Valerie is a singer, songwriter and rapper from Imo state, Nigeria. She started singing at age 11, recorded her first song in 2013 and dropped her first single titled “Wrong” in the summer of 2018. She is known for her rare and versatile sound, as well as her captivating vocals.
49th Street: Can you tell us a bit about yourself? If you’re given the microphone to talk about yourself in 30 seconds, who is Valerie really?
Valerie: Like I said, Valerie is a singer, songwriter and rapper. I always start with that when I’m being asked about myself because my whole life revolves around music. I have a strong passion for music, if I’m not making music, I’m listening to music. Good music. I do basically everything with music, especially makeup, ha-ha. I’m also all about family; my mum and brother mean the world to me. Uhmm, I’m very selective about certain things like food. I don’t eat a lot of food, an example is cereal. Valerie is crazy, weird and open minded (hardly when it comes to food), she’s a “chill with the guys”, not the girls kinda person and trust she got a few day one guys that got her back. She’s friendly, but also a loner.
49th Street: This is amazing—detailed and beautiful. Music is definitely a good grounding point for daily activities. Different people have different stories about how they stumbled on music. What was your first musical experience like?
Valerie: Well, I started listening and singing along to songs when I was quite young. I learnt how to balance my vocals, singing along to Toni Braxton and Whitney Houston songs. But then, I listened to Nicki Minaj, and I really loved her vibe so I started rapping her lyrics. My friends in high school knew I could rap to her songs, so they’d call me during lecture breaks and ask me to rap “Starships” or “Beez in the trap” for them and they’d go crazy when I’m done. That was how I knew music was what I was meant to be doing with my life.
49th Street: Great. Just by listening to your music, it’s easy to deduce there’s some Nicki Minaj-inspired spice in there. When and why did you decide you wanted to do music? What spurred the ginger in you?
Valerie: One day I was playing with my brother and I said, “let’s see who the better rapper is.” We sat down, wrote our lyrics on paper and that was the first time I ever wrote lyrics, my lyrics were obviously better so I thought “mm, let’s get better at this”. This was about 9 years ago. I was skeptical about going into music for a few years cause some people tried to discourage me, but my mum has always supported my career. When I figured I couldn’t hide the fact that I love making music more than anything, I said, what the hell? I’ve been making music ever since.
49th Street: It’s really great when you have support for your ventures from home. It brings about an entirely different level of confidence and morale boost. Your self-discovery journey is great.
Seeing how you are still emerging in the music scene, how will you describe it so far?
Valerie: Omo, the journey long o. They say patience is a virtue and I’m still upcoming. I literally started taking music seriously last year, started working on my first EP in October 2019. Every time I record, I learn something new about music that I didn’t know when I was still shying away from it. Doing music is tough, ‘cause you never know the vibe that people would resonate with, you no know which one go blow you and my style of music is different. So, I’d say I’ve learned a lot about music since I ventured fully into it and I’d still learn some more.
49th Street: Since 2018, we have seen you try your hands on different genres, can you describe your brand of music for us?
Valerie: I be rapper o. Valerie is a goddamn rapper. I don’t know how this singing thing came about. Ha-ha, just kidding. I’m that female artist that puts rap on an Afro beat, raps and traps on hip hop beats like tomorrow no dey and still sings her soul out on an R&B beat. For me I’d call that “Rare.” My brand of music is rare.
49th Street: Your vibe is motivating. You dropped an EP “Gotta Make Mama Proud” earlier this year, how was the reception for you?
Valerie: Mehn, it was crazy, you never know till you try. I never knew I had fans besides my mum, brother and day ones till I dropped that EP. After I dropped GMMP, I got to meet new people that vibe to my music, new artists that taught me a lot about music, my Zambian producer Normzy, and people that’d hit me up on Instagram telling me how much they love my music and their favorite songs on the EP. There’s a vibe for everyone in any project I put out. So all the songs on the EP were a favorite and I loved that, that’s exactly what I was going for.
49th Street: You featured Somadina on your Gospel-inspired mixtape, how was it like to work with him?
Valerie: It was a great experience, he’s an amazing artist and a great person in general. If it were possible, he’d be my manager cause he gives me manager vibes. He coached me when I was recording some songs for my EP and then on K.O.K, he made me go hardcore on gospel and that was crazy, that was real crazy.
49th Street: As an artist, how has this whole lockdown been for you?
Valerie: I learned about making beats and recording with GarageBand during this lockdown and I gotta say I’m a badass producer…a badass GarageBand producer though. The beat of my last single “Get Better” was created with GarageBand. So, I’ve used this time to learn more about being an artist and music in general. But, the lockdown is really annoying cause there are no shows or concerts, so performances are on pause.
49th Street: It’s really nice to go out, get the vigor and vibe of a real life audience. Most performing artists, if not all, must have missed this. Congratulations on your new EP, what inspired the project? What story are you trying to tell?
Valerie: What Vibe You Want is a combination of different genres so I’m trying to tell people that there are different sides of Valerie never seen before. Sides of Valerie still plenty sha and I can’t wait to display them to the world in the future. I want every song on the project to be a favorite just like my last EP. Not everyone likes trap music or Afro pop, so I’m literally asking on the project, “What Vibe You Want?”
49th Street: What do you love the most about your music, what’s the special thing about it for you?
Valerie: Ahh, the fact that I can switch vibes at any point is a blessing from God. Everyone is different yeah, but I thank God for making me rare. The rare thing is a huge bonus for my music. I’m open minded when it comes to music, I love that I learn a new thing every time I make music and that I’m able to try new vibes.
49th Street: Tell us 2 truths and 1 lie about you.
Valerie: My favorite color is black.
I think I’m a good dancer when I’m dancing alone in my living room.
I’m in a relationship.
49th Street: What do you hope to achieve with your most recent project?
Valerie: I hope to achieve fame with this project! Hehe, saying it as it is, I hope to gain a new audience from all over the world. This project is gonna put me out there and I honestly can’t wait to be heard by the right people. So, that’s what I hope I achieve with this project.
49th Street: It’s time to sign out. You have to leave some parting words with your fans, listeners, and everyone else out there. What do you have to say to them?
Valerie: Thank you all for the genuine love and support. I love you! Stay real!
