Chike talks about being a shirtless artist and more on Apple Music’s Africa Now Radio

This Week’s Episode Features a Conversation With Chike, the 5 Hottest Tracks of the Week, Africa Rising and Dadaboy Ehiz’s Favourite Track of the Week!

Tune in to Africa Now Radio with Dadaboy Ehiz this Friday, September 2nd at 9a Lagos/London / 10a Johannesburg/Paris / 1a LA / 4a NYC on Apple Music 1 

Cover Star Interview
Nigerian soul singer-songwriter Chike joins Dadaboy Ehiz via FaceTime on Apple Music 1 to talk about his latest track, “Pour Me a Drink.” He also discusses his new album, ‘The Brother’s Keeper,’ staying true to himself, and balancing creativity and business.

The Big 5
Dadaboy Ehiz shares the 5 hottest new African tracks of the moment. This week’s selection includes new tracks from CKay, Zinoleesky, PHILA DLOZI, Venom & Shishiliza feat. Aubrey Qwana, Moajorsteez, Howard & Paula Sibiya, and DJ Tunez feat. Wizkid, Alpha P & Tay Iwar.

Read Also: Watch: Actor Lil Win surprises his mum with a new car

Africa Rising 
South African hip-hop star Maglera Doe Boy—Apple Music’s latest Up Next: South African Artist—is the latest artist featured from Apple Music’s Africa Rising playlist, a campaign which shines a light on the next generation of African superstars, and this week’s show features his singles, “Goni (feat. Miss Read & Halo Yagami),” and “God Is A Black Woman (feat. KayGizm),” from his latest album, Diaspora. Listen HERE.

Dadaboy’s Song of the Week
Each week, Dadaboy Ehiz chooses his favourite track from one of Apple Music’s African playlists. This week he spotlights from Ugandan Afro-pop star Azawi and her single, “My Year,” from Apple Music’s EA Wave playlist, which showcases the biggest tracks from East Africa. Listen HERE.

Tune in and listen to the full episode this Friday, September 2nd at 9a Lagos/London / 10a Johannesburg/Paris / 1a LA / 4a NYC on Apple Music 1 at apple.co/_AfricaNow

Chike on ‘My Brother’s Keeper’

When I made the album, I’m saying that’s my state of mind. When I had my first album I didn’t know what to expect, there wasn’t so much expectation of me. I mean a lot of my family members didn’t know me – they knew me, but they did’t reach out – but now I’m in a different place, a place of expectation. There’s a way people expect you to behave, there are demands on you and everything. There’s also a way I want to keep my family and friends to the best of my ability, and I’m just saying while making this album I have now become this person: the brother’s keeper. A lot of people still say he hasn’t done anything for anyone but that’s alright, I’m doing my best.

Chike on Staying True to Himself

The best you can be is you. There’s gonna be a couple of tweaks here and there, and that happened with my new album because there were a few things I learned, and other parts of me and my experiences I felt more comfortable talking about. I can tell you yes, I can see what’s going on [in more popular Nigerian music scenes], but the truth is if something’s working, why change it? I know what I did the first time, and it worked for me so why not try for the second time?

When there’s an abrupt change, also, you lose your core base. Now you might not see our music on all the streets and all the corners, but I can decide in Lagos, Nigeria to do a show and pack it with 800-1000 people, depending on how hard I go. This is 800-1000 people that are willing to pay to come see me, and that means a lot.

Chike on not being a singles artist

I have toned down being an artist, and look at it from an executive perspective. The way music is here, it’s expensive – whether you’re pushing singles or projects, a lot of money is going to go down. Me I’ve been independent for the longest – you know I have my team, I have my people who handles management but I’m basically independent – and with singles it’s still going to be money spent and you just don’t know for sure what the market wants to listen to… so if I’m going to spend $50,000 in pushing an album, I’m better spending on doing that than $20,000 on trying out different singles that just might not work. I mean as an artist it works for me, don’t get me wrong, but then I’m not the one who’s going to consume the music. It’s more of an executive decision.