“Zayn means servant of God, handsome and a King. I have the desire to become all, that’s how I came by the name”, said AbdulMajid Aliyu, a Nigerian singer and songwriter popularly known as ‘Zayn Africa’.
The artist who was born in 1994 in Kaduna describes his music style as “avant-garde”, he said this is because it is very modern, romantic as well as easy to understand and enjoy”.
In 2017, he released his first album titled “The relationship” which had 11 tracks with a