Nigerian ears are more open to sounds deviating from its mainstream core and this has led to an eruption of uniquely diverse sounds that have come to be termed as Alte. A lot of these sounds and the artistes curating them have been around for a long time but only now are they gaining the mainstream airplay/attention that the more established sounds have been garnering while opening a small niche for themselves along the way. The term Alte does not have one specific definition but is seen as a deviation from the seemingly monolithic sound of Nigeria’s music scene – a derivative of the word alternative. So, an act like Adekunle Gold can be awarded for having the best alternative song despite his music being totally enmeshed with Yoruba culture and its beautiful nuances simply because of its difference from Nigeria’s dominating sounds. The fact that it is a change from the linear sounds we have come to know as the definition of our sound mean he is classified as an alternative musician or an Alte guy. Odunsi, Lady Donli, Showdemcamp, Santi, Nonso Amadi all make music seen as different from the norm and are all grouped under this umbrella. The emergence of these confetti of sounds is allowing for new artistes to experiment, innovate and step away from the comfort zones set by the industry. One of these young and blooming artistes that presents his colourfulness with a guitar is Sydney of Africa.
The durag wearing Sydney sings with a voice that exudes a childlike tenderness, purity and innocence. There is something about an artiste wielding a guitar that appeals to our sense of aesthetics while each pull of a string strikes its own chords in our hearts. He blends Afro-soul, RnB, Pop, EDM and incorporates elements from these to produce his own special sound. His sound is a fusion of diverse components from other sounds as he uses them to accentuate the iridescence of his voice. He sings with an assuredness of quality, a childlike candor, a pure expression of sonic verité that despite its appeal to our musical wits, defies the brevity of his journey into music. He sings with a concrete sound established in soulfulness, sensuousness and a candid expression of self. 21-year-old Sydney Nwankwo is the Civil Engineering student of Yabatech winning fans one chord at a time. Hell, even Ycee is a fan. I asked him some of the most generic questions you’ll ever see posed to an upcoming artiste.
ME: WHEN AND HOW DID YOU START MAKING MUSIC?
Sydney: um, so I started music last year, around May and that was the first time I entered a studio to record. Last year May. As for the how part, it wasn’t that much of a big deal, it was just this my friend, his name is Kevin, Beats by KO. He lives in my estate, I went over to his place and we chilled, we made a couple of beats and all that. I was like, you know what? Next week I’m coming over to record. I didn’t even know what I was going to record till I got there then we just planned on how we should part the song and everything, and that’s how everything came to life. So ever since then, it’s just been like that for some time. Then I started meeting Jinmi Abduls, going to his place to record and make music.
ME: WHAT INSPIRES YOUR MUSIC?
Sydney: so many things, life basically. I could be watching a movie, and something just hits my head, or I could be watching soccer. I could be eating or something and it just pops up. Like I wrote “Eruption” in traffic for no reason. I remember I wrote it the day after Mac Miller died. About “Ghost”, nothing really inspired it, it just happened in my head, you know like when you watch a cartoon or something. It just happened in my head and I put it down in writing and that was how I made “Ghost”.
ME: WHAT ARTISTES INFLUENCE YOUR STYLE/ARTISTRY AND ALSO INSPIRE YOU?
S: I will start with Asa, Bez, AJR, Jimi Hendrix and Mac miller. Just those guys for now. Another set of artistes that inspire me are Wizkid, Showdemcamp, Odunsi, Waveythecreator, Ladipoe just to mention a few.
ME: HOW WOULD YOU CLASSIFY YOUR SOUND?
S: I try to add rnb, pop, afro soul, acoustic, EDM. I try to fuse all of them together. Something like that. I believe I’m part of the alternative scene to an extent. I’m not fully alternative though, I can switch.
ME: WHAT MADE YOU GARNER INTEREST FOR MUSIC?
S: so many things, I actually had this love for sounds and you know I was exposed as a young kid to music. I was just exposed to music so that I think of gave me an upper hand. Then I started to learn the guitar by myself, and then I started singing and here we are. It started out as a hobby for me, but now I want to do it professionally.
ME: WHAT IS THE ULTIMATE GOAL FOR YOU IN THIS MUSIC THING?
S: to reach as many people as possible, to grow to grow musically, to express myself, to make people know me better, to help other upcoming artistes, to put my country on the map, put myself on the map and my style of music on the map.
ME: YOU TALK A LOT ABOUT MAC MILLER, HOW BIG OF AN INFLUENCE IS HE ON YOUR MUSIC?
S: I think August 2010 was the first time I heard him rap, sing and stuff and I was like yo, who is this guy? This guy is lit! then from there I started listening to his songs. His sound was so unique to me because he it was not just the regular hip-hop and rap, he was just having fun doing his arts. That was when I was like this guy is something else and he was quite young then with his teenage kid voice. He inspired eruption (Vesuvius), his death actually. He died at night and I composed the song in traffic cos his death really really moved me.
Sydney is still building a following on twitter and Soundcloud but he is getting noticed from all angles. He confesses to having an Ep in the works and it will definitely be preceded by some singles. If you are looking for something new and refreshing to listen to, you should check him out on Soundcloud and fall in love with his melodies.