{"id":767910,"date":"2025-12-08T15:00:15","date_gmt":"2025-12-08T14:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/numero.com\/?p=767910"},"modified":"2025-12-08T15:00:20","modified_gmt":"2025-12-08T14:00:20","slug":"obongjayar-the-captivating-nigerian-singer-acclaimed-by-little-simz","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/numero.com\/en\/culture-en\/music\/obongjayar-the-captivating-nigerian-singer-acclaimed-by-little-simz\/","title":{"rendered":"Obongjayar, the captivating Nigerian singer acclaimed by Little Simz"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Obongjayar\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button>
Obongjayar photographed by George Muncey.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Obongjayar, a singer at the crossroads of original afrobeat and electronic music<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Nigerian singer Steven Umoh<\/strong> recalls potholed roads, bumpy rides, and moss-covered fences behind which endless football matches unfolded. That was Calabar, a city in southeastern Nigeria, where brick houses flaunt multicolored roofs. Back then, he hadn\u2019t yet picked his stage name, Obongjayar<\/strong>.<\/p><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Based in London for the past fifteen years, the 32-year-old musician is an avid fan of singer Asa<\/strong> and Nigerian rap. He crafts deep, spiritual music, blending spoken word, original afrobeat, and electronic sounds. In his love songs, he reveals his light falsetto, as if speaking to a child.<\/p><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Conversely, when tenderness gives way to uproar, his voice gets deeper, earthier, almost abrasive. It responds and adapts to his music, which Obongjayar<\/strong> describes as \u201cthe breeze that hits you when you step outside your house<\/em>.\u201d<\/p><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Singer\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button>
Obongjayar photographed by George Muncey.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Collaborations with Little Simz and Fred Again<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

He first broke through with Frens<\/em><\/strong> (2019), featured on the original soundtrack of the video game FIFA 20, and has since carved out a singular path. A blend of poetic intensity and visceral commitment. In 2021, he released the track Point and Kill<\/em> <\/strong>with his friend Little Simz<\/strong><\/a>. The music video is a tribute to neo-noir African cinema and draws its inspiration from Touki Bouki <\/em><\/strong>(1973), Djibril Diop Mamb\u00e9ty<\/strong>\u2019s radical road movie.<\/p><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Later, his collaboration with British producer Fred Again<\/strong> on Adore U<\/em> (2023) – now a platinum record – sealed his transformation into an alchemist of British groove and melancholy. Released at the end of May, his second album, Paradise Now<\/em> <\/strong>(2025), stands as both a manifesto of freedom and a rejection of labels. An incandescent record that seeks neither to please nor to comfort, but which strikes a chord, right where it still burns, thanks to its fractured bursts and moments of grace.<\/p><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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