Harmonies By Any Minz

With By Any Minz, Afropop singer-songwriter Minz steps into the spotlight, blending Pop, Soul, and Afrobeat with a fresh perspective. In this week’s Guardian Music, he discusses his creative journey, inspirations, and debut album, which carries his unique voice and message for listeners to savour life’s moments.

Minz is one of the vibrant voices chaperoning the Pop Soul wave in Afrobeats. Born Oluwadamilola Aminu, the young singer has been an active voice in the Nigerian underground music scene, for nearly a decade, before his big break in 2022 with the song WO WO, featuring Bnxn and Blaqbonez.

With good songwriting skills and a diverse range of melodies, Minz has created a catalogue of evergreen hits, leading up to his just-released debut album, By Any Minz. His music is a mesh of African Pop and Soul, with Hip Hop, Reggae, and R&B influences, and his influences vary from King Sunny Ade to Drake.

With a star-studded debut album including acts like Davido, Tekno, Projexx, and Blaqbonez, Minz is off to an audacious start, shaping his artistry as both feel-good and introspective. The album, he explains, is a call to smell the ‘coffee’ and savour life’s diverse and unpredictable aromas.

READ ALSO: Minz, Davido serve vibrant RnB anthem, WAP

The result of his grit is also visible in his career: he was invited to perform outside Nigeria, with just his debut song, Talk. And it happened similarly with this debut album, as he opened for Davido’s Timeless Tour concert in Paris in January. With over 30 million plays on streaming services, the 30-year-old is becoming a household voice among Afrobeats lovers. But all of these feats weren’t always a dream for Minz.

In this week’s Guardian Music, he shares his come-up story—from discovering his music talent due to creative restlessness as a teenager to becoming a studio rat and eventually finding help from strangers turned friends. He takes us behind the making of By Any Minz, detailing his experiences working with Davido and Projexx, his creative processes, and his vision to inspire others to pursue a life of impact.

How does it feel to drop your debut album?

I feel very excited about what the future holds, and I’m also feeling a lot of love based on how people are reacting to the project. It is really fulfilling, knowing that I put in this amount of work and it’s not being taken for granted.

When did you first discover your musical talent?

I first started with drawing. I’ve always been a creative mind. Growing up, I always wanted to know everything. Over time, I started to fall in love with music. And I became obsessed to the point where I was always trying to be that guy who knew the latest songs. Then, it transformed into learning how to sing. Some people are born and they just start singing, but for me, I developed a love for it and voila!

How did you hone this talent?

I think it first started with writing raps in secondary school. When I got into university, I became very interested in beat-making, because I needed beats to put my music on. So I started learning how to make beats as well. I was listening to a lot of Drake and Bryson Tiller, and I started learning how to do those melodies myself. I just kept going at it and got better.

Any support from family and friends?

It was a gradual process that started with beat-making in school. Then I started leaving my campus to go to Surulere to record music. My friend and I would gather the little money we could lay our hands on, mostly from saved allowances, and we’d go to the studio. We could not even pay for the sessions. We would just buy fuel with the money and hope we get some free time in the studio.

READ ALSO: Rising star DJ 808 teams up with Minz and Toye to release new single “Konsentraiit”

My parents have always supported me, but they wanted me to do a professional course. At some point, I considered studying Mass Communication because I fell in love with radio as well. But my dad wanted me to do a professional course, and I got into Babcock University to study International Law and Diplomacy.

In school, a friend of mine lent me his laptop to start making beats. And when I graduated, I got more serious and started putting out music on SoundCloud. One of my friends called me one day, and he was excited that my song had started going viral on SoundCloud. In two weeks, it had already gathered over 100,000 plays. Then another friend reached out to me from America to sign me.

I remember being inspired by Bryson Tiller’s story. He was working at a restaurant and he really wanted to make music, so he borrowed money from his friend, maybe $600 to buy the equipment and started recording himself. So I told the guy to help me with getting equipment. One of the first songs I recorded was titled Talk, and a year after I dropped it, in 2017, I got booked to perform in Gabon because the song had blown so big in that country.

On this album, what are the core messages you’re trying to tell?

The story of resilience, and never stopping. Just believing in something and seeing it through by any means. The project is for you to have a good time and also for you to reflect on something, that your dreams are valid. Keep going and never stop believing in yourself.

What’s your creative process like?

There are different approaches to how I make my music. Sometimes, an idea can come before I even hear the beat. I am inspired by my environment and the things that happen around me. I believe my music is like a diary of my life’s experiences. Sometimes, I make a beat and then come up with melodies and then build a message around it.

What were your earliest musical influences?

I grew up around a bit of my immediate and extended family. Everybody’s music taste was different. My dad always played Sunny Ade, Ebenezer Obey, or Apala music. Then, my mom would play a lot of Don Moen. My uncle loved playing Ayinde Barrister, Pasuma, or other Fuji musicians. And then there was me developing a taste for Hip Hop. And all of these things came together to create the unique sound that I have.

Tell us about your session with Davido on the album.

I was blessed to have the right people in my corner pushing my gospel. Through them, he got to hear my music, and he really liked that song. When they told me he wanted to make a verse for the song, I doubted it. But before you know it, we had started talking on WhatsApp. He told me to pull up to the studio and he recorded his verse right in front of me. And the rest is history. He showed me love. I even performed at his show in Paris, and he was just so real. He’s a legend, and he made time for me, and made time to come to my video shoot. He was there till like 4 AM. It’s not something I would ever forget.

Tell us about the one with Projexx also.

Ever since I heard him on Wizkid’s True Love, I knew I wanted to connect and make music with him. So, we have stayed in touch since then. There was some back and forth. We did multiple versions, but I just knew that he was the one I wanted on the song. Finally, I sent the final version to him and he sent in his verse in two working days. That’s a real guy!

How did you get your name, Minz?

That’s a funny story. My full name is Oluwadamiwala Aminu. While I was in Babcock, a friend used to call me Minu and I didn’t like it. I impulsively decided to switch the name up and added the Z to it so it became Minz.

What do you do when you’re not making music?

I recently got more into playing video games. My childhood was so unique, because I grew up with my sisters, and I remember as a child I always wanted a PlayStation console but there was nobody else pushing for it as much as me, so I ended up not getting those things. Right now, I’m living my childhood dreams, getting into gaming and all of that. I love fashion as well. I want to start collecting art. I’m also very passionate about food.

READ ALSO: Minznse drops debut album, pens emotional message

Finally, what is the vision for your artistry?

The vision for me is constant elevation, pushing the boundaries, breaking the glass ceilings, and just levelling up my artistry. One thing about me is I keep growing as a person and as an artist. The quality of my music keeps improving, down to the quality of visuals I put out for it. I want to connect to more and more people and spread a good vibe into the world. I feel like that’s what I was put on this earth to do. I want to inspire people to do more for themselves, to want more for themselves, and to do better for their society.