In Conversation : Straffitti

Straff from Nigeria is a 6-track EP (including a bonus track) with features from exciting artists such as Buju, Zlatan, Ice Prince & Prettyboy DO. Straffitti expounds on his relationship with the Nigerian rap act, Ice Prince and South African ace producer, PatrickxxLee and their influence on his career growth. Straff from Nigeria is a contemporary afro-pop project which centres around self-identity and self-confidence. Straffitti uses this work as a point of reference to his progressive development as an artist. He shares the process round creating the EP in this interview.

Can you introduce yourself? Your name and where you are from?
My name is Straffitti. My real name is Olawale Kolade. I am a Nigerian. I make beats, sing, and rap, I also make graphic arts. I am not done with school. I still want to explore more programmes. I am not talking about attending a University to study Biology or anthropology. I want to study things that can make my craft better.

The first time I listened to you was on Ice Prince’s ‘Cold’ EP in 2016. How did you meet Ice Prince?
So, flashback to 2015 or 2016, Ice sent me a DM on Instagram to work. At that time, I was doing graphic arts. Photography, graphic arts was my main base. So, all I had to do with Ice was to pull up to his crib and start taking pictures. From there, we connected on a whole different level. We connected on a big bro level. It was a big deal to me particularly for a young guy like me. Ice Prince is someone I look up to. He is inspiring. From there, he hears me freestyle, he hears me rap. I started making it known that I wanted to make music. He then introduced me to M.I. I made a song with M.I. From there, my music side started reflecting. It was a challenge to me and at the same time, it was overwhelming. I did my best at every given time. With that, it brought me so many opportunities. At that point, we were going outside Nigeria and making moves.

Did your fan base grow from 2016, COLD EP?
Not really. I won’t say my fan base grew from there. Ice Prince Fan base is a different demography. It is just a different generation. I would know if it did. I thought it would.

Which song or project showed that fan base strength?
It was with Cherry Game Girl. That was when I started making different kinds of stuff. I took it off streaming sites because it was not mixed and mastered well. There are still sources of this project scattered all over the internet. At the end of the day, some of these features helped me like the track, ‘Slow’ with M.I. You can get listeners from M.I and Ice Prince but fans are people dedicated to Straff because of Straff and not because of anybody.

How is ‘Molotov’ album key to your career?
It was because it streamlined the different types of sound that I do. It showed a lot of potential from the mixing to the mastering. Everything was raw. It was pure emotion. From that point, people were trying to see how I would evolve from that project. It started from there and that’s what I will call a fan base if you ask me.

You produce, sing, and rap
Yea, I can rap. I can battle rap but I rather sing because I think that is key to me. Melodies are easily communicated this way. It is just a better way of connecting to people. If I am rapping now, someone might not understand what I am saying. If I put in a nice melody, such a person can feel it. Melody gets stuck to the head. That’s just my own way. It is easier that way. I don’t condemn rap, it is still my art.

Can you talk about your production a bit? The project you have worked on, the artists you have worked with. That side of you
For production, I am not really like a studio producer. I come in as a producer when it comes to making adjustments to a sound. Just making a difference in something that is closed to being finished. Talking about projects I have worked on, I have worked on Ice Prince’s project. I worked on some tracks on M.I’s ‘Rendezvous’. There are things I have worked on that I can’t remember now because I don’t see it as real production. I have a couple of tracks I have produced for underground trap artists. I am also working with South African artists like PatrickxxLee. We have a couple of tracks together. I am doing other things and it has to move at my pace.

It is really great you mentioned PatrickxxLee. I personally thought you are from South Africa…(laughs)
People make that misconception. I have a small fan base in South Africa which is actually a big deal. If you have an underground fan base in SA and you are not from there, it feels like you have penetrated. Yea, people might think I am from SA but I only have a lot of colleagues out there like PatrickxxLee and so many artists I cannot even mention now. When I am out there, I am always hanging out with these guys. We go to the studio and attend shows together. It is a mixed life. I am trying to explore more. I think that’s what an artist is meant to do with the music. When PatrickxxLee was in Nigeria, we were together for a couple of days. We both performed a song on stage.

