Interview by Clarence MacEbong
I heard Llona’s music for the first time while hanging out with some close friends. Prior to this, I had seen his name online a few times and came across some people attempting to spread the gospel of his music, but with no snippets or visuals. His voice got me hooked immediately, and I had already attributed it to another star in Nigeria’s already vast musical tapestry. But when I learned the real identity of the person on the speaker, it planted a seed in my mind. I decided to explore his sound.
Learning about Llona is an intimate experience; mainly because he bears his soul on his records, turning the songs into diary entries that show fractions of his emotional and mental state. A skilled songwriter, his pen was sharpened by the tension that comes with competing against other battle-rappers in the court of public opinion. He makes you resonate with his words while feeling the pain that’s woven into the raspiness of his voice. This description could make you believe he’s the typical sad-boy singer, but Llona is practically unable to be anybody but himself. And when you look around, he’s built differently from everyone else.
That’s why he’s leaving an indelible impression on those who come across his music. His voice is powerful, his stories are honest, and his music is an open portal to explore who he is as a person beyond his artistry. Llona prides himself as a fluid vocalist whose talents have evolved since his early days in Kano where he started his journey to make the world interact with music differently. He now emerges as a Star of the North who is ready to strike a pose as an impactful face in the picture of Nigerian music’s new era.
He’s working on his debut project, biding his time to create a body of work that leaves a lasting creative impact. But that has not come without its own challenges. Llona is open about his struggles with mental health, recently partnering with Mentally Aware Nigeria to offer free therapy sessions to those in need, while taking time to get his own mind right as well. Our conversation had to be delayed for this particular reason, but he soon made our commitment which was scheduled for an early afternoon in June.
“LLONA IS ASKING TO JOIN” popped up on my screen, and as soon as I let him in, he took me on a journey talking about his life, fears, goals and desire to keep evolving.
This interview is lightly edited for clarity.
49th: Your team said you had to be at therapy earlier today. How did that go?
Llona: It was stressful and relaxing at the same time. You have to do much talking, there’s no point that you’re the one listening.
I feel you. And sometimes you just want to listen.
Uh-huh. Sometimes just listening is therapy for you.
It’s great that we’re starting on this note because your music comes with a lot of emotion. Do you make music from a place of pain?
For sure. I do that a lot and I leave you to figure out the rest. There are some people who listen to my music and say it’s good, but they don’t get it. They only get it after something happens to them and they listen back. Every lyric now makes sense.
I understand that last part so much. Yesterday I was listening to “Comforter” and it spoke to me. It’s really deep stuff.
The first impression people had of that record was related to weed, but it was so much more. Back in Abuja, I actually called my mum say I dey suffer. So she made different types of food for me, got it iced and sent it to Abuja from Kano through my younger brother. There’s even this Hausa guy who texted me recently on Instagram, and he was the dealer I was talking about on the song. Sometimes he’d come with the weed and I won’t have money to give him. The days he wouldn’t be able to bring it? Oh my God…
Would you want to get to a point where you don’t have to depend on pain to make music that speaks for you?
I can’t make music if I’m not triggered by something. During the time of “HBP”, they sent me pictures of the models for the video. I took out the guys who looked happy, it’s clear on their faces. You don’t want to see me sing when I’m not moved by something, wetin you wan make I tell you?
The truth is, sometimes, the pain brings out the best art.
And I’m not the type whose love life influences my music, unless there’s something going on.
On “Another Day”, you said “fuck competition, I no like contest”, but competitions were your main ways of getting you music out there. When did you decide to compete only with yourself?
The thing about these competitions is that I was becoming slowly traumatized. Before I win them, I don already plan wetin I go use the money do, so I gats win am. It turns up the tension. The stage now turns into a podium for people ready to judge me, either the judges or the crowd who scream “yes” or “no”.
Recently, I went to perform in UNILAG, like last year or so. I was backstage, sweating like crazy. That particular place was one of the places that I had once won a competition back in 2018.
Full-circle moment.
Do you get?! That’s where I won Cool Breeze Lagos. I won it, but why was I still sweating? Because I felt like I hadn’t yet defeated that stage. E no even feel like say the crowd dey there for me.
At that point you didn’t realize you had beaten that stage before.
I don’t even remember what happened that day, but for some reason my manager asked us to leave. I didn’t even ask him why, I just left, because really, I wanted to leave.
So you didn’t perform that day?
I didn’t perform. So I didn’t get to conquer that stage.
I kinda wish you did though.
I would say I conquered it, in a way, even though not in the way I wanted to. While waiting backstage, I heard someone scream “LLONA!” That was my number 1 sign.
A reminder that everyone was there to see you.
Exactly, so that kinda snapped me back to life. I wanted to conquer that… but as my manager say “bounce”, I no even… I just move.
Mental health is a prominent theme in your life, as a person and an artist. You also relocated a lot as a child. Do your family members and friends have an influence on your mental health?
Yes, they do. I take my friends seriously. There’s a friend of mine wey gather come with us from street. I gave him a DJ name because I believed he would be our DJ when we went around doing shows. But right now, he’s mentally fucked. And just that simple fact is fucking with us too. As street boys, we rely a lot on our strength and it was the first time something like this was happening.
It’s difficult having a close friend in that state.
His mum would talk to me about some incidents going on. One time I was shooting in Kano with my team, and his mum was passing with keke napep. She saw us and she started crying because out of our friend group, he was the only one not there. I cried with her too, and I had to pause the shoot. She didn’t say a word but we understood. People around me have been battling things. A lot of tension. But at the same time, I can’t carry all of that on me.
Right, because that means everyone’s gonna go crazy.
I have to give you some distance, some space; but I’m still troubled, and I have to protect my mind too, because I need to keep it together.
I’m guessing your name, pronounced “loner”, comes from the fact that you see yourself as a loner.
Yes. I always name myself close to my art.
At first, you started as TooClassiq.
Because I believed my music was too classic. My handle on social media was “IAmTooClasiq”. When God told me it was time to move from TooClassiq, I was searching [for a name], but it was always there, just left for me to pick it.
Why’d you spell “Llona” like that then? With the double L.
I just felt the double L.
It’s good though. It stands out.
Burst your head, at first I didn’t want to change my name, even when the artist name changed to LLONA on digital platforms. My social media was still “IAmTooClassiq”, I was so scared to change it.
You had already built things with TooClassiq and you didn’t want to lose them.
That was the last skin that I shed before now.
Heavy identity change.
I told someone that if I take away LLONA, I don’t know who I am. I didn’t go to school, there’s no degree to fall back on. Abi make I come dey do security job, tell them say I be Llona before? I’ve had friends who have seen lightand gone back to zero.
That doesn’t have to happen to you though. I guess part of the grind is working in such a way that you stay consistent and not regress.
Let’s go into the music. You sing now, but you started out rapping, even though you still sing in rap cadences. Why did you change?
TooClassiq was a rapper. At the same time, he was a singer. Even the song that blew up with Lyta, people thought Lyta was the one that sang it. Meanwhile I was the one who sang the chorus and rapped, while Lyta had the second verse and sang the chorus to end it. Even in the hood, I was still the one dropping hooks for my team. I went deep into rap battling, sharpened my skills, but at the end of the day I wanted to be a rounded artist.
That’s why I stopped doing content as TooClassiq, because people only remembered me when I posted content.
If they leave the Instagram app, they forget that there’s anybody like TooClassiq.
I know people talk about how you need to post on IG to get followers, but it’s not about getting the followers, but it’s about having your core fans.
Super fans who will die for you other than just add to your social media following.
I know doing covers will give you likes and views, but most of them will only remember you for what they followed you for. Never for your own thing.
Do you think that Nigerian rap is affected by this? What do you think about where Nigerian rap is now?
I’m proud of where it is, because of where we’re coming from. And no be say na our mother tongue, we carve our own thing put am inside. We added our own soul. I’m such a fan of Falz and Olamide. But I think at this point it’s bigger than us.
I think so too. It’s bigger than us and we need to be intentional about how we put the music out.
Bro, come on; look at Ajebo Hustlers. See the way they craft it and put it out. It’s just bigger than us. What it’s doing for us is what it’s supposed to do.
What’s the difference between how you approach music now, and how you approached it before?
I’m more conscious. I’ve always been conscious, but I think I’m extra conscious. I have so much information at my disposal. I’m very big on politics and other things people don’t know about. All those things come together to make my own process.
You have a new project coming out. How do you feel about that?
I feel vibrant, I feel spiritual… I feel good.
What’s your mind been like while making the project? Are you still recording?
I’m still on it, and to be honest I’m just waking up and following through with the day. It’s been rough. Trying to handle different things. That’s how I’ve been living for the past 8 months.
What direction do you want the project to take?
I want people to understand the world differently. I want people to see music from a totally different perspective and the things you can do with music. You can use it to say your story, to fight battles, you feel me.
How would you define this stage of your career?
I’m not thinking about the career itself. At this stage, I’m just doing what I’m supposed to do. I will do this music till I die, I’m a long term person. 2022 I dropped just two songs, 2023 same thing.
Quality over quantity.
I follow up with the long process. I’m a long-process guy. I’m not hungry. I’m not in the streets. There’s no need to rush.
You’re not using the music to leave the trenches.
I’m a trench boy. Of course I want to be rich. But when I’m rich, I’ll spend my money in the trenches. After this project, it could take a while for me to come back, I’ll probably start living somewhere else and explore. If you leave me, Llona won’t have a base.
That’s nomadic and it’s similar to how your childhood was, moving from place to place.
Bro! It’s something that used to traumatise me but I’ve seen more benefits with it. My manager is a chaotic person, but when he went to Kano he was reading books. When he came to Lagos, he stopped reading.
Different places bring out different things and that influences the music. Do you have any features on the project?
Fave is on the project.
Do you have any recording rituals?
Everything has to be 100% in tune. From the producer to the vibes. I don’t even jump into recording, I like to ease into it. Have a nice conversation before I ask them to mic me up.
Before we go, you recently teamed up with Mentally Aware Nigeria and it’s amazing because a lot of people need help with their mental health. What does the opportunity for therapy mean for you?
It means a lot, cause it’s my first time being able to share my problems with someone else. It helps me relieve mental stress and understand myself better. This is just the starting point for me. I’m trying to have a thing where someone can go to any country and pick up a voucher for a therapy session that I’ve already paid for.