There are number of ways to gain traction as an artiste, but none of them is particularly easier than the other. One route would be to jump on an existing social media trend, flip it to fit into lyrics of a song, put it out and hope it becomes a hit single. That was how Zamorra chose to play it with the 2018 hit track, “Importanter”. He took it one step further by recording a remix with Street music king, Small Doctor, coupled it with a video, and his stocks went up higher. The smart and calculated move worked well for him, but then comes the hard part; maintaining the momentum and proving to the audience that you are no one hit wonder.
Born in Lagos and bred in Ondo, Adekunle Oluwashina Abdulateef could not but venture into music. He grew up amongst family members who held music close to their hearts and ears which translated to a young Zamorra picking up interest in the art form very early. He started writing his own songs during his secondary school days in the Sunshine state, but it was perhaps his days of tertiary education at the Obafemi Awolowo University that sealed his fate and committed him to the path of making music professionally. He spent some of his time working towards a degree in Philosophy while the rest of it was spent immersing himself in the famed creative community of the OAU Campus. There he formed relationships with the likes of Blaqbonez, Fireboy DML, Chinko Ekun, and Cheque, and they all pushed themselves to become better during their time together. Under the initial alias of Viruz Zamora, the rapper cum singer found himself and churned out a number of tunes that were hits, if only on a local scale. But what was more important – or should I say “importanter” – was that Zamorra found the confidence and conviction to pursue a music career during his time in the University.
A quick but detailed rebrand followed and he put out his official professional debut single with “Better De Come”, a song title that proved to to be a prophesy of sorts when his next single, “Importanter” was greeted with great reception and massive airplay. The remix soon followed to round up what was a big 2018 for him. 2019 was comparatively quiet with “Run Away” being his only drop of that year but he made up for it by putting out 3 really good singles during those strange 52 weeks that was 2020. One more single – “Paradise” – was released in 2021 but going into his 3rd official year in the industry, the pressure to release a body of work was mounting. On the 15th of October, 2021, he succumbed to that pressure with the release of “Storms and Rainbows”.
On this his debut project, he mixed in his street-inspired cadence with familiar Afrobeat sounds we have come love, and even the most critical of music commentators would say it was a collection of good music across the 8 songs. Much like the album title portends, there is fine balance in the style, energy and tempo of the music in “Storms and Rainbows”. “Now You’re Mine”, with its brilliant vocal inflections and lyrics, is arguably the pick of the bunch, but a case can be made for “Taboo” and “Aiku”; “Deserve Better” as well, for those who didn’t hear it at the time of its initial release in 2020. It’s also refreshing to hear an artiste extensively explore themes outside romance as Zamorra did on 4 of the 8 tracks embedded. Surely, he has put any doubts and fears in the mind of his fans and listeners to bed with the quality of the music in here.
He might have lost some momentum, but this solid project definitely lays the groundwork for catching up to the level of recognition his class of OAU alumni- turned-artiste have hit in recent years. He certainly possesses the skillset to reach and surpass that mark. It’s all about consistency for Zamorra now, once he achieves that, there’s no telling how far he’ll go.