Canadian music over the years has been shaped by the influences of diverse cultures. You have the indigenous people, the British, Irish, French and more subsequently, the American culture majorly tied to the close proximity between both countries. Now that immigrants are more on the rise, there’s a large variety of individuals from different backgrounds infusing their culture into the music they make over there.
With the Canadian music industry continuing to evolve with a multitude of voices, sounds, and narratives, one question remains at the forefront: what defines Canadian music? In an exclusive conversation with Oché, a super talented artist who defines his music as Afro RnB fusion, Oché provides a peek into his life as he discusses his journey, challenges, and modernity in his quest to define Canadian music on his own terms.
“Personally I don’t think Canadian music has legs to go anywhere. Because it always carried on the identity of a specific culture that lived in it”.
This piece has been edited for length and clarity.
How did you first discover your passion for music? What would you say motivated you to pursue a career as an artist?
When I was younger, back in Benue state, Nigeria, my cousin was actually a music artist who worked with 2face and his guys. He was a background singer for the plantation boys. I used to work with those guys a lot. So I was always around them when I was younger. As a teenager, I started producing. I never really wanted to get into anything singing or rapping. So I was just making beats. When I got to University I stopped doing anything music-related cause I was in school for engineering, and I wanted to focus on that. Over the years, I just decided to get back into the music bag. I never continued to produce, I just started off rapping and transitioned to singing.
So have you always been in Canada or you relocated from Nigeria at some point in time?
I used to live in Nigeria but I moved to Canada in 2015.
Can you share any challenges that you’ve probably faced as a rising artist in Canada? And if yes, how do you think these experiences have shaped your artistic journey?
Starting off here, I think one of the biggest challenges I faced was I wasn’t able to do Afrobeat starting off. I started off just rapping and singing because I couldn’t make the music I really wanted to as the people here would not be receptive to that. Also, when I was rapping at the time, there was this stigma of gangsta rap in Toronto, and because of that you can’t really do shows if you’re doing anything in the rap or hip hop genre. So the shows were limited. That was one reason why I started doing a lot of singing. And then I would say the third one was the radio part. You can’t really get on the radio that much if you’re not really in the industry, or you’re not signed or you’re not connected. And for someone like me who was new here at the time, none of those things were accessible to me, so for me, I just created a model of sticking to the streaming model and I felt like that just solved all my problems.
“If I wasn’t doing music, I’d be doing the business of music because music for me is also business”.
Okay, so basically you switched from your interest in rapping to music because of how music is received in Canada?
I wouldn’t say I was more interested in rapping, I just started rapping because remember, I never really wanted to do music when I came here. By coincidence, I was in the studio and then someone was like, “Hey, I think you sound good on this beat”. And then I rapped on it and it just sounded good. When we put out that record, that was my first song ever and coincidentally that song got playlisted on Apple Music. It also got put on major big blogs, and that was my first song with no connection. That just made me take music seriously. But yeah, I don’t think I intentionally started rapping, it happened by chance.
What was the first feeling like, when you felt your music was big or you were listened to by others?
Honestly, because the journey was kind of long, the first time I saw my song go mainstream, obviously that was good. But then you know, everything just started slowing down a bit. Regardless, I kept on releasing music. And then slowly, I think I have about 30 songs now and they have started catching on. I’ve also had people reach out to me to say they were a big fan. Two of my songs have gotten to top 40 radio in Germany and Portugal. Primarily, because the process was gradual, it wasn’t an explosive feeling of like “Oh my god I made it ”, it was more of “Okay, these songs are good and being heard” as opposed to feeling like a big artist.
What would you describe your kind of music as?
Right now at this stage, I will just say Afro R&B. It’s a mix of RnB and Afro. I feel like that’s a genre that’s not even tapped. I had a meeting with an A&R from Sony Music, and he told me that space and sound are something that no one is really paying attention to. Everybody’s paying attention to the afro beats, the afro-pop, the Fuji but Afro-soul and RnB is just going to slowly creep on and when it catches on, it’s going to be crazy.
How do you relax? Please don’t say listening to music.
One thing a lot of people don’t know about me is that apart from the music, I also run a business here where we provide software and all that stuff. So when I’m not making music, I’m actually not even relaxing. I’m just running the company for the most part. Well, relaxation, I don’t think I really relax because after work, I just make music and sleep for the most part or cook.
So if you weren’t doing music, what would you be doing?
I’ll be running a business while also doing the business of music because music for me is also business. That’s how I always look at it. It’s a passion that inevitably, if I was 50 years old, I would still be doing music. Trust me , when the time comes for me to make my music bigger, it will be, but the new song I got right now. I feel like that will be the one so fingers crossed.
Speaking about your new song, what should we be expecting from the upcoming single?
My next single “Jeje” is probably my biggest song. My best song for sure in terms of doing Afro beats. It’s just something different. I don’t think I’ve made something like this before, I just know it’s a banger and it’s not only me that feels that way but everyone who has heard the song feels that way.
Is there anyone on the song or is it just you?
It’s just me, but the remix is probably going to have a feature though.
So are there any Afrobeat artists or Canadian artists you would love to collaborate with?
Right now, I’m feeling Odumodublvck, um, obviously Wizkid, Burna Boy. I like Ayra Starr too and Victony. Those are the ones I have in my mind right now.
Where’s your favorite place to travel?
I like Europe a lot but lately I’ve been feeling New York and Miami.
So finally, as an artist in Canada, I want to believe you’ve spent quite a good amount of time experiencing the music and then knowing sort of what it’s like. But where do you think in the next 10 years, Canadian music would be. Do you think it would be more mainstream, like more out there than it is right now?
So I’d give two answers to that question. The first one, Canadian music in general. Personally, I don’t think Canadian music has legs to go anywhere because it always carried on the identity of a specific culture that lived in it. So for example, there was a time where Dark RnB was popping and some people were like, that’s the Canadian sound. This was like 2016-2017 when The Weekend and Drake was happening. Those two artists went on to become identities of themselves. Yeah, Drake is always repping Canada but when you think of their sound you don’t think of Canadian music. To Canada and Afrobeats, because of the diversity we don’t have a sound of our own. But as the Afrobeat sound is growing and the artists here are also popping off, hopefully maybe they will also help the country’s sound. You know what I mean? But as of now, I won’t even say RnB is the sound of Canada. In my opinion, every time I think of what a Canadian sound is, there is none.
In conversation with Fola A.J and Peter Pearse-Elosia
