Nonso Amadi: The Voice Of The New School

Over the last couple of years, the Nigerian music industry has seen the rise of a new wave of artists who have the potential to define the way Nigerian music is perceived in years to come.

Nonso Amadi is one of those artists, drawing inspiration from those that have gone before him as well as his own life experiences; he has created a unique sound that resonates in the hearts of people all over the world today. He will also be performing for the first time in Nigeria at the Hard Rock Café on the 18th of December.

Guardian Life had a short chat with him about his life, inspirations and plans for the future.

Tell us a bit about yourself and your background.
Well, I’m a singer, songwriter and producer born in Lagos, Nigeria. I’m the third child in a family of seven kids. I also recently graduated from McMaster University, I did a Masters in Engineering Design.

It feels like yesterday since your songs Tonight and Radio hit the airwaves. How has your reception been since then?
Yes, it does; the reception has been so good. It’s almost unreal. However, my mindset is still to saturate the airwaves a lot more even though I’m really proud of how far we’ve come.

Who are your musical inspirations?
I actually draw a lot of inspiration from so many places. In terms of producing; Maleek Berry, Jon Bellion and 40; in terms of singing and songwriting Wande Coal, Brenda Fassie, Daniel Caesar.

How would you describe the ‘Nonso Amadi’ sound?
I like to think it’s a blend of softness to Afrobeats and other experimental genres and that is mainly because of the heavy influence of RnB and old school music in me.

Do you think you’ve found your place in the Nigerian music scene?
Well, it’s hard to tell right now. There are a lot of people watching and others rooting for me in Nigeria but I’ll give a bit more time before we can say how and if I fit in the Nigerian music scene.

What are your biggest challenges so far?
Balancing school and music. I studied Chemical Engineering so it was really difficult to balance that and music but God saw me through.

Who do you consider to be your ‘dream collaboration’ and why?
Jon Bellion, he is my favourite artist in the world. I feel like we have a lot in common musically. I look up to him a lot.

What are your plans for 2018?
I plan to drop an extended play (EP), maybe two during the year and also drop more music videos. A UK tour is currently in the works as well so that should be fun.

Tell us a fun fact about you.
(Laughs) I love food. A lot.