Are you working with him on his unreleased album?
Patrickxxlee has full control of his production. I don’t know anything about that. We were meant to work on a track. It is still in process. We will finish it. You know, everyone is busy. I am working on my subsequent projects. When it is time for us to do a joint work, I know it is gonna be fireeeee.

Can’t wait to listen to your joint project
You should probably tweet that (laughs)

Everyone is adding the moniker, ‘Of Lagos’ to their name lately. You took a different turn by adding, ‘From Nigeria’. How did you look into this direction?
It started with a sketch of some songs. There is also a track, ‘Straff From Nigeria’. It was not as if I had anything against what they were doing at the scene at that time. I didn’t even know what was happening because my mind doesn’t keep information from sources unknown. I only know that there are a couple of artists with songs they say ‘Of Lagos’ but my perspective is that wherever anybody is listening to the project from, the person knows Straff is from Nigeria. That was just the picture in my head. It preaches the afro side which Nigerian music holds as the main genre. It is an afro project which is going to be a series. There is going to be Straff from Nigeria 2 & 3. It’s going to be my afro series. I will be dropping RnB too. I feel that if an afro song is not actually a banger, it is not afro. They are meant to slap. Making the project, it was in my mind to just make it a banger. I am a hip hop guy. I am just eccentric about music; I just needed to work with other genres. OG Straff fans are like ‘Straff tryna switch’ but people that understood that project knew how it was flying. I think it is just growth for an artist. There will be more. The first Straff from Nigeria is already becoming a success.

You have been busy with music since last year from your collaboration with GCL3F and the release of Kuronbe in December
GCL3F and I are dropping an RnB project in a month or two. There are two more projects coming up. I am just gearing up for the debut album next year…

You have a plan and direction and you are moving towards it already. Do you plan this out alone or you have a team that feeds you with ideas?
The thing about this stuff is that I can never say that I come up with these ideas on my own because there are people around me that guide my thought. God has just blessed me with people that can think and look in my own perspective. Mide is one of the team members that raise creative ideas. Most of the time, I come up with ideas. I send it to my A&R and my producer. Although I have what I want to do in my mind it is always nice to see from their perspective. I listen to people. We move independently now. Everything we do is from our pocket or collaborations with other people.

Any plan for visuals?
We already shot a video for ‘Necessary’ track. That was even before the EP was released. We are looking for how we can push the project between the space of one to two weeks before dropping the Deluxe.

There will be a Deluxe?
Yea.

You are feeding your fans with lots of projects
From 2019, I couldn’t make beats. I was not working on my craft and once you start the work, you should get better from there. I had to take a break from the end of 2018 till 2019. I only dropped one song last year which was Kuronbe.

On Kuronbe, it sounded different from what you naturally do. Everyone on that track came out hard. How were you able to feature these artists?
I and everyone on that track maintain a close relationship. They know about me personally. I think Prettyboy DO was the last to drop his verse. He dropped that verse because of the close relationship we have. We both respect each other.

What was the experience recording ‘Everywhere’ with Buju?
The track is an afro track. When recording the track, there was not much vibe with me. It was a nice experience because I had to bend to something that was not my comfort zone. I believe I killed it.

Will call yourself or music, ‘alte’?
I don’t know what that is about. I really don’t categorise myself into something. I might fall under that category. I am just a bit of everything

Did you work on the project artwork?
I gave the work to a 3D guy. I made a few touches to it

What more are we expecting from you?
We did a listening party which was great by the way. Fans are already catching up with the project fast. The reception has been overwhelming. My RnB project is sure ready to go. We are having a show this December.

Listen here https://music.apple.com/ng/album/straff-from-nigeria-ep/1529327007