Why I switched from rap to afrobeats – Victony

Anthony Ebuka Victor, aka Victony, a Nigerian singer-songwriter, has revealed that he changed his music genre from hip-hop to afrobeats because he wanted to “try something new.”

The 22-year-old said the pandemic quarantine allowed him to discover himself.

Victony co-wrote Teen Vogue’s Africa’s New Wave cover story with BNXN and Ayra Starr.

“The aura, the feeling during lockdown was very different, and that prompted me to want to try something new,” the ‘Soweto’ crooner recalled.

“But when I got into the Afrobeat space, I realized that it was even harder because a key element of Afrobeat is relatability. [But you have to do that] and still make sense. You still have to be metaphoric, you still have to be creative with the writing,” he added.

Victony said music helped him heal faster when he was in a wheelchair for about a year after a fatal car accident that claimed the life of one of his friends.

He said the positive reception his collaboration with Mayorkun, ‘Holy Father’, got while he was still in a wheelchair, motivated him to finish up his project and follow up the success.

He, however, said the guilt over not being able to remember how the accident happened still haunts him, adding that “I just feel like maybe things would have been different if I was awake.”