Efezino Akpo talks to us about representing and inspiring with Isoko culture
Written by: Deepa Somasunderam
Fresh off her tour with Simi.
Welcome to our latest series, Emerge. We are spotlighting creative peeps who are from Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean. Creating in every language you can possibly imagine, we want to highlight these international tastemakers. We are talking to them about their career journeys, beauty secrets and wellness tips. So keep scrolling to find out more, get listening to their tunes and appreciating their work.
First up on Emerge is Efezino Akpo, a singer-songwriter who just completed a US tour with the Nigerian artist, Simi. Efezino is from Delta State and currently lives in Lagos. Her unique sound is a combination of Afro pop, RnB, soul, folk, alternative and country music.
Her Afro-soul single “Amere” with all its Isoko beats was such a big hit that the song and its remix versions have over two million views on YouTube and almost a million streams on Spotify and she even released Pidgin, Swahili and French versions, trending in Africa and across the world.
We spoke to Efezino about the romantic story behind her single “Totori“ and lets us into her beauty journey, telling us how she learned to love her skin.
What were the highlights of your US tour with Simi?
I got to meet my fans in the US and now I have new fans too! It was an amazing experience seeing people show so much love in another continent.
What inspired Totori?
I fell in love, so the song's about someone special, it was a birthday gift to him. In all the interviews that I’ve attended, I’ve never gone so deep into answering this question when I’m being asked, I just go over the surface. It’s all true feelings that I feel for someone special, that’s why I wrote this song for him on his birthday, and he decided to put it out.
This is my second single, I dropped the first one in 2018, and it’s called Amere. That was also a love song but a bit more cultural, it’s my culture back in the south. I don't know if you've seen the video before, but this one is more expressive. It wasn’t really an experience, I just felt like writing a love song. But this one is real.
Tell us about your musical influences.
I’ve been singing for a long time, I guess since I was seven and that was when I joined the choir. When I started doing shows when I was 12, my older brother used to take me around Delta State to sing and I stayed back at home. I grew up with a lot of cultural music, because I’m Isoko (my tribe in Nigeria) and we have a lot of tribes in Nigeria.
So I grew up in a city where you have the delta Igbos, Isoko, Urobo, Ishekiri, and Ijaw. These are different tribes and we all grew up together. So you will hear them playing their songs in the background. I'm from a musical home, all my family, my siblings sing, and they all grew up in the choir.
We grew up in a home where we played a lot of cultural music, and of my tribe. Also while walking to school as a child, you would hear people playing an Ishekiri song or an Ijaw song. I'm very interested in my culture and representing where I'm from and showing who I am.
So a lot of people asked me not to do it. Where I come from, they’re not a lot of people that put their language in their songs. And I tried not just to represent my tribal language, but all the tribes in the South. Just like a lot of people do on Instagram, they have different languages, ranging from Edo, Calabar, and different places. I’m also interested in doing other languages like Swahili, French, etc. I don’t really speak but I learned a bit of it, Google helps me and a friend of mine from Tanzania.
So I love culture, I love to represent my people, where I'm from. My dad used to tell me something: if you’re not proud of where you’re from then you don’t know what you’re doing.
How hard is it to break into the Nigerian music industry?
Getting a platform in Nigeria in the music industry and to be heard is very difficult because there are so many artists. Nigeria is blessed with many talented artists and there is no proper body to regulate this music. So even if your music is doing well, you never really get paid.
People lobby for shows, it’s harder than outside Africa, where maybe your song is being played somewhere and you get royalties, licenses etc. Here you barely see all of that. Having to do my kind of music that is rare, it wasn’t that easy. Even Amere, it took almost 2 years before it got big.
The last time I went home, I was shocked that Amere was a big hit in my state and the whole of the southern region. It’s everywhere and people love the song and they sing it all the time. So it took two years for the song to even become that big because there were no proper platforms for our music to be heard, especially as an independent artist, and I just became rigidly independent. So I’m doing everything myself with support from friends.
Sometimes it’s not easy trying to get a camera crew, to put your song out there. So I’m trying my best to do as much as I can with the resources I have available, and I'm not afraid to always ask for help. That’s something I learned in my life. Don’t ever be afraid to ask for help. So I do as much as I can, work hard, pray hard, and have faith.
What has your beauty journey been like?
Growing up, I didn’t always feel this beautiful. I had acne when I was a teenager,I used to call it back knee because they hurt me in my back. And I had on my chest. At a time I had very little on my face. So I wasn’t so comfortable with my skin because I’ve always been perceived slim growing up. So I was bullied a lot and then acne happens, so I was uncomfortable with my skin.
I used all kinds of products you can think of in Nigeria. Because my uncle’s a doctor, at one point my parents took me to the hospital for him to do a biopsy to check if there’s something wrong with my skin. Well, he just shook his head and then said, I’ll do this just because that’s what you want. And I was like fine, it’s just a stage. But it messed up my level of self confidence as a teenager and I just let it go. I stopped using a lot of these chemicals, some food products and just let my skin breathe.
So over the years, I just use a lot of coconut oil. I feel I’m a bit sensitive so I used coconut oil on my hands and my legs but I don’t use it on my chest and my back. Once in a while I use it on my face, the only time I use it regularly on my face is when I use it with my turmeric mask. My face has been fine, if you look at it, it’s glowing. I use the body lotion on my body, I don’t break out, and I don’t have any acne anymore.
I know it’s difficult for a lot of teenagers and kids growing up feeling like they’re the ugliest people in the world. I’ve been there and you just have to learn how to love yourself, love your body, and love your skin.
How do you relax and unwind?
I love to watch movies. I’m a movie freak. I’ve even reduced watching TV now because there’s so much to do I have a musical career, I have so many things and when you grow up sometimes you just focus on what is more important, but as a child like I can watch TV from 10 pm at night to 4am and still go to school by 7am and I’ll be all fine but I can’t do that anymore. We’re getting too old for that.
So when I want to just relax I watch Netflix and chill, enjoy maybe chocolate or some snacks. Sometimes I read if I’m in a good mood or I just hang out with my friends and do goofy stuff, dance and relax.
What’s next for you? What are your plans for 2023 and any future projects you're excited about?
I am working on a new project and wrapping up soon. I believe I have evolved a bit from what I put out last and can’t wait to share it this year!
I can’t wait to share the amazing work I have in store, so many songs. Sometimes I sit down and listen to them and I just want to cry, I played all my songs to my dad in 2020 when I went home for Christmas and he was crying.
That was the first time I saw him crying and he was just shaking his head and he felt so proud that I’m doing music, something he used to do and I’m representing him, continuing his work. Something he had to leave behind to start a family, to pursue other things and not just that I’m not trying to brag, but I can put out good music and I don’t want it to just stay with me, I want to share it, have other people connect with it, transform lives and inspire people.
