BELLA ALUBO INTERVIEW: Nigerian R&B star Bella Alubo is commanding attention with the highly anticipated release of her album, ‘Love Is War’, which arrived on August 29th via Sparta/Benin City Ent. The 15-track project showcases her signature, acclaimed blend of soulful contemporary R&B and infectious Afrobeats, solidifying her status as one of the genre’s most compelling new voices. Following the massive success of her breakout track ‘Tropicana Fruit Juice’ (14M+ streams) and her recent hit single ‘White Shoes’ (over 2M views on YouTube), ‘Love Is War’ is a deeply textured and emotionally rich body of work. Featuring heavyweight production and seamless collaborations with Nigerian artists like 1da Banton, Ycee, and Rotimi, the album delves into complex themes of love, vulnerability, and desire, establishing her position as a global artist we need to be talking about right now. She speaks to VIPER about collaborating with the album’s producers, and what it feels like to see superstars enjoy her music…
Your album title, ‘Love Is War’, explores the idea of a conflict or struggle within relationships. What specific experiences or emotions inspired you to choose this title and theme for the project?
I feel like ‘Love is War’ is such an apt statement because i’m not sure love ever stops being a fight. All kinds of relationships take effort to sustain and sometimes that feels like a war to me. The songs on my album talk about emotions like frustration, and things like patience, inconsistency and contentment. For me, I think to be alive is to feel, and to be in love is to feel on a sometimes hyper level.
The album seamlessly blends Afrobeats and contemporary R&B. Was it a conscious decision to bridge these two genres, or did it evolve naturally during the creative process?
As someone who got into music through Hip Hop from an Afrobeats-influenced background, I feel like if you throw some melody on Rap, you often end up with R&B. The sound for this album is a very intentional reflection of my roots in music as well as my cultural influences. How the album turned out is all thanks to my team, Benin City Entertainment as well.
‘Oxygen’ has a pulsing energy, while ‘Do You Believe in Love’ is an intimate ballad. How do you approach songwriting for tracks with such different moods and tempos?
I like to switch things up with my sound and it made me giggle to read Apple Music’s first sentence about the album: “no one can quite predict what Bella Alubo will do next.” I find excitement in spontaneity and that’s why I was excited to work with different writers and producers on the music. Cheyenne Levene who has written for Coco Jones worked with me on ‘Oxygen’; and Somtochukwu Madu who works with Tay Iwar co-wrote ‘DYBIL’ with me.
The production is also a solid factor because Fresh Ayr knows when to switch up and he did great on both tracks alongside the co-producers Foreigngotem and Riddim.
Collaborating with artists like Ycee and Ty Dolla Sign must be a unique experience. What did you learn from working with them, and how did their contributions shape the songs?
Ycee is someone who helped refine my melodic side, because before I worked with him on our joint EP ‘Late Night Vibrations’, i was mainly experimenting with girly Nigerian Rap. It’s a privilege to have him be a big part of my story because he’s one of the coolest Nigerian rappers ever. Having Ty Dolla $ign on the same song as me with vocals from The Notorious B.I.G is just something straight out of a dream for a girl from a minority tribe in North-central Nigeria; it’s all been so amazing.
‘Tropicana Fruit Juice’ was a breakout hit that got co-signs from major artists. How did that early success and recognition from artists like Alicia Keys and Ashanti influence your confidence and direction for this album?
Alicia Keys making a TikTok to my song and Ashanti singing along to ‘Tropicana Fruit Juice’ on Instagram are more examples of moments that reaffirmed my confidence in my vibe. How much people love it when I do R&B just pointed to the direction we took with this album.
The track ‘African King’ is described as fusing cultural roots with modern soundscapes. What message or feeling did you want to convey with this song, and why was it important to include it on the album?
2baba is one of the most successful artists from my tribe and his song ‘African Queen’ is a Nigerian classic. I was really young when i heard it but i still understood the clear depiction of what love should feel like. I wrote ‘African King’ as a manifestation of my ideal. I kept it fresh with the R&B-slightly-Trap flow so when the label suggested it should be on the album, it made sense.
The production on your album is described as “heavyweight.” Can you talk about your collaboration with the producers and how you brought the sonic textures of ‘Love Is War’ to life?
Having producers with diverse ethnicities work on the music made it so relatable on a new global level to me. I love that music is the one language we all connect to. From Nigerian producers like Syn X who worked on Davido’s Grammy recognised album to producers like Major Seven who’s worked with greats like Jay-Z and Rihanna.
Fresh Ayr has the most production credits on the album and he brought his experience from working with people like Post Malone… it’s just so much expertise all around the production that makes this album greater than I could’ve imagined.
With your music racing to millions of views and streams, how do you handle the pressure and expectations that come with such widespread popularity?
I’m mostly a homebody and I’m not absorbed with social media either so just protecting my mind makes me feel like not too much has changed. Our team lead Elliot Osagie has also been an excellent mentor so I feel like I have the support of the label as well as my family.
After making a full-length project like ‘Love Is War’, how do you feel your artistic identity has evolved since your early work like ‘Tropicana Fruit Juice’?
Working on global music feels like creating multiverse versions of Bella Alubo and that’s exciting to me. this album, ‘Love is War’ helped expand my artistic limits mainly through teamwork with all of the creatives involved. For me, finding more of myself while accommodating a bigger vision is artistry at its peak.
With the success of your recent track ‘White Shoes’ and the release of this album, what do you hope listeners take away from ‘Love Is War’? What is the main statement you want to make as an artist?
From my single ‘White Shoes’, to my new album, ‘Love is War’; I hope listeners can see the art in their own lives. Singing about things that are natural to our human experience is conscious art to me. The main statement I want to make as an artist is that there’s beauty in all emotion and love is the strongest one.
