[FEATURE] VIPER PRESENTS: CHIKE

Award-winning Nigerian pop/soul sensation Chike has already hit one billion plays online and achieved much critical acclaim, including winning ‘Best R&B Album’ at last year’s Headies Award. Get familiar…

What five words define your sound?

I will say African, I will say highlife-influenced, emotional, storytelling, and I will also say life.

Tell me something unique about your creative process.

I like motion. I like to create with some type of motion. Something unique is a lot of the songs I make I go on a drive in my car, and I write and sing it, feel it then I go back into the studio.

Which song of yours would you like people to hear first?

One song I would like people to hear first off my new album, ‘Son of Chike’ is definitely ‘Someone’.

What inspired you to make that song?

The love triangle inspired me to make ‘Someone’. It is a situation where we want something, and what you want wants something else. It is just that emotional chaos that we find ourselves in once in a while.

What’s the most vulnerable you’ve allowed yourself to be when writing/making music?

The most vulnerable I have allowed myself to be is telling my story verbatim, like telling it from A to Z without any fiction attached to it.

What’s the best/worst experience you’ve had on stage?

Bad sound may be combined with a non-interactive audience, and my best is a satisfied crowd, an audience that goes with the music and performance.

What is your favourite song to perform?

Off the ‘Son of Chike’ album? Definitely ‘Apple’. It is my favourite song to perform.

Which artist/song/album made you want to make music?

I will say Simi’s album, songs off ‘Flavour’ album, Passenger, Tracy Chapman… Those are the people who made me want to make music.

What’s the meaning behind your name?

My name means “God is the Greatest,” and it also means “Man Shall Not Touch This One.”

If you weren’t making music, what would you be doing instead?

I would probably have been a soldier, or working in Canada and schooling for more degrees.

What’s success to you?

Doing what I love which is making music, being happy and having good health.

What moment in your life/career forced you to change direction?

I may not be explanatory, but I would say self-hurt. When I have watched the mistakes I have made affect me, that has made me make some of the most drastic changes I have ever made in my life.

Where can people keep in touch with you?

You can get in touch with me via social media, primarily @officialchike on all platforms.