Metamorphosis and renewal. These words describe the headspace Azekel has found himself in over the last few months. The alternative R&B singer/songwriter has weathered nearly a decade in the music industry. In addition to several critically acclaimed releases, he has collaborated with Massive Attack and Gorillaz and graced the stages of Glastonbury and Meltdown. Most brag-worthy of all? The seal of approval for his work from his Purple Majesty Prince. Yet in spite of these achievements, Azekel is in the midst of a reset both personally and professionally. His two recent releases - the ‘Azekel Unreleased’ EP and his elegant duet with anaïs ‘Learn to Love’- mark the beginning of a new phase in his career.

Azekel’s music proves how broad and experimental R&B can be. From the rock inspired ‘Wetty Betty’ to the indie sounds of ‘New Romance’ all the way to the space-age soul of ‘Don’t Wake the Baby’. For long-time fans of this progenitor, the new EP would sonically suggest that it is somewhat of a return to his roots. The alluring cuts ‘Thrills’ and ‘Freeway’ comfortably sit in the same electronic and industrial-laden universe as his inaugural projects ‘Circa’ (2013) and ‘Raw Vol 1’ (2015). The gems on ‘Unreleased’ were in fact recorded back in 2017 and 2018 while he was working on his debut album ‘Our Father’ and were an exercise in flexing his musical muscles after a creative dry spell.

“I had writers block. It was hard to get stuff out. ‘Our Father’ was one of those early spurts and it was refreshing to change my palette,” he explains. “When I made ‘Thrills’, I found myself in that same sphere as my earlier stuff, playing around with bass sounds and dark sounds.”

His decision to release these songs now was so that they could act as a lockdown treat for fans and a palette cleanser before his next full-length album, which has been pushed back due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. “The themes, the sonic and the narrative of the next project is all different,” he says. “I’m now in a place where I’m about channelling my roots as an African into the music.”

Azekel’s music has always been a composite of the diverse range of influences he grew up with in East London. He has skilfully melded the sounds of R&B and soul with the glitchy and sonorous soundscapes found in grime, ambient and trip-hop. Still being fine-tuned and crafted, the highly conceptual upcoming long player also see Azekel heavily incorporating his identity as a Nigerian man of Yoruba heritage. But that doesn’t mean just lazily throwing in some afrobeats and afro-swing rhythms. Ever the innovator, Azekel is instead taking influence from the unappreciated fringe artists of Nigeria’s lost funk and psychedelic scene.

“A lot of people don’t even know that there was Nigerian funk music and Nigerian psychedelic rock music,” he says. “Crazy amazing bands like P.R.O. (People Rock Outfit), The Nigerian Police Force Band, The Hygrades, The Funkees and The Apostles were slept on a lot. It’s been eye opening knowing that there are people who are where you’re from, that were going into different spaces, yet it still sounded African. It definitely encourages you to do the same.”

As an artist operating in a country where the infrastructure for black British artists has always lacked, it’s not surprising that Azekel has always found an affinity and kinship with artists on the periphery. “I remember talking to Om’Mas Keith (Frank Ocean, Erykah Badu, Kevin Abstract) while we were going through [obscure] records. I said ‘Wow it’s such a shame than no one knows about these artists’ and he said ‘But we do though. We listen to them for inspiration. So, it’s done its job’.”

As with all his previous projects, the next album will be released and distributed through his own Thunderlightning Records. But what’s going to be different compared to ones of the past is a new sense of fearlessness. “For the longest time I had been releasing music on my own imprint but I never wore it on my sleeve. I never shouted about it and maybe that’s because I never saw any representation. Now I believe in the power I have and the people around me.”

Azekel’s future moves will be the true coming out party for Thunderlightning Records. Governing his artistry and his entrepreneurial spirit is a self-belief that wasn’t always there. Despite being independent, he used to feel the pressure to measure up to the standards indirectly imposed on him by an industry that prioritise marketability and commerce over art. “The kind of ideology that is put upon you can sometimes stunt your growth and stunt your expression. Why are we bringing that into the arts? The essence of art is freedom and exploration. The headspace I'm in right now is about being who I am and how I express myself, especially as a label owner.”

Azekel is done playing the game because to play the game would mean engaging with practices that are inherently racist. The music industry has long been predicated on business practices that have covertly placed racial difference at its centre. The uprisings that have occurred with this year’s Black Lives Matter movement saw so many speak up about mistreatment they’ve had to endure. “Everyone knows this business has been racist from time but I'm not trying to victimise myself. Right now, it’s about empowering myself. I know there’s an issue but what can I do to be a remedy to that? I know I’m talented and I have good networks. Let me just build something with infrastructure and put out loads of music. It’s about ownership. And onwards, that’s the mindset I have.”

For Azekel, this resurgence of the movement made him realise the importance of creating safe spaces for artists like himself. He’s making sure his fellow black artists are free from exploitative deals and have the reign to express themselves as they see fit. “This kind of stuff has been happening for years. Black people have been held back purely because of the colour of their skin. It’s about us all unifying, being reaffirmed in ourselves and knowing what we bring to the table.”

In the first verse of the bossa-nova inspired ‘Learn to Love’, Azekel emotively sings ‘For you, I’ll do more. My destiny that I have searched for’. The time of pondering and searching for Azekel has now reached its conclusion. He knows he has a responsibility to be wholly authentic to himself as an artist and businessman. The good fruit he wants to reap has the potential to transform the landscape for black British R&B. “’Learn to Love’ isn't just a love song, it's a song that celebrates kinship and love within our communities and diaspora at large,” he asserts. Azekel has seen highs and lows but he has now reached a point of self-actualisation. And in its wake, a new renaissance in his journey as a creative, and concurrently the path of others he’s taking with him, awaits.

Learn to Love by anaïs and Azekel is out now on ThunderLightning Recordings

Words Sope Soetan
Photography Alexandra Waespi
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Published on 24/08/2020