Born Adindu Victor in Benin City, Babyboy AV’s early lessons in music came at home. “My dad was a musician who loved to play the guitar, and my siblings and I took after him,” he recalls. Though AV never got the chance to work alongside his father before he passed, the stories he heard instilled one clear lesson: resilience. “I learned to keep pushing because things won’t always work out at first. But if you truly want it, you have to go for it.” This lesson became the firm foundations for his current career.

The first time I saw Babyboy AV perform was at the Mainland Block Party in a secret garden in Ikeja, Lagos, back in 2021. The multifarious musician jumped off the stage to feel the energy of his debut single ‘Big Thug Boys’ being sung back to him by the excited audience. It was this song that powered AV’s rise as it exploded out of Lagos and into the world that year. The song peaked at number five on the Billboard Triller Chart and became the most Shazamed Nigerian track in the country, ranking seventh globally. “The song performed even better than we expected, putting my face and brand out there, and surprisingly, people accepted it,” he says.

Its follow-up, ‘Confession’ cemented that momentum as he made the transition from being a home-based independent artist to achieving global recognition. However, AV acknowledges that there was no master plan for coping with this journey. “I haven’t managed it. I am still going through it. I don’t think anyone ever fully manages it, not even the greatest artists. We all just learn to live with the pressure. The fans want more, and even you want more, so the pressure never stops. You just have to keep moving forward.”

Life moves fast, and if you don’t stop to look around once in a while, you might miss it. But with every surge in success came a deeper internal reckoning. Amid the noise, AV found himself craving stillness, a need to reconnect with the core of why he started. That desire became the heartbeat of ‘Pace’, his sophomore EP. “With ‘Pace’, we aimed to reach out to people in a similar headspace – those who are feeling down emotionally and seeking peace,” he says. “In this project, I went deep. I was vulnerable, discussing the challenges I was facing in my life at the time. And it took a while to complete because we wanted to do something we hadn’t attempted in a while. I had to double-check everything to ensure I was on the right path.”

The Intro taps into soulful elements that elevate his sultry vocals, expressing his tribulations and the fact that no one’s truly got his back. On ‘Undisputed’, he recruits the services of Tekno, who is an obvious influence on the sonic templates he navigates to deliver his familiar pop tempo. On ‘State of Mind’, he lands a hook about losing his mind over a manipulative lover with a production rooted in afro percussion, lively classical guitar riffs and sax horns. Elsewhere he collaborates with Magicsticks on ‘Wicked Lo’ and with Ckay and Victony on ‘Obianuju’ and on the outro, the emotional tone of the EP opener returns, along with the chants, but this time it’s infused with immense grooviness.

“I write about my life and my experiences. I focus on things that have happened to me or are happening around me. I believe that’s the key to keeping it authentic – staying true to myself,” he says of his song-writing approach. Though he left the core message unspoken during our chat, it threads through ‘Pace’: a call to self-care, perseverance and the solace of knowing you’re not alone. During difficult times, AV turns to faith and family for support. "God comes first, and then my family. I have a very large family, and knowing that they are there to support me, no matter what, helps me stay grounded."

Even as he mines personal truth, AV thrives on artistic exchange. “Being surrounded by other creatives definitely influences my direction. I’ve done several collaborations with artists who I’ve learned a lot from because they are great artists.” Those partnerships leave subtle imprints on his melodies and rhythms, without ever eclipsing his own voice. Similarly, he uses his personal style to communicate his vision. “Fashion expresses my individuality and creativity. It's not just about clothing; it's about how I present myself to the world. I definitely want to explore it further.”

AV’s gaze also extends far beyond today’s streams. “My goal has always been to expand the reach of afrobeat as much as I can. We are not there yet, but we’re close, and I aim to help elevate this genre and movement to its peak,” he says. “We are currently working hard on new material and hope that our efforts will take us to the next level.” To that end, what advice he would give his younger self? “I would tell my younger self to work harder. This music journey has real potential to succeed, so it’s crucial to take it seriously and you’re your craft.”