In the history of Afro-fusion in Nigeria, Vince The Commander is one name that is poised for impact and stardorm. The US-based musician has flourished as a singer, songwriter, and record producer, crafting warming melodies across a harmonic spectrum of RnB, Highlife, Pop, and Afrobeats.

With his debut EP, X, still making the rounds, garnering acclaim from critical ears, Vince The Commander is stretching his legacy on evergreen waters. His sonorous vocals and conscious lyricism seem to light up his potential, as he continues crafting a discography built on solid sonics and stellar delivery. And his most recent records including, “One N Only”, among others, are proof that he’s on a sacred trail of self-expression and super stardom.

Catching up with Guardian Music, the maestro peels back memories of his evolution, nitpicking his influences, creative inspirations, as well as unraveling the plot to the next chapter of his career.

Tell us a bit about Vince the commander.
Vince The commander is a what’s called self taught singer, songwriter from Lagos, Nigeria, currently based in the US, the San Francisco Bay area to be precise. Do get around California a lot.

But the brand, Vince the commander, is about making people believe in themselves and have the willpower that you can like, Do what they already set your mind to. I know nothing is too high for you, nothing is unattainable really.

Like I said, I’m a self taught musician, everything I learned was just me just, you know, working hard, day in and day out and just staying consistent. So I think with the right attitude, consistency , anything is possible. So, my music, everything I do is all about just showing people that it is possible .

How did you come about the whole commander tag?
Ebenezer was actually the one that was called the chief commander.I always found that pretty interesting. Growing up, I liked seeing this title in front of his name.

How were you exposed to Ebenezer Obey?
Growing up in a very Yoruba-like household, you can’t really escape the likes of Ebenezer Obey, King sunny-Ade just go to parties and stuff as well, it’s just everywhere you go. It was being played at Owambe. So that was my first introduction to the man himself and his music. I don’t know how to explain but you’re not consciously thinking about it but it was like them in your everyday life. So it just becomes like a part of your day to day.

How did you hone your talent in music?
I’ll tell a pretty good story about that.So when I was younger, like when I was like 7-8ish, my parents put me and my siblings in orchestral music camp then. I guess like every weekend they didn’t know what to do with us, young children with energy ,so they just decided to put us in music camp. I played violin, then my sister played violin as well. And then my brother played the cello.

We just did it because like, we’re young kids, we didn’t have a choice. You have to do what your parents told us to do, so I would say that was like my very first experience with trying to learn music. But then obviously I was a kid. I didn’t really care for it that much So I abandoned it because the older friends were like they were forcing us to learn. I went back to it when I was older on my own. I just revisited it and started playing guitar.

And I told myself I play guitar and then from there, I just learn some more instruments, learnt software, I actually learnt about music and song structure, writing songs and all that and it just became a whole thing.

So, yeah, I guess the manifestation of all that is, , you need to come on that.

How do you draw inspiration for your music?
I would say my music is based on what I am going through that moment. So If I am in a space where I have a lot of love around me and I write about love, you know, my first, first single “Otito” was more like Fela, like old school afrobeats. By the time #Endsars was going on,We had COVID here in the US and everybody was just at war with each other So the sound has to be war as well, it just depends on what’s going on. Now I am singing about love because I have love in my life and I’m happy as well so tomorrow if they serve me breakfast, you will get breakfast songs as well.
It just depends on what’s going on in the ecosystem.

What did you listen to growing up in, in terms of influence, for your song?
I grew up Listening to a lot of MI Abaga. For me, I feel like that’s like a critical moment in Nigerian music history that we don’t talk about enough. M.I, D’banj , we all wanted to be D’banj in school back in the day and there was Terry G as well. Terry G was one of my biggest influences to ever go to music and a lot of people don’t know this but he also created a lot of his own beats.

He was at the forefront at the palongo era of Nigerian music, being that rebel, he didn’t give a fuck. I admire that about TerryG. So I will say ice prince, 2face,D’banj, m.I and Terry G. Shout out the GOATS.

Walk us through your discography.
So, I’m gonna start with my most recent one. It’s called one and only. It’s a high life inspired song and I talk about Love there because love is Sweet. Love is sweets right now. Love can become another thing tomorrow.But for now ,Love is Sweet.

It’s something you can play at the party, you play when you’re doing anything , I guess it’s a good song to listen to. And then, before that, I had a song called lebron, which is about just going out with your dad. But then before that was, there was a song called Advices which is about being in love with a drug addict.

And then before that one was called Attraction. That was just about what attraction is about , just like having synergy with someone as far as sex is concerned. So again, very inspired by the times.

What would you say is your biggest strength as an artist?
It has to be definitely storytelling and the melody? I love communicating ideas through music. I love saying something in a song and then the listener stops and says “Oh, oh, wait,let me take that back. I try to just connect with the audience because the world really is a global village. So whatever they listen to in Nigeria, they probably listen to it in the US and vice versa. So you tell these stories that hopefully people can identify with and connect with on a very personal and deep level. That’s my biggest strength.

So, in terms of collaborations, who are you looking for, to collaborate with the industry?
So many. Terry G. that sounds like a legend and one I admire for sure.

What’s the vision for Vince the Commander?
I will say the vision for Vince Commander is just to continue to release music and tell honest stories that people can just like relate with and feel on a very deep and personal level because I feel like the best music is the ones that are the ones rather that you can connect with. And you feel like, you know, the artist is saying exactly what’s in your mind, but you just don’t know how to say it. keep spreading those messages.

You know, it’s not always going to be beautiful, it’s not always going to be easy, sometimes it’s like, it’s the hardest things, but it’s just true. So just continue to communicate honestly with the audience and just stay true to the audience.that’s what I would say my vision and mission is for the future.

Finally, tell us two fun facts about Vince the Commander.
I like the gym, It’s like my second house. I’m a gym rat ,and I enjoy going there. I don’t know if this is a fun fact about me but I’m lactose intolerant. So I don’t drink milk. I don’t do dairy at all and I don’t eat things that are like white colour. It just throws me off, I don’t eat ice cream. I don’t like white food just because it reminds me of milk. The only one that I eat is pounded yam.