The Eclectic Rise of Tweehz

Nigerian musician, Tweehz, is one of the newest and vibrant voices connecting the Afrobeats scene from Lagos to New York, with his daring contemporary pop fusions.

Having been raised across Lagos’ Surulere and Egbeda suburbs, Tweehz, real name Chukwudi Udoka, started his sojourn last year with the political anthem, “Peter Obi”. The African EDM song helped campaign for the Labour Party’s flag bearer in the country’s last presidential elections.

His follow-up record, during the same year, “Rastafarian” was a curious old skool Naija pop attempt, while his “Sapa Loving” comeback a few months back showcases his versatile style with his lo-fi RnB, Amapiano and other indigenous fusions.

Off the heels of his latest record, “Thankful”, the young musician catches up with Guardian Music, exploring his early come-up in Nigeria’s music scene, as well as his interesting fluid fusions, and his mission to spread his music beyond every border possible.

Tell us about your background in music.
I hate to say it because it’s a cliche, but I started music in Church. I was young, actually, eight years old, and I chose the drum. Yeah, I was sort of inconsistent. We would go to choir practice. But somehow, that’s where the engagement from music started, from that church choir. Then, from there it progressed to secondary school where I had to learn an instrument. So something just kicked off from there.

What’s your creative process?
I produce too, so I am definitely starting with the keys and I’ll just go from there. Then I would try to write the melody to it. Then if I like the melody, I start messing around with the beats. If someone sends me a beat, I listen to the beat and I just do a quick freestyle on it, and it’s always tied to what I’m feeling at the moment.

What do you envision your sound to progress to?
I’m fluid. Right now, there’s this, there’s a mix of reggaeton, Fuji, and Apala. I think that those indigenous sounds tell my story, because that’s actually who I am. I’m a very diverse person and adventurous with music. Sometimes, being this fluid can throw people off because they don’t know what to expect. However, they can get used to it too, because they know that it’s always a case of with this person you don’t know what to expect. I still try to make whatever I’m doing still along the Afrobeats radar in terms of, okay, it’s something that Nigerians can vibe to, in a way.

What’s next for you?
We’re going to push the song in Nigeria. We would also see more projects soon. I would most likely drop a main project next year, probably middle of the year.

How did you choose your stage name?
I got it because of how writing music comes “too easy” for me. So it’s a wordplay. I started music early, and a lot of my peers saw how I write, and if you’re moving to now, for me in the studio, you will know that, okay, writing is probably my number one gift. Lot of people think it is my music production. I think my production is just because of hard work, but writing is probably what comes naturally to me.

Finally, what is the vision for your career?
That’s a very good question. I have some interesting bangers dropping soon. I think the long term vision will be to have an amazing fan base. I think I’ve studied a world where music has become so complicated, and it’s a lot of artists out there. So I think the vision will be to have a very strong fan base, to be known as one of the most amazing performers because I love performing my songs on stage. I want to sell out world venues.