Where’s the towels?” Odeal asks as a grey massage table stands in the middle of his dressing room. When we first spoke to the NME 100 alumnus back in 2021, the British-Nigerian artist was carving his own lane to become the “UK’s alté renaissance man” – creating bound-to-be cult classics solo in his room. He found success with every release, starting in his university days when he released the melodic ‘Vicious Cycle (Policeman)’.
Right now, he’s gearing up for his sold-out homecoming gig at London’s O2 Kentish Town. Though Odeal is confident and excited for his penultimate show on his Thoughts I Never Said Tour, his musical journey has been far from plain-sailing.
He was signed to Warner momentarily to release his breakthrough EP ‘OVMBR: Roses’ – kicking off a whole new era for the South London-raised singer where dulcet and soulful R&B overpowers his former Afrobeats inspirations. Though Odeal experienced viral success with the infectious ‘24/48’, he grew disillusioned by the lack of patience Warner showed for his musical growth, eventually leaving the label. His decision proved to be an act of liberation: “I wanted to do things my way,” he reflects. “I didn’t think I even knew what I wanted, [but] I just wanted to make music freely.”
Soon, he began his OVMBR brand, building a strong independent team and releasing music on his own terms. “As soon as I left, I knew what I wanted to put out, and I put it out,” he says firmly. That turned out to be his first true TikTok hit: ‘Coffee’, which blends Afro-R&B with the sexy dance genre of Angolan Kizomba. Its success made him realise he didn’t want to be “just a TikTok star”. Odeal wanted to be known for making “great music”, a sentiment he originally echoed from our previous 2021 chat to “go worldwide” with his idiosyncratic sound.
And how did he do that? He dropped the stirring 2023 ‘Thoughts I Never Said’ EP, establishing his new phase of muted R&B as more than a fluke, but a carefully crafted turn. It attracted the attention of the esteemed Atlanta-based indie label Love Renaissance (LVRN), who brought him into their “family” and “put their faith in” him to continue its legacy of churning out R&B titans like 6lack and Summer Walker.
Together, they released Odeal’s most synonymous song to date, ‘Soh Soh’: a feel-good song featuring a syrupy chorus full of sweet nothings sung in Yoruba. It also found success online – racking up over 20million streams on Spotify – after content creator Christine Onyi (@pineapplechronicles) made a viral dance trend for the song.
Alté (Nigerian alternative music) is usually full of heavy and edgy sounds that defy all genres. Does Odeal still embody the alté essence old fans once loved – even with his new incorporation of Afro-R&B and Afro-piano? He’s certain he does. “Alté has always been an amalgamation of different genres with Afrobeats at the base,” he explains. “My music is still that, but the world interprets it differently now.”
To build his new interpretation of alté, Odeal released his first two EPs this year: in July, he dropped ‘Sundays At Zuri’s’ and, last month, he shared the smooth and brooding ‘Lustropolis’ – his first EP under LVRN. He describes ‘Lustropolis’ as an angsty continuation from not just ‘…Zuri’s’ but also ‘Thoughts I Never Said’, sharing his new experiences as “authentic in its truest form”.
“It was always the aim to make music like I’m making now and infuse my culture into it”
With ‘… Zuri’s’ and ‘Lustropolis’, he wanted to show how he’s matured musically. “It was always the aim to make music like I’m making now and infuse my culture into it. It was never going to stay the same as what it was before. Although I know more now, I’m still exploring.”
‘Lustropolis’ is an exciting next step for Odeal. He’s had viral success before, but he earns his biggest feature on ‘You’re Stuck’: the relatably mesmerising Summer Walker. Odeal describes the song – in which the two narrate different viewpoints of a stagnant relationship – as “different with an Afro element in it,” still defending his stance in alté.
Odeal admits Walker “ate him up” on ‘You’re Stuck’ in a recent TikTok, and doesn’t hold back on his admiration for her while talking to NME: “She’s mad funny. She loved the song and smashed it. We weren’t in the studio together for that track because I wasn’t in the States yet, but our teams pieced it together. Later, when I was in LA, we linked up for the video and got into the studio… Hopefully, there’ll be more collaborations in the future.”
With such forward momentum, Odeal is on the brink of something; whether that’s reshaping the world’s view of alté or sparking a movement grounded in authenticity, love and self-expression, his power to unify people with his rhythmic odes to love’s complexities is greater than a fleeting TikTok hit here and there.
It’s why OVMBR (‘Our Variances Make Us Bold and Relentless’) is more than just a typical label or brand: it’s the current philosophy Odeal goes by. “We all have different stories: my story is very different from a lot of people’s, and that’s what drives this,” he says.
“Everyone has the potential from wherever they start to become anything – but people need to feel like they’re heard or seen,” he continues. “With OVMBR, we want everyone to remember that, as different as we are, we’re all as important as each other and we should all celebrate each other.”
So, at his biggest London show to date, he can’t wait to celebrate this milestone with his fans. “I’m so happy that they invested their time, their energy, their attention from early, and they didn’t think it would go to waste,” the singer reflects. “There are fans who support you for one song and then are off to the next – and that’s cool – but people really invested in my journey. I’ve got a song with Summer Walker, two great EPs out and the world is starting to know me, and they can be like, ‘Yeah, we were here first.’”
In a world that often values instant success over the long game, Odeal is a testament to the power of persistence. With the backing of LVRN, a growing catalogue of genre-defying music, and a die-hard fanbase, Odeal is ready for whatever comes next.
Odeal’s ‘Lustropolis’ is out now
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