The Nigerian entertainment scene is filled with talented new artistes who sometimes [unfortunately] shy away from exploring different genres and would rather follow the existing path. 

Every once in a while you come across talents like VINCE who embrace change and experiment with their sound ensuring they stand out in any crowd.

The talented artiste sat down with The Guardian Life to talk about his passion for music, early influences, and much more.

VINCE formally known as Obomoye Muzan is a virtuoso of the first order and is skilled in lyrical depth, harmony and rhythm to say the least.

Growing up as the youngest child so he got to watch and learn from those that came before him and according to him, in his father’s house you would always hear some music booming.

“There was a lot of hip hop music from Obie Trice’s Cheers album to The Marshall Mathers LP you name it! From as far back as I can remember the early 2000s, my dad loved basically all kinds of music he played Dolly Parton and Fela the most for me, my brothers had a lot of influence on my music too because I was around them almost all the time so it was no surprise that at age 6 I could rap In Da Club word for word”

He was exposed to a whole lot of music growing up so with time his choices started to get streamlined and Lil Wayne was an influence of his right from time. 

“I loved Eminem too because I was awed by his ability to deliver Eminem style if you know what I mean. Burna Boy is all the way up there as well, I remember heated arguments in the hostel back in secondary school in about 2011 when I first heard a mixtape called Burn Identity and I would not take any Burna Boy slander then and even now.”

VINCE started off writing songs and keeping records of them in 2010/2011 right after junior waec.

“I thought it made more sense than just drumming on desks and freestyling with my classmates back in Junior secondary school and most times we were doing it to make fun of someone or something and we usually ended up getting punished for the ‘nuisance’”.

There are a ton of things that influence VINCE’s sound; from being Nigerian and growing up in Lagos, to growing up the way he did. All of the information he has soaked up with time and has been processed into what fans of his music enjoy today. 

Talking about his creative process, he says he 

“Likes to create music off of energy and most of the time it’s coming from within and I also enjoy it when there’s someone or people on the same wavelength as I am around, I think that makes the whole process special in its own way and I get to explore new possibilities due to these external influences involved as well.”

The artiste has his eyes set on collaborating with two of the biggest names in the world right now namely; Gunna and Burna Boy. 

“I’m happy to see both these stars shining bright at a time like this because they both have been huge inspirations to me for some time now.”

For VINCE, his biggest struggle as an upcoming artiste is accessibility to the public ears and eyes but he understands that he’ll just have to give it time and stay committed. 

When asked what he  would like listeners to feel when they listen to your music, he stated;

“I want them to feel the passion; I put my heart and soul into my art and I love it when someone can connect to that.”