Her wine-coloured braids stuck out underneath her bucket hat. Bathed in soft light pouring through her windows, Osa’s gaze shone with excitement. The tranquility that hung on the giant Acacia tree glared into the frame, as she settled in for the video-chat, reminding one of the gentle groove that underlies her blooming discography.
Born Osa Nkiru, the Nigerian-born singer, now based in Nairobi, is among the new vanguard of emerging pop singers making notable impressions within the East and West African music scenes, respectively. Her latest release, “All for me”, continues to showcase the beauty of her delicate RnB, a sound she’s crafted since childhood, prioritizing romance and love as her core interests. The soft-toned groove, produced by Zaki Amujei, showcases her poetic lyricism, stellar melodies and sonority.
Catching up with Guardian Music, the young musician ushers us into her interesting world of cupid, tracing her evolution as a singer, her core influences, her experiences creating RnB-Afrobeats in Nairobi, as well as her mission to create music to inspire others.

How long did you live in Nigeria?
I’ve lived there for about 10 years.

So what brings you into the world of music?
Well, I have always been kind of in the musical sort of field. My family’s very musical on my dad’s side, so I grew up practicing with a lot of different instruments and singing, and I only really got into being a full-time artist late last year. I’ve been doing music for quite a while. Well, I was in school, so I graduated uni last year, and then started doing music full-time after that. But prior to that, I was in school and releasing music once in a while. I released my first single, in 2021, and I’ve been putting things out, like once or twice a year since then, but since last year, I’ve started releasing a lot more music, and, you know, doing singing full-time. So yeah, I was just in school before that, in Ohio. It’s a school called Oberlin. So I was studying biology and African Studies, but I was still doing some music on the side, you know.

What inspired your latest song?
Well, it was actually so the song was written in a writing camp that I was in in Lagos last year, in December. So I was just working with the songwriters, and we came up with a bunch of different songs, and this was one of the songs that came out of that writing camp. And I think the inspiration behind it came after the fact, after we’d written it, because mostly the inspiration for the lyrics and stuff was from the beat. So when we listened to the beat and heard the saxophone, the vibe was just very soft and sultry and very lovey-dovey, and so that’s the route that we went on. And I think since then, like with Valentine’s and what the song has come to mean to me, I think it’s been, yeah, the song is really just about being in the moment with somebody and slowing down and taking time and yeah, I think that’s the inspiration. It was just formed in the studio.

How involved are R&B and Afrobeats in your life?
Well, I grew up listening to a lot of R&B. I grew up in the 2000s R&B era. So that was a huge inspiration in terms of my musical influence and the artists that I look up to. And I think now that I’m making R&B fusion music, I am starting to do a little bit more now. Yeah, I want to be more involved in the R&B scene, forılmaz sure. So I’m working on a lot of new music that’s a little bit more on the R&B side, but yeah, I think it’s my biggest musical inspiration. I think Afrobeats has started becoming really big in the last 10 years, and that has pushed me to do a little bit more of that. Because, you know, I grew up listening to Afrobeats also, and I enjoy making Afrobeats music. But yeah, I think I really am starting to do a little bit more, like 2000s R&B type stuff, getting back to that era, yeah.

Any favorite names?
Oh my gosh, Jordin Sparks, Rihanna, Keri Hilson, Beyoncé, who else? Yeah, all the now it’s a little bit different, but with the newer artists. But yeah, those are definitely my 2000s R&B inspos, yeah.

Walk us through your creative process.
I think it’s the same as when I’m in a camp. It’s just a little bit more. Because even when I’m in a studio, I’m still bouncing ideas off other people and seeing, how does this sound good? Like, should I say this, blah, blah. But I think for me, the inspiration and the creative process really starts with the beat. So when I hear a really good beat and I feel like I can start writing to it, or it makes me think of something, or puts me in some space where the creativity just flows, thinking of melodies, thinking of lyrics, and then, yeah, the songs usually just come out like that, and then they go through a lot of changes as it gets closer to maybe releasing it or even just having it on hand. I feel like I definitely do a lot of reworking of the songs afterwards, but in the studio, that’s usually how my process is. Yeah.

Do you have any specific ritual or creative habit for generating ideas for your music?
Not really, to be honest, I just trust myself to be able to create based on the inspiration that I feel in the moment. I think I probably will develop one at some point, but I don’t know, I haven’t been doing this for that long where I have a certain ritual per se, even when people ask me, like, do you have a ritual before you go on stage and stuff? Yeah, I don’t really have one yet, but I feel like I will probably end up having one at some point, but not right now.

What are you trying to record today?
Today, I’m working on a project, a collaborative project. I joined a lot of studio sessions and tried to come up with a theme or an idea around the project. But yeah, that’s still in the works, so I can’t talk too much about it. But I have been recording a lot of new music outside of that project too, just in terms of collaborations with, I’m in Nairobi right now, so I’ve been collabing with a lot of artists, and just making as much music as I can so that I have for next year or the end of the year, but yeah, so I have all of the songs, all that. So I have a song coming out in May, and then another one coming out in July, projects for me, but those are obviously done already. So yeah, right now I’m just making a lot of music, really working on my artistry and growing as a musician and as an artist. I’m trying to get into producing as well. I have a big interest in producing, but I’m not quite at the level yet. So, yeah, just working, practicing and working on that, and performing as much as possible.

What’s the experience like working with other African producers and how do their nationalities influence the creative process?
I’ve been working with a number of different producers. I think I’m starting to also understand because of the practice of just working with producers in general and different people, I think I’m starting to understand what works best for me. But he lives here full-time, and yeah, I think it’s been really good for me personally, just because I see how they work differently. Like, some producers give a lot of feedback and input and help you write the song, and then other producers just let you do your thing. And I don’t know if I have a preference, I think that works fine both times for me. But yeah, it’s been a really good experience. I think I’ve had sessions, and I’ve had outdoor sessions. I’ve had sessions at the studio. We’ve had sessions at people’s houses. Like, it’s just been very free, interesting, yeah, yeah. So I think it’s been really good.

How influential are you as an artiste in the creative process for an Afrobeats song when it comes to working with a Kenyan producer?
I think it’s the same as any song, like, if I hear a beat that I like, and I have maybe some input on how it might be able to change, or what I might want to add or remove, they’re always open to that. With Afrobeats, I feel like it’s not a strictly Nigerian thing. Like, everyone listens to Afrobeats, so they know how it sounds, right? So it’s not like I’m an expert on Afrobeats. But I mean, I have an idea of what I want my sound to sound like. And I think the more I work with certain producers, they also get an understanding of what my sound is like. So they start being more like, hey, or if they have an idea of what my voice would sound good on too. But yeah, I think with Afrobeats specifically, I don’t think it’s any different, really, than other kinds of music, but I mostly only do Afrobeats and R&B, so I feel like I’m not really the best to judge. Maybe if I was doing other genres too, I would be able to say, but yeah, I don’t think it’s been too challenging.

Speaking of collaborations with other contemporary rising artists, do you have any on your mind?
In the future, I think Tems is a number one for me. Qing Madi. I really like her, even some of the Kenyan artists I’ve been listening to, like Xenia or Nikita Kering, yeah. And then if we get into R&B, like in the US scene, I feel like Normani or Coco Jones are huge people. And of course, Victoria Monét, who’s my favorite artist. But yeah, those are my top ones, yeah.

What are your pastimes?
You know, every time I would get this question, I would always just say singing, until I became an artist, and now I can’t really say that, so I’ve been trying to find out what my other hobbies are. I mean, I really enjoy art in all forms. I like drawing, painting. I used to be really good in art class. Well, I don’t do art class anymore, but I think I’m still pretty good. I can definitely draw. I can paint, not so much, but I still enjoy it. And yeah, I like to watch a lot of movies. I don’t, yeah, I feel like I’m still figuring out what I like to do outside of singing, obviously. The things I studied, I’m very passionate about black women’s health and biology and that kind of thing. But I wouldn’t really call that a hobby. I think that’s more a passion that I wanna do something with in my life. But yeah, I think just any kind of creative thing I really enjoy, and also outdoor stuff, like I love just being in nature and around a lot of water, yeah.

Finally, what would you say is a vision for Osaruwa?
I think I just wanna be one of the main names in the Afro-R&B scene. I really wanna inspire people. I wanna inspire young black musicians like myself. Yeah, I just wanna be able to do what I love and move people with my music. And yeah, that’s really the vision here. My brand is really about women empowerment and black female empowerment, and so that’s the forefront of what I wanna do, both musically and with science and medicine. Yeah.