Music  

Alté Singer Myke Talks About His Forthcoming Album, Set For 2022 Release

By Editor

25 September 2021   |   6:00 am

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Nigerian Alté artiste, Michael Echezona, better known by his stage name "Myke" has pushed back the release of his debut album, originally set for later this year, to 2022. Speaking about the postponement of the yet-to-bet-titled album, Myke cited several other projects as the reason as well as some unfinished work with an international multiple…

Nigerian Alté artiste, Michael Echezona, better known by his stage name “Myke” has pushed back the release of his debut album, originally set for later this year, to 2022.

Speaking about the postponement of the yet-to-bet-titled album, Myke cited several other projects as the reason as well as some unfinished work with an international multiple Grammy winning producer.

Myke had previously released the “Honeyland vol1 EP,” a collaborative effort with label mate, AB1 and had headline songs “Alafia ” and “Go slow” which received a good number of streams across stream platforms.

The Sound
Having a long history in the background of the Nigerian music industry Myke had to contend with some bottlenecks, chief among them being an inability to identify a music genre that would complement his gift.

From Dope Tracks Entertainment which was home to big artistes of the early 2000s like Big Lo and 2 shortz to “Coded Tunes” which at the time had headlining artists like 9ice, Lord of Ajasa, 2phat, Seriki, Olamide, amongst a long list of others, Myke had groomed his skills and patiently waited for the right time to make it happen for himself and after years of understudying the industry big shots, Myke adopted Alté because it best suited his style, adaptability and vocal uniqueness.

Simplified for the uninitiated, Myke’s music genre, Alté, is Nigerian lingo for ‘alternative’ which means freedom of expression.

Although the artists belonging to this subgroup differ greatly in style, it generally fuses a variety of genres including, R&B, rap, indie, and dancehall. Alté refutes the notion that African music can be boiled down to a single monolithic genre title, as it so often is by outsiders.

While trying to find a balance between his love for music, fashion and academia, Myke kept postponing his music projects until the release of the debut EP “Honeyland Vol1” and in collaboration with the Label Honeyland production company Myke is currently working underground with Nigerian A-list artistes like Peruzzi as well as other top rated Nigerian artists to bring his “Alte” sound mainstream.

He has promised to deliver an international/crossover Alternative album like no other and with producers like Masterkraft, Masterpiece, Trevor as well as other very talented producers in the works it’s not hard to imagine he would deliver on that promise.

The Personality
When Myke is not in the studio making hit jams, he spends his free time watching and playing football, tennis, and pool. Although Myke spent years understudying Nigerian artistes, he alludes his music influences to western artistes such as Kanye West, Smokie, Florence Welch, Lana del rey, and SAINT JHN. However, and perhaps, his biggest music influence may be from Finnish rock band, The Rasmus, whom he hopes to have a collaboration with in the near future.

Myke has been in the music and entertainment industry for years and has a piece of advice for his fans and younger ones. “Nothing good comes easy. Good and quality work is worth the pursuit. Strategy and patience is key to success in any field of life,” he admonished.

On the most valuable lesson he’s learnt as a musician, Myke said “I have personally learnt that your originality defines your journey in terms of longevity. One must stay true to oneself.”

It’s this originality, complemented by his talent, style and craft that propelled Myke to the Alternative genre, and one which is set to take him to the pinnacle of music in Africa.