Canadian-based Nu Baby is one of the new generation artistes making waves in the game with his refreshing Afro-fusion sound and style. Buoyed by the success of his previous singles, he recently released “Two For You”, a two track EP which has since garnered over 100k streams so far. We talk to him on this episode of “Into The Life Of An Artiste to know more about his journey so far and plans for the future
49th Street: Tell us bit about yourself, your music, and musical background.
Nù Baby: Nù Baby is a singer, songwriter, and performing artist and a graduate of the University of Manitoba. I’m a Liverpool fan and I play football occasionally. I am also a big music head”, “I am currently in Winnipeg Canada, but I grew up in Ibadan, Nigeria. I did primary school in Ibadan and secondary school in Christ the King Catholic College, Ijebu Ode. Growing up was chilled, my parents were a mix of strict and liberal so it was a weird mix. One of the most interesting things was growing up listening to only Yinka Ayefele and Baba Ara. This was basically my musical background in the very beginning but of course as I grew older, I started to look up to artistes like Wande Coal, Wizkid, as well Styl-Plus.
49th Street: What inspired the name change from Nù to Nù Baby?
Nù Baby: It was actually a change based on logistics. Nù was difficult for people to find on DSP’s so we needed to find a name that would make it easier for people to find the music. Nù Baby was my intro in songs most of the time, so we just decided to add “baby” to the name.
49th Street: You have lived in both Nigeria and Canada? How well has the culture of both countries influenced your music?
Nù Baby: If I am being honest Canada does not really have a big influence on my music. However, it does allow me to be more aware of newer sounds which help in the fusion aspect of my music. Nigeria is where really affects my music, and because I am in Canada I make sure to pay rapt attention to what is going on in the Nigerian space so I can perform at the highest level, not sound dated. I consume a lot of Nigerian music, and it helps me to achieve this.
49th Street: What kind of music did you listen to growing up? Who are/were your musical influences?
Nù Baby: I listened to gospel music in my very early years ranging from Baba Ara to Yinka Ayefele. and then, of course, i grew older and i fell in love with contemporary music ranging from Wande coal, Wizkid, and style plus. I would say my biggest influence would be Wizkid for sure.
49th Street: At what point did you decide that it was music for you? How has the reception been?
Nù Baby: If I am being honest I haven’t fully decided but with the success of this release there’s more conviction, things look clearer, I’m seeing people actually believe in what i have to offer, and this is precisely what i needed to fuel my energy to pursue this fully. So far so good the industry has been supportive because we allowed the music to do the talking for us and I have noticed that people like to support good music.
49th Street: What would you describe your music as? What genre of music do you do?
Nù Baby: I generally like to consider the type of music I make as “sweet music” because my songs sound sonically sweet (to me at least). But for the sake of categorization, the genre is Afro Fusion as coined by AG. “Afro Fusion” because intentionally or not, I always tend to adopt styles or pieces of other genres but the general base is still Afrobeats.
49th Street: As a young Nigerian artiste in the diaspora, what are the challenges that you face connecting to the fanbase back home?
Nù Baby: Typically, the issue with being in the diaspora would be that I’m unable to physically get to places where “physical promotion” is needed. But thanks to the pandemic (can’t believe i just said that), there’s a general understanding that typical means of physical promotion aren’t viable, so for me there’s a greater reliance on my online presence. Basically, at the moment there aren’t really any challenges as far as connecting with the fans, because we’re all being forced to pay attention to what’s happening on the internet, and for the time being that suffices.
49th Street: There is a growing community of Nigerian artistes in Canada. How well do you connect to your counterparts over there? In terms of collaborations?
Nù Baby: I’ve always been an advocate for collaborations, in fact the bulk of my catalogue for the last year was feature heavy. Over the last year, I was blessed to work with amazing acts like Kozii, G Mastered (who is my producer), Vino, Kvy, Toyin Ores who are mostly diasporan acts. I’m always open to collaborations because they help widen your audience and the one’s I’ve worked on so far have been very instrumental to where I see myself today.
49th Street: Your latest release is a single pack of two songs. What was the creative process behind those songs? Tell us how they came about.
Nù Baby: My creative process usually begins with melodising, basically I just record a bunch of melodies and I try to pick out the most distinct ones. For “OBODO GIDI” I just walked into the studio and another artiste (Tvdz) mentioned that they’d heard a beat I’d probably like, so he played it and i recorded a bulk of the melodies you hear on there today, I’ll probably share the original First take in the future, It was interesting trying to come up with the word “OBODO GIDI” too because OBODO is igbo and GIDI is yoruba . For “With You” It was just a typical day in the studio, although it was New year’s day, but nothing unusual or particular about the process.
49th Street: Obodo Gidi samples Klint Da Drunk. Just how heavy is the influence of Nigerian music of the past era on your music.
Nù Baby: Yes, I’d actually completed the song before deciding to add the sample. I’m a big Nigerian music head and it’s a hobby of mine to sing old songs on new school beats or production (we’ll probably never hear most of them tbh) – It’s almost like repurposing history to suit your own narrative – but this one felt too interesting to keep to myself. So, I actually added the sample during the final mixing and mastering session.
49th Street: Are we going to see you back home doing shows in the future?
Nù Baby: Yes! Most Definitely, as soon as the “panoramic””panasonic” allows us to be normal again, I’m hoping on a plane to Nigeria. There’s nothing like performing to people who are in touch with the music, especially when you know how far away you were when making it.
49th Street: Who are the artistes that you’re looking to collaborate with in the future?
Nù Baby: I will love to work with Burna Boy, Wande Coal, and on the international scene possibly Drake and Bryson Tiller.
49th Street: Two for You is out now. What next for Nù Baby? Any plans for later this year?
Nù Baby: At the moment, we’re just focused on amplifying what we have out. But I make new music everyday, and with that comes the excitement of dropping music I feel is better than what we have out now. I’m also working on a debut project that might come out later in the year, potentially the second quarter of the year *God Willing. Generally, we have plans for the rest of the year, but we’re taking each day and development as it comes.
