Across the streets of UK and Lagos, Afrobeats lovers can all agree on the infectious pulse of One Acen’s discography.

Penetrating UK’s music scene with his sweltering mix of Hip-Hop and RnB, One Acen, born Abdul-Azeez Dabiri, rapidly grew to notoriety across London with his 2017 opus, ‘Baesically’, and ‘Rolling’, respectively. With his audacious collaborations across Afrobeats circles such as his duet with Mavin records left-back Crayon dubbed, ‘Man Dem’, the Nigerian-English musician garnered positive acceptance on the home-front.

After a career on the rise spanning over a decade, One Acen holds a reputation of stretching his evocative lyricism over party-starting melodies. His futuristic-laden approach to music-making has put him on the front-burner of Africans in the diaspora connecting with the home-region, with the most infectious of tunes.

Catching up with Guardian Music, One Acen peels back his memories of visiting Lagos, drawing inspiration from the motherland, as well as his daring visions for his career.

When last were you in Lagos?
Last year June.

What does coming back to the motherland do for you musically? 
I mean musically, it helps me get to a headspace that you can’t really get from London. The first time I came here was June 2021. And as soon as I landed now, I just remembered everything that I used to feel then. Like the heat, you know what I’m saying right, I will just remember everything I used to know when I came here when I was younger. I don’t know, but it feels like you are home;everyone looks like you and even has the same skin color. When you are in London there are Nigerians obviously, but still a lot of white people, a lot of asian people, and a lot of other races. But when I am back in Nigeria, it feels like I am at home again, so that’s it and it’s a good feeling.

Do you make music while you are in Nigeria? 
Yeah I try to, because just coming to the club and you hear Afrobeats all the time. It gives me like a new flavour to tap into that you can’t get in London.

Do have any new music coming up soon? 
Yes. I have got, right now me and my manager just kind of between like two or three songs, we just want to, but I have got songs with names that I want to put out. I have got songs produced, I have got two songs produced by Killertunes when he came to London we linked up. We made some songs, and yeah just some random songs, but I’m just trying to pick the best single to start with, I don’t know.

You’re close to Crayon and a few other artistes here.
Yeah. I met him in, I think it was the last time I came to Nigeria. I met him for the first time, we went to the studio with Andre Vibez. Wande Coal was there, there were a few people out there, Ladipoe was there. Yeah we were just vibing out, that was fun, it was good. I met Crayon because I did one of his songs for his EP. I think it was a year ago, two years ago?

Yeah. I remember that.
The EP, he just sent me the verse I did it the same day, sent it to him the next day. And I think he liked the speed at which I did it. And then we linked up, it was good, it was fun.

How did you sojourn into rap music?
Well basically, it was me and my best friend, who is a producer. He actually taught me how to make beats initially, and we weren’t even doing rap when I started. We were doing Grime, because that’s how most people start music in London. They were doing Grime at that time, and then I started MCing as a Grime MC. I stuck with Young Ace, and that’s when I changed it to Acen. And then One Acen. So, yeah I started doing Grime, making beats and I got a studio in my house. So, that’s how I started recording people ‘s songs also. So, they used to come to my house, pay me like 15 pounds an hour, which was a lot back then. And I solo recorded some songs, and I helped them structure their songs. I helped them make beats, do their song covers, just like little things here and there. I was usually helping someone else, more than I was helping myself, because I was a bit shy back then. But then I met Tion Wayne somewhere down the line. He is the one that taught me to start singing more, because he heard me singing. So, I did one of his songs, and then from there,  I met some guy called Hardy. Hardy Caprio, very big in London. I did a couple of his songs and they went viral. Then I met Darkoo and yeah, that’s it.

Were you in school at the time?
Yeah, I went to college. I didn’t go to university, but my mom wanted me to be a lawyer, or an accountant or something like that. But I wasn’t really planning on it; my heart finds it hard for me to focus on something when I don’t really care. Which is why me and my mom used to fight all the time about that, because she really wanted me to be a lawyer but. Once my show started picking up, she understood that I really wanted to do it.

So, is she a fan now?
Yeah. I had to show her that it was worth doing basically.

Have you connected with any other Nigerians here? 
Not yet. I haven’t met too many people here. I met crayon like and Ladipoe. I guess Ladipoe is the only rapper I have met so far. I met Wande coal, and DJ Neptune. I did a song for DJ Neptune as well. I met Magixx with DJ Neptune who was actually his producer.

What’s your typical creative process?
I have a studio in my room and I do self-record. When everyone would leave, I would record myself sometimes. I’m used to recording by myself. No one else there, even my manager, and he usually sees me record only once or twice. He literally just leaves the room and lets me record myself, I like to just be alone and just think. Sometimes, it could take long. I have made a whole song and I have scrapped the whole song. And I have made a different song with the same beat, but it just depends on the vibe. It depends on how strong the vibe I’m feeling at the time. I can finish the song in one day, and sometimes it is usually a month, and it could take me a year, it just depends really.

Do you like performing your music?
Performing is one of my strengths. Some people like singing in the studio more, but honestly I like performing more, if I’m being honest. Like in London, anyone can tell you, I’m easily one of the best performers. So, I’m looking forward to showing how good I’m with the microphone in Nigeria.

When you check your streaming numbers, where do you see most of your numbers from?
When you look at my actual data, the UK is obviously first, because that’s where I was based.  But the second and third are usually Nigeria and America. There are a lot of people listening in Nigeria and I want to be able to see the people, meet the people, and expand my fan base here. On every platform, my second and third highest listenership are Nigeria and America, respectively. And usually for most UK artistes, it’s usually France or Germany, but mine is Nigeria and America.

What’s next for you?
Well definitely I’m going to change my name from one Acen to 8cyn with a different spelling, so that is the first thing. Well secondly, there is a style in London called Afro swing, that is what people in the UK like me, Darkoo, and others were doing before. But what is next for me is that I’m gonna fully go into Afrobeats, rather than Afro swing. That’s what our plans are, and our plans to make our album sometimes here in Nigeria.

Who are some Afrobeats acts you listen to a lot?
A lot of people are making good songs, and there are a lot of songs I really like. I would say Rema, Wizkid and Tekno. I like Tekno a lot. I also like Asake. Asake is doing really well right now. I would say that’s the main four I listen to a lot. Actually I listen to Burna a lot, but those are my main four. There is always a random song here and there that I listen to and I like them.

What would you say is the vision for One Acen?
I just want to express my creativity. I feel like I have got something new to bring to the table. I think I can bring something that they haven’t seen before, and I feel like I’m one of the greatest in London. And I feel like I can be one of the greatest in Afrobeats as well. I’m going to prove that a hundred percent.