“While I was in an empty house I created what happens to be the greatest Afrobeats song in the whole world" KDDO
Kddo had a brief moment with Jumoke on 96.9 Cool FM to talk about his latest musical project. He shares information about working with others and building his own creativity.
How he’s feeling
“It feels amazing, I’ve been working on it and it feels good to see it finally coming out. It was spontaneous producing that record because at that time he was moving from his old house in Atlanta to his new house.
“While I was in an empty house I created what happens to be the greatest Afrobeats song in the whole world, so it was just being very spontaneous and I’m grateful for that.”
Why the rebrand?
"People don’t like to pronounce long stuff or talk long. A lot of people just call me Kddo, so I was like – Why don’t I just keep it as Kddo? Also, for me, I see myself as a brand. Every company has a point at which they want to rebrand. They could do that in their 10th year or some other time. They want to rebrand, have new graphics, a new logo, and new everything. I always see myself as a brand, like a Mercedes or a Rolls Royce. They always going to change their cars every now and then. So, now that I’m dropping my own solo project I felt like it’s the perfect time to come out with a brand new name.”
Working as a DJ and Producer
"Being a DJ is a very strong part of my foundation. It affected me in so many positive ways in the sense that it built my taste for music, my knowledge of what people want to hear, and how certain sounds and things in music make people want to react. In this way, it gave me a good foundation. Up until about two years ago, I was still doing the DJ thing. In fact, I did a world tour two years ago."
Working with Chris Brown
"We hooked up in Atlanta, and later in LA. He was just like let’s make some music and we did it. We made two songs out of his album.
Switching from being a producer to an artist to put out “Too Late To Lit”
"I always like things to be very organic and unforced. I always wanted it to happen that way when I drop my projects. It is something I always had at the back of my mind that I wanted to become an artist but I wanted it to happen at its own time, and that’s literally what happened."
Nigerians acceptance of Kddo for his versatility
"Yeah! I mean I don’t know if they’ve accepted me yet (chuckles). I feel like it’s a very old thing to say if you’re a producer be a producer, if you’re an actor be an actor. This is 2021, if you’re creative, be creative in every aspect of it. Many people think all I do is produce but I create my videos and entirely direct them. Even my album art is created and directed by me. I write all my lyrics, I design codes, I paint pictures when I’m bored. I do a lot of art stuff."
Working with Mayorkun
"Mayorkun is my brother and we’ve always had great songs in the past. When I made this song I felt like he was just the right person to go on it. I sent him the record through my phone and the next day he sent his part back."
Kddo created the EP with the collaboration of Mayorkun, Davido, Ferow, Sho Madjozi, Cassper Nuovest, Jidenna, Bas, and The Cavemen.