXLADE FROM AFRICA has not yet been set. It will be released under the Epic Records label, to which Oxlade has been signed since March 2022.