What’s next for the Hip-Hop superstar ? Our exclusive interview shares enough insight with readers.
When Femi Jr turned in the release of his debut project “Peace & Love“, he shared with prospective audiences his mindset in creating the project citing how he has gone on a journey of self appreciation, and holding on to themes of peace and love in navigating through life’s hurdles.
Three months later, he is in dreamland seeing how much people connected to his pains and emotive storytelling on the project. The reception in fact has led to shouts of the project being one of the top NG Hip-Hop projects of the year.
Meanwhile, he is not getting carried away with these extraordinary feats. He recently announced a new single with Fave, which is set to drop this Friday. A member of the Album Talks team caught up with the act virtually ahead of his next release, to discuss his highly acclaimed project, new single and his next plans.
Your debut album “Peace & Love” is touted as one of the best Hip-Hop NG projects in 2024, how does it feel to be the one who created that masterpiece ?
“Peace & Love”, that one is really special to my heart. I feel good knowing I created that one and it’s even more special to know that it’s receiving accolades all around, and it has really touched people just as I wanted. The project shows the hard work and sweat we put in to get it out, and I’m really happy to see it doing well. I mean, that’s every artist’s joy, to see our hard work pay off. It’s all glory to God, shout outs to all the creatives involved.
So far, how much has the project hit as regards your pre released expectations for it ?
Talking about expectations, it has been manageable. We are not where we want yet, but the receptions we have received so far are beautiful and enough for us to keep putting in the work. From the first day it dropped, that week particularly, I received so many texts congratulating me, and telling me how much they love the project as well as the records they connect to the most. It was so surreal to see people do so much for the art just because they love it.
Even over here in Canada, we have done the little promotions we could do over here, and receptions have been cool too. So many diaspora are eating it up, as well as citizens who have shown their love for the project. This has encouraged us to push more, because we know there’s even more heights to hit. So, all round, it has been pretty good, and we’re edging closer to achieve what we want daily.
Femi Jr Taps Into his Personal Strengths for Excellence on Debut Album “PEACE & LOVE” (Review)
The project was released about three months ago. From your point of view, is it not too early to move on from the “Peace & Love” era due to the new single recently announced?
You see this question, my team and I have asked ourselves continuously about this question. Actually, we know the quality of the project we have on our hands, and since it dropped, we have done everything possible to get it out to more people to listen and vibe with it.
However, about moving on, I don’t think we are moving on. We decided that the new single won’t be us moving on, but as an avenue to get people to pay attention to what is happening here and redirect them to the project, which can increase its reach. The single will just do the job of shining the light on the project, and from there, we will keep up the promotions, and see how it goes.
You have a new single with Fave about to drop, how did that come about ?
Yes, the new single with Fave drops on Friday. It is such a good one and I’m sure you guys will like it. Actually, we were just looking to connect with other artists who would be interested in making a remix for some of the records on the project. We had seen some of the audience favourites from our data, and we were ready to capitalize on those favourites in order to spread the impacts of the project.
So we reached out to a lot of teams and artists, Fave was one of the few who responded positively. Infact, she suggested the idea of a new record rather than a remix, and I thought it was a cool idea. We went with it, made the record with Niphkeyz and it was just a good one overall.
I recall you have a female singer, Jasmine, on two records off your album. Maybe you have a connection with Female singers, what do you say to that ?
Well, you can say that. I really like the idea, and it’s just naturally easy for everybody to flow at their best. They sing as much as they want to, and I just flow with my rap, everyone does what they do best. I remember when I met Jasmine, she could really sing and it was mind blowing knowing that she could help out on the hooks of some songs. She is also credited for additional vocals on “Oluwa Lon Shola”.
This new duet with Fave came naturally too. The beats were tailor made for her and she ate it up. You know how Niphkeyz does his thing with the Afrobeats drums and rhythms, it made it more interesting. Also, I didn’t want to get too serious with my verse, because it’s an easy beat that didn’t need me to be a hard-core person, so it was just a playful one that does the work and fits in into the record.
What are your expectations for the new single ?
My expectations have been stated earlier. I want a record that sheds light on my art, allows people to tune in and listen extensively because I have a lot of good cakes to keep them hooked already. Although, this new single will give us even much more direction to move in, and we will know the next step to take. We’re looking forward to good fan reception as always.
Which artists would you love to work with currently ?
Currently, I’ll love to work with J Cole. On the home front, it will be Burna Boy. Oh, Tems as well. I must say, Born In The Wild is probably my best album this year, maybe only better by mine (laughs). I even made a verse for her song “Ready”. I really love Tems and would work with her on any opportunity.
What are your next plans ?
About that, we are looking at the possibilities of pushing our promotions here heavily and at home too. We could have small local tours just to connect with more fans. Also, we got remixes and collaborations at the top of our list, everything to amplify what we already have. It’s going to be good times ahead, just keep going with us.
Listen Now: “Peace & Love” by Femi Jr.
