She’s been redefining what it means to be a ‘good girl’ since her debut album, La Confidential. Now, on her just-released self-titled EP, GoodGirl LA unveils a fresh chapter in her versatile artistry.

Over her six-year career, GoodGirl LA has built a reputation for bold and sonorous vocals since her 2019 debut album, LA Confidential.

On the just-released EP, executively produced by Andre Vibez, GoodGirl LA unpacks her romantic and sensual stories with a feisty and witty bluntness that keeps the 20-minute project electric. She views her music as a charge to inspire other women to chase their dreams, undeterred by stereotypes.

After a retinue of hit features, including Vector’s Early Momo and Alpha Ojini’s Calm Down, GoodGirl LA returns with a line-up of powerful hits such as Buss It and Goodgirl. The entire EP is a storybook about love, heartbreak, self-development. It’s also her personal manifesto for musical consistency.

Born Euphemia Ekumah, the 28-year-old honed her singing and performing skills in the church choir, before breaking out in 2019 with hits like Bless Me, Bless Me (Crowd Kontroller remix), and LA Confidential.

With her distinct vocal signature, powerful storytelling, and fusion-focused discography, GoodGirl LA stands out as one of Nigerian music’s most dynamic talents.

She sits down with Guardian Music to share her creative process, her experiences with music production, collaborating with Andre Vibez, and her mission to inspire self-discovery and self-love.

How do you feel about your new release?
I’m so excited. I’ve been preparing for this new era for some years now, and even putting in a lot of work behind the scenes during my hiatus to deliver something really meaningful and powerful to the world. So, I’m really excited to share what I’ve been working on.

What was your headspace like with making this new record?
I was inspired mainly by life and the things I noticed as a child, as a female, as an African girl; the things I noticed in society, the things expected of me, and things that I’m allowed to do and not do, the limitations that are placed on my femininity, or my artistry as a woman in Africa.

So, I was inspired by seeing all of that, the challenges the women before me — whether artistes or even just the mothers — experienced, watching their lives in comparison to the men. It was an inspiration! It has always been like that (a muse) throughout my career. But it became heightened this time, because I understand a lot of things better, being a woman in my 20s.

With this EP, I was in such a headspace that inspired me to transmute them into music that can serve as a weapon for other women to find themselves, to step out of the box, to break the mould — or the glass ceiling — and just exist unapologetically and not be afraid to take up space just because we’re not allowed to.

I decided to make this project so raw and so powerful that it inspires girls to break their own ceilings. And I wanted to create a weapon for women and for people that are in touch with their femininity, to be able to step out of the mould and to get more in touch with themselves.

So when you said “good girl gone bad”, that was a metaphor for your activism?
Yes. My name itself is a symbolic defiance to the status quo, to the expectations of femininity. We’ve had this universal experience where we are expected to be a good girls, and we are told that girls have to play by certain rules, but with boys it’s a case of ‘boys will be boys’.

My name is like a rebellion to that phenomenon. We want to take up space, and we’re going to take up space! So, me naming the project Goodgirl is a symbolic rejection of that status quo of compliance and smallness. It’s my way of clarifying that I do not play by the rules, and I want to inspire other girls to follow suits, smashing the status quo.

Tell us about the creative process behind the record.

It was really fiery and very intentional. I already knew what I wanted to do, and it just so happened that I met the right people at the right time to express those ideas and execute them perfectly.

Andre Vibez is one of the most prolific and gifted producers in the history of Afrobeats and he has such a great ear, a mind and heart for music. We met at a time where he had really done it all, made global hits like Calm Down, with Rema, and Rush, with Ayra Star. He’s in a space where he wants to step out of the box too. He wants to break the mould. He wants to beat his own records and set new ones. So, being in that similar mindspace, it was seamless in the way we clicked and worked.

Getting in the studio, we were just playing the piano, and we knew exactly the kind of chords we wanted. There was no certain formula; we relied on our feelings and it didn’t take long to create music because we were very much in sync. We made over 20 records in a month. Good girl and Buss It were made within the space of 48 hours! It was a very spontaneous and fiery process, because we knew exactly what we wanted.

You sound like you have production experience.
Yes, I do. That’s one of the things I’ve been training myself on over the past years. While I wasn’t active on the singing, I had been producing since the beginning of my career. I have just never given myself the production credit. I have even worked with P.Priime, during the early stages of my career.

For the past three years, I have been mastering a software called Logic. In 2022, I released a song called Goodbye, and it was fully produced by myself. Music is something that I really love so much, and I love to be involved in every part. So I’d probably call myself a baby producer.

What direction were you intending to go with the EP from the start?
We wanted it to sound very universal. Growing up, I listened to a lot of Afrobeats and a lot of international music. So much of all my influences are very half-and-half, and that is what I authentically express all the time.

We wanted the project to be music that people can relate to. So, we decided to make the chords very sticky and memorable. And we have our drum patterns, obviously, that we know in Nigeria, in the mix. So, we just wanted to make sure that we made relatable music and achieved our goals with the EP.

Are we seeing you perform the music anytime soon?
Yes, we have some online performances and some real-life performances that will be coming. I’m so big on performances. So we have a lot of that coming, as well!

How would you summarise your chemistry with Andre Vibez?
Well, seamless! Like I said earlier, Andre is a genius — when he hears, he knows. He really knows music inside and out, and he has been my friend for about 10 years now. It’s just perfect divine timing for us to be going into this kind of partnership right now, and I’m really just excited and blessed to have someone like him.

Speaking of collaborations, are there any other contemporaries on your radar that you would like to make music with?

I’d like to keep some of them secret, but as of now I would like to work with Doechii. I think she’s amazing. I’d say Rihanna, but that’s such a staple.

Is there anything you’d like to add before we round off?
To the girls out there, don’t be afraid to take up space. Don’t be afraid to do the crazy or the weird things, and don’t be afraid to be seen in all of your fullness and in your authenticity, because that is where your power truly lies.

A few rapid-fire questions. What’s your favourite thing to do after recording music?
Eat chocolate.

Your favourite ambience to record music?
I like a dark studio with a candle. I also like sci-fi playing on the TV, like a slideshow, a movie, or just something futuristic.

Finally, what do you want people to experience from your artistry?
I want people to look at me and be inspired to not be afraid to be themselves. I want people to be inspired to reach for even the most impossible goals, and to not be afraid to take the bull by the horn. I want people to always think, “You know what? I never get bored of her! With her music, I never know what to expect.” I want to uphold excellence at the forefront of my artistry.