From selling Arike for survival money to watching it become a chart-topping anthem, Kunmie’s rise has been anything but accidental. In this conversation with Guardian Music, the Afro R&B singer reflects on quitting school, studying poetry, and building a sound rooted in love, vulnerability, and intention.

Just around this time last year, Nigerian troubadour Kunmie, born Oluwabukunmi Peter, stepped into Afrobeats’ limelight with his powerful Afro R&B track, Arike. What might have been dismissed as a one-hit wonder quickly became the cornerstone for the young singer’s career, which began circa 2019, in the heart of Lagos. The song, now sitting at over 80 million digital plays and multiple charting feats, including No. 1 on the Turntable’s Official Top 100 songs in Nigeria, became the prelude to Kunmie’s heartfelt African R&B and soul fusions. 

Shortly after Arike’s instant viral moment, Kunmie returned with a four-track extended playlist titled, Before We Became Strangers. The EP cemented his status as one to watch within the industry, tucking in a very distinct and vibrant storytelling style. His love memoirs continued to gain popularity within Afrobeats’ corridors, eventually earning him a collaboration with Bella Shmurda on Sanity, and an explosive remix of Arike with Simi and Mabel. 

With one of the most successful breakouts in recent Afrobeats memory, Kunmie is pushing his craft beyond the idea of sheer luck. If ditching a college admission and going full-throttle in mastering one’s craft is the recipe for success as an Afrobeats star, then the Agege-bred singer is poised to soar to the top of Afrobeats stardom. His melancholic feel, silky vocals and lovelorn stories continue to give him an edge, following closely in the footsteps of acts like Omah Lay, Victony, Ckay, and Oxlade. 

Catching up with Guardian Music, the singer traces back his evolution as a singer, from discovering music in high school, to quitting school and striking gold with Arike, writing for other musicians, and finding his creative identity.

Tell us what inspired your journey in music. 

I started making music in 2019 and made my first song on the 2nd of May. It was nowhere near the standard I have now. I’m just thankful to God, to be honest. If I try to tell the full story of where I’m coming from, it would need a documentary. I was born and bred in Abule Egba, before I moved to Agege. It was when I moved that I realised I could make music. I made my first song in SS3, and I felt like I had found purpose. 

I found music when there was total silence in the room, and it was just me and my thoughts, and I decided to put words together. Then I realised I could tell stories in melodies. By 2019, I started to evolve. I was 16 years old, and I had never had anybody in my family do music, so I had to figure it out myself. It was when I recorded Arike that I knew that I had reached a new level.

Were you ever in college?

I studied Business Administration, but I stopped after my first year because there was a disconnect. I used to be a very bright student, but I was not comfortable in the classroom anymore. I did not think I was supposed to be there. I’m a sucker for knowledge, but I had to go back to Lagos. There was such a sharp decline in how I was making music, and I had to start picking myself up again. I took a one-year break from making music, and I just started to study poetry. That’s all I was doing with my life: studying and writing poetry, and listening to new artists; I wanted to be inspired by something that not everybody was inspired by. 

Who were these artists?

I listened to Kamauu and Lord Huron. I started to figure out how they constructed their music, so I decided to ‘Afrolise’ it, merging Afrobeats with soul, R&B, and country music. This was how I found myself here. 

Before I found myself as a singer, I was songwriting for a lot of people. I was paid sometimes, but I was doing it more to learn what it was like to be an artist and to get closer to them. I was writing a lot for Oxlade. I was regular at music camps. In fact, when I made Arike, I sent it to Oxlade and tried to sell him the song because I badly needed money at the time. But he told me to keep it because it was solid.  

Any Afrobeats acts in the mix?

For Afrobeats, I listened to everybody. From Wizkid to Burna Boy to Davido, I picked from everyone. I also love Olamide, Kizz Daniel, Rema, Fireboy, Victony and a lot of other artistes. I still listen to all of them.

Did you try to sell Arike to someone else?

I was sending it via email to a lot of people. If a lot of artists check their emails, they will see that song there. I had one French artist respond, and he offered to pay $500. It was 2023, and I had already started spending that money in my head because I thought he would send it quickly. However, for some reason, he just stopped texting me back. I was so sad, because I really wanted the money. God knew what He was doing.

So, how did you get to release the song? 

In 2023, I got really sick with stage four typhoid due to poor living conditions. I was hospitalised. My aunt came to the hospital to pick me up and take good care of me. She stopped me from going to studio sessions. I literally was not doing anything. All I was doing was going to church and coming back to sleep. I was on heavy meds at the time. It was around that time I realised that I was giving people this song for crumbs. 

I approached my uncle one time, and I asked him to support me with N2 million to promote this song. He advised me to get some structure, like finding a manager. He was inspired by the song. However, after I found a manager, my uncle was no longer in the picture. I was expecting my manager to leave, but he stayed. Fast forward to 2025, he just called me to say that the people who distribute my music wanted to push the record. We shot the first video around February, and we dropped the song. It went crazy the first day. 

Although I had never tasted failure, and even when I went number one on the charts, it didn’t mean anything to me, but I could see the joy on their faces that it was a big deal. We were doing over 700k streams in a day. I think it’s divine that it happened the way it did. 

Was Arike inspired by real-life events?

As a genuine artist, a lot of the time you don’t always put yourself in the driver’s seat of what you’re creating; you tap from a lot of experiences to create art. Arike was not specifically for one person. It was a mix of feelings from different women and different relationships. However, the EP project, Before We Became Strangers, was specifically for one person because that one was so personal. I had already messed up the relationship, and everything was just coming back to my head. So, it depends. Sometimes, I make music from my personal experiences, and I also draw inspiration from different places.

Do you have a typical creative process?

I’m very much involved in every single part of the process. I have production credits on almost all my songs. I play the guitar. I produce my songs to a degree; for instance, I made the first draft of Arike myself. I also play the chords, bass, and drums by myself. So my process is, I grab a guitar, find melodies, then call my producers. I’m also a guy who likes to finish making a song in one day; even if it takes me the whole day, I must finish making a song before I move on to another.

Apart from love stories, are you going to talk about other themes moving forward? 

This year, I want people to be able to experience me in so many lights and to just know that I’m more versatile than they expect. My fans are going to hear different sounds from me this year and experience the kind of songs that God has blessed me with.

When you aren’t making music, what are you up to?

I’m always thinking about music. When I’m not thinking about music, my mind is telling me to think about it. All I do in my life is make music, except for times when I am mentally stressed, or I have exhausted my creative pipe. Then, I go and play football or video games. A lot of my side activities, including going to the gym, are still to help me perform better in my music. Everything still revolves around the music. I don’t do anything that is far apart from the music. 

Finally, what is your vision for the music?

I want to always get better at everything that has to do with music. I want to be a better person and have so much music that people find comforting. I want them to be able to close their eyes and feel like they are safe. I know what it’s like to be depressed or to have anxiety. I just want to make a lot of people feel seen with my music.