Rising music act, Kemuel is a singer-songwriter from Rivers state. The 23-year-old singer began music professionally after joining the church choir at the age of 17. In 2021, he was signed on to the Apollo record after his first demo caught a buzz on the music scene. He speaks to GBENGA BADA in this brief chat
What family influences encouraged you to pick an interest in the arts?
My Dad is an artist. He studied fine arts and design in school, so growing up seeing him draw things a couple of times, was such a beautiful thing to watch. Seeing him move his hands on the paper and in minutes a whole figure is drawn, he was so fast, so I said to myself I wanted to draw like that too.
You grew up in Port Harcourt, home to many fine talents from Nigeria. Did this have any bearing on you musically?
Honestly, growing up I found myself listening to a very wide range of music. From 80s pop to jazz to highlife, fuji, and afrobeat. So in a way, subconsciously they got stuck on me. So yeah in a way all the music I listened to while growing up in PH inspired me.
Define your genre of music
My genre of music is best described as soul music. Might be Soul RnB might be afro soul. But you won’t listen to my music and not feel that soul.
Did your university education have any impact on your music?
Nah it didn’t. It taught me other important life lessons tho but musically, no it didn’t.
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Tell us about the EP ‘Escape’ and what you wanted to escape from.
My EP Escape is a well-curated body of work that exposes honest emotions about a girl that I eventually fall in love with. In this project, I explore some parts of my mind musically to intentionally give something new, a fresh sensation listening to music. What I’m htrying to Escape from is reality. Sometimes you wish you could just go somewhere more peaceful, somewhere serene because reality sometimes gets too real. So I always escape into my music. When I’m feeling low or I need something to calm my nerves, I either try to make music or just listen to music. So this is me sharing my safe place with the rest of the world, hoping the music can be of aid when needed. Something to meditate to, you know, just pure music.
The music industry in Nigeria is not without challenges even with the current world interest in Afrobeats. What issues are you currently facing as an artiste?
Every artist or creative’s challenge will be for more people to see or hear their art, so I wouldn’t call them issues. Good things take time and I’m not in a rush. At the same time, I’m not wasting time. We’re keen on it reaching the right people and most times the timing is a gamble. But as an artist you just have to keep selling yourself, everything else with follows in due time
You are signed to a label. Do you think this gives you an advantage over independent acts?
Being in a label has shown me that there are certain things you can’t do on your own. Even independent artists have a team, so No I wouldn’t say I have more advantage, but the fact that I’m not doing it alone already puts me on the right path.
Music streaming and technology have enabled artists to cross boundaries and earn better. How do you intend to utilise technology to maximise your craft and create a usp artistically in the ocean of talents in Nigeria?
This is the part where it gets interesting. Because as much as the world has been brought to your doorstep with the aid of technology, you still need to know so much about how these platforms work to be able to utilize them properly. For me, I’m just going to be as honest as possible with whatever I’m showing the world, and steal people’s hearts and souls with good music. There are something’s about me that you’ll know with time
What makes Kemuel unique?
What makes me unique is my story. You can have my voice or a similar melody to mine but you can never have my story. My story is my story and I’ll keep telling it through music.