When Kosisochukwu Gospel Peters, professionally called Call Me Salle, broke out on social media, in 2021, everyone was once again reminded about the boundary-blurring power of social media.

In September 2021, the now 19-year-old was caught on tape singing her heart out while hawking her wares on the streets of Lagos, where she resides. The video garnered not just millions of views; it also bagged her an interview with the American news giant, Cable News Network (CNN).
Now, exactly two years later, the young maverick is taking her destiny into her hands, as she navigates the Nigerian music scene as a solo artiste. Her most recent release dubbed, “Icon” is a fine testament to the willpower of this soul-stirring chanteuse, as it captures her aspirations on the dreamy tunes of RnB and Soul.
In today’s Guardian Spotlight, Salle gives a peek into her exciting new life, revealing her resolve to pursue a music career, as well as her plans for the future.

Your song is currently in the airwaves, how are you feeling about that?
I feel good, because the song I love so much, so, yeah I’m feeling everything.

Your name is ‘Call Me Salle’. What’s the motivation behind that name?
There is really no motivation behind it, it’s just a way of introducing yourself to people, without introducing yourself, you know. Call me Salle, so, you already know you have to call me Salle.

Is your name really Salle?

No no, it’s a stage name. Salle is a French word meaning theatre, art, music, and art as a whole.

When did you sojourn into music?
I officially started two years ago, 2021. And it is because my video went viral. Music is not something I always wanted to, you know, pursue, or take seriously. Until everybody loved my freestyle, like the one that went viral. So, I started taking music seriously, in 2021.

What were your music influences?
I have loved music, actually, I enjoy listening to music more than making music or writing music itself. So, I started listening to music at a very young age, you know, from the church. I was actually in the church choir, then I listened to a lot of people. But as I grew, I decided to, you know, specify it. And make up my mind on who to listen to. Because I feel like when I’m too diverse, I get confused. So, among the people that I listen to at the moment, I listen to Asa a lot. When I was growing up, I used to love Michael Jackson songs, until I stopped. And I listen to Sia, I listen to Sia a lot, I listen to John Bellion, James Arthur, the legend. Yes, etc.

Interesting. So, how do you typically draw ideas for your music?
I feel like I draw my inspiration from my life as a whole because whenever I’m writing, I can only reflect on myself. And what I have experienced, in the few years of living. So, every inspiration comes from me, my home, my family, and my experience. Yes.

Tell us the experiences that shaped your newest song.
I believe “Icon” is a story, listening to it already I feel like it’s well explained. I said it how it is, so every line from “Icon” is how I feel, or how I felt at the moment while I wrote the song. Because my life is not so perfect yet, it is not yet as comfortable as I hope, and wish it was. So, I always channel the energy, and the experience, however, it is what I’m feeling. If I’m feeling happy, I will sing a song, if I’m sad, if I’m having self-doubt. If I’m laughing so much in confidence, or you know, if I just feel like giving up, I sing about it. So, Icon, every single line I wrote, is exactly how my life is, or was then.

So, how does it feel for you to break into the industry now?
From the beginning, it was overwhelming. By then I was feeling everything and at the same time, I couldn’t differentiate the feeling. Whether it was pain, anger, joy, happiness, or whatever it is I was just feeling everything, at the same time. But as time went on, I began to understand each feeling, for each moment. I began to, you know, elaborate how I feel about something happening, from then till now. So, yes I’m happy, I feel happy of course, I’m making amazing songs, and the world loves it. People love my lines, I’m beginning to inspire much to people, and I feel like it’s enough to keep me going, regardless. Most times or sometimes, things come, you know the challenges, like you said. There are challenges as a female artiste, it is not expected to be easy, it’s nowhere easy. But then, I feel like the Joy is long enough to keep me going, whatever the case might be.

So, what type of genres do you like to delve into?
Yeah, honestly I feel like genre is a bit of a limit, and at this point, I don’t want to feel limited. I want to really explore as many sounds as possible, I don’t want to be limited to one genre because, today I might feel like doing R&B, today I’m feeling afrobeat. The next day I want to rap, the next day I just want to write poetry. So I feel like placing myself in a genre, is going to limit me a lot, maybe in the future I will have a specific genre, for my kind of music. But at the moment, I’m still trying to learn and be strong in whatever it is I’m doing, for now, I have no genre honestly.

We know you currently have a lot more music, so, tell us what sounds we should expect to hear from Salle.
Like I said I can’t even tell honestly, when you hear R&B, because in most of my songs, you can hear R&B and afrobeat at the same time, in just one song. Because I draw my inspiration from not just one person, and also I can’t direct myself when I’m making music. I flow, so, if I feel like you know this first verse I want to do afrobeat, this second verse, I want it to be kind of R&B, I go for it. But in the least of the songs I have made already, I feel like they don’t sound too different from what I’m already making, or what I already put out. So, the only challenge is I have not figured out my genre yet.

Within the present Afrobeats era, who are some of the people that you would love to make music with?
I look forward to working with a whole lot of people, you know we have amazing artists in this industry. And it is so hard, specifically I just want one or two or three because I want them all. As long as we are growing together, and you know making amazing music, that the world would enjoy. Why should I pick just two? As of now, I just want you to know I love Asa so much, I would love to work with her. I believe we would make great music, I know Burna Boy would also make good music. I love Rema. I believe we would make amazing music, I love Fire Boy, I believe we would make amazing music too, yeah that’s my top four.

What is next for you?
Yeah it depends. I feel like it depends on how ready the world is, you know. Because I’m trying to start something that wasn’t properly built, you know. I’m tryna make things different this time around, I feel like I need to, you know, take my time to connect with people, and you know build my base very well, firmly. Because I feel like everything started off not so well, so, I feel like I’m using this opportunity to, you know, gradually start. Probably I’m going to release a couple of singles before an EP. But definitely we have till whenever to listen to amazing songs, that I’m still going to produce. So, EP, album, singles, everything is coming their way.
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