All you know about Kizz Daniel is what he allows you to know. The 26-year-old pop star became the master of his fate when he made the move to become an independent act. His new label, Flyboy Inc, is home to himself, Philkeyz, and some other young talented acts. He gets to call the shots and so far, he hasn’t missed a step. His new album, King Of Love, is the best pop album of 2020 so far. Most times, a Kizz Daniel song is easy to spot because it sounds familiar. This was one of the earliest criticisms he got when he debuted on the music scene.
His singles Woju and Laye sounded a tad similar and people accused him of messing with the same sound but that never really bothered him. He would later address his critics on DJ Shabsy’s Raba and he never referred to it again. And why would he? He found a working formula for pop songs and he has been ridiculously successful with it. His partnership with DJ Coublon has yielded results from the early days of Woju and Laye to his recent bangers like Jaho, Ada (co-produced with Young John), Boys Are Bad (co-produced with Phil Keyz), and Pak N Go. When I ask him about the secret to their successful working relationship, his answer is simple. Synergy, he says. They have both figured out the sound that works and they’ve stuck with it.
Here’s another thing you should know about Kizz Daniel. He’s an impulsive guy. He trusts his gut so much and does things as he feels they should be done at that moment. When he first announced the KOL album back in March, it had a slightly different artwork and had just 5 tracks. 2 of those tracks (Mana and Wedding Day) didn’t make it to the final cut. We don’t know what made him change his decision regarding the album. This wouldn’t be the first time that Kizz Daniel would pull something like this. His 2018 albumNo Bad Songz had a different title. He changed it last minute. “No Bad Songz was not the original title of my last album,” He says “I changed it last minute. Things work better for everyone if they follow their heart”. That last sentence is Kizz Daniel’s mantra. Follow your heart and you will reap the fruits of your actions.
His heart pushed him to release a combination of his most recently released songs and archived songs that didn't make the No Bad Songz album as a new project and that is how the newly released KOL album came to be. It’s the same approach he gives to his music. He tells me that when he hears a beat he likes, he puts the beat on repeat while he carries out his daily actions. If he gets inspiration for the beat, he heads to the studio and records. If not, he moves on. He doesn’t force the vibe. Another way he creates music is by being inspired by his experiences or things that happened to the people around him. He tells me that songs like Tempted to steal and Padi are based on real situations that he was in.
The relativity might just be the key to his success. In just 3 days, the King of Boys album amassed over 1 million streams on Boomplay. I know that he was aware of it but I told him again anyway. To which, he replied “Baba say make I dey happy” , (a phrase from his Jaho song) before taking a moment to really soak in the success, and then he says “I’m always expecting good news. I only just show appreciation when it happens and for this one, I say a big thank you to God, my fans, and the good people at Boomplay" This then leads us into a discussion about Boomplay and how it has helped artists like him connect with his fans all over Africa on an unprecedented level “What Boomplay has done is provide a means to share music across Africa and at the same time, the platform has supported me and basically everybody out there. Big ups to you guys. World domination is the next thing for you guys”.
Our conversation then moves on to the next pressing thing on Kizz Daniel’s mind. Music videos. The pop star has just released a rather unusual but aesthetically pleasing video for his growing song Ada and I ask him what videos people can expect next from the King Of Love project. “Everything” He gleefully responds. “Every song on that album deserves a video”. We finally wrap things up by talking about the Coronavirus pandemic and how almost everything has been affected by it. I inquire as to how he was personally affected by the virus and if he had second thoughts about releasing the album because of the pandemic. His reply is plain and modest “It’s affecting everyone, it will be selfish of me to talk about how it affects just me, I just pray the world heals and we all can go out and play again without fear of contracting the virus. As for the album, I thought about not releasing it because of the pandemic but then again I realized i shouldn’t allow a situation we can’t control determine how we live our lives, so I said to myself, my people need to be happy and love is everything so I compiled an album about the different shades of love”
expect next from the King Of Love project. “Everything” He gleefully responds. “Every song on that album deserves a video”. We finally wrap things up by talking about the Coronavirus pandemic and how almost everything has been affected by it. I inquire as to how he was personally affected by the virus and if he had second thoughts about releasing the album because of the pandemic. His reply is plain and modest