Dwin, The Stoic and his ballads

Dwin, The Stoic defies expectations with his heartfelt ballads, blending vulnerability and community spirit. In this exclusive interview, he discusses his musical journey, creative process, and vision for the future.

Dwin, The Stoic makes music that represents anything but stoicism. His music is a collection of records that promote vulnerability, community, and self-healing. His discography, from the 2018 debut, Heavy Heart, to the recent Master of Ballads, shows a distinct blend of genres like Alt-pop, Soft rock, Folk, House, R&B, and Soul.

Through his slow-burn compositions, he’s curated a legacy as a devoted balladeer, seamlessly blending genres to deliver deeply emotional and resonant music.

Born Edwin Madu, Dwin is also one half of the prominent indie duo, The Ignis Brothers, where he prioritises a communal and live-produced creative process. Two years ago, he left his position as Chief Editor at Zikoko Magazine to dedicate himself full-time to music under his own label, St Claire Records.

As an alternative musician, Dwin has amassed several million plays across streaming services and secured sync placements in Nollywood flicks like Skinny Girl In Transit, 37 To Go, and Far From Home.

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His collaborative projects with artists like Rhaffy and The Ignis Brothers have positioned Dwin, The Stoic as a formidable singer. Master of Ballads also showcases his vocal prowess and acumen as a label executive.

Across the 15 tracks of his latest album, Dwin creates a storybook of experiences, capturing love, dedication, heartbreak, and healing.

He tag-teams similarly niched musicians like Ogranya on To You, Lindsey Abudei on Running, Ruka of Ignis Brothers on Hard Education, and Kate Bass on Hold Me Now, delivering a very ethereal and cohesive African musical experience that he believes is a much-needed “soundtrack to our lives.”

Drawing influences from Weird MC to Michael Jackson, Dwin’s evolution is driven by romance and love. With his soft-toned voice and gentle gaze, he joins us in this week’s edition of Guardian Music, opening doors into his earliest days as a musician, his journey to success, his creative influences, key moments from the making of The Master of Ballads, and his vision to becoming Nigeria’s Elton John.

How do you feel about this release?

I’ve wanted to put out another body of work since my first album in 2018, Heavy Heart, and to have a chance to show growth and demonstrate that it was always there. The writing, the music, starting the label… all of these things are part of what made this album.

What were the messages you tried to tell?

I wanted to tell a unique kind of story with a music album. I wanted to throw the particular type of songwriting I do—mostly ballads—into different genres. The title came from an old interview where another journalist, Emmanuel Esomnofu, had titled the article with me as ‘The emerging master of ballads.’ And so, the album is a combination of different things: old stories, a reintroduction of myself as an artist.

It felt apt to give people all these things that show who I am, from the storytelling to the multi-genre approach. The songwriting, the collaborators I work with, all of these things came together to make the album. The core messages on the album include love, loss, grief, and trying again, like the title of the first song.

I like to sprinkle hope in the music I make because that is very reflective of real life. I want listeners to understand others better, recognise how love can change us, and celebrate their love or reflect on their own experiences.

How did you get into music?

I’ve always loved music. It was a part of my upbringing, and my dad would play music from various genres. My multi-genre approach is mostly because I listen to all kinds of music. I was listening to 2Face, Weird MC, and Plantashun Boiz, while I was listening to The Beatles, Jim Reeves, the Commodores, and the Oriental Brothers.

But I first wrote a song sometime in 2007, back in secondary school. Even while putting out the debut album Heavy Heart in 2018, I had not yet thought of a music career I wanted. I had a day job as a technical consultant, and I just wanted to have a songwriter’s resume out there where people could hire me to write for them.

But by the time the album came out, it got quite the response, and I enjoyed creating the music I liked because it was authentic. I decided to just keep going with music because it’s a thing I am very passionate about. I really like music and all parts of it, including the business of it.

And so in the last two years, I’ve had the chance to start my own indie record label, St Claire Records, and that has been great.

How did you hone your sound?

My earliest influences were bands and heavy songwriters like the Beatles, Jim Reeves, FU, Simon and Garfunkel, and The Roots. You’d listen to some Beatles and see a certain surrender to the lyrics, so if it demands that they are screaming in a very awkward way, it’s part of the song.

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Having those types of influences helped me settle into an understanding of music as something to just allow and you don’t have to box it. All the greats—Michael Jackson, Beyonce, and so on—always had multi-genre approaches. There’s something about an artist allowing themselves to just do whatever music comes to them.

What’s your creative process like?

I’ve been writing music and songs on the back of every book that I owned, and I just kept going at it. I did courses to get better songwriting. I studied other songwriters. I treat this like the job that it is. I try to make the craft better. I love words, and so I’m constantly consuming art in all forms.

My creative process typically starts with ideating the song. The melody usually comes first. For collaborations, first, we lay out the overview of the song, and then focus on each section, from the intro to the verse, the chorus, and everything. And then we probably have one or two other follow-up sessions. Of course, this is all happening, for example, in the middle of the Love Lane tour.

Tell us about your session with Lindsey Abudei.

Working on a song with Lindsey Abudei is something I’ve always wanted to do. I’ve always been a huge fan of her talent, and so when the time came to record songs for the album, I reached out to her to come around for a session to create something unlike anything I’d made.

She came in and the beginning acoustic guitars that we built for the song are played by her. And it’s a beautiful song.

What do you look out for when deciding to collaborate with another artiste?

As long as I’m a fan of their work and I think they create good art that inspires me, or I see and note the honesty in it, that’s all that has been a requirement for me to work with anyone. I need to listen to the song and see myself inside it, rather than trying to force a verse.

What are you doing when you’re not making music?

Honestly, I am working on the label. That’s mostly what I’m doing. When I left my job at Zikoko as Editor in Chief, in late 2022, it was to give music all my time, and this included building the label. And so since I don’t have a day job, music is all there is.

The business around the music that then keeps the lights on is something I spend my time on. Other than that, I also just spend time with friends. I sleep a lot and try to rest.

What’s next for you?

I’m looking forward to being back on the road again. We’re looking to extend a lovely tour to the rest of Africa, apart from Nigeria, and then possibly start working on plans for the Master of Ballads tour, which we plan to have across Africa and Europe, some key areas where we’re very excited for how far the music has come. This year, I think we’ve seen massive growth, and so we’re looking forward to just moving that further along.

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Finally, what’s your vision for your music?

I want to have a long career, one where the music is timeless, which I think it is currently. I think I want a career like Elton John’s or Stevie Wonder where you have beautiful music across decades, across time.

I love that. Now my fans can say they still listen to an album from four years ago every other day. I want to keep doing that as often as possible. And I also want to just create art in general. I’m looking to create films around the music I’m making now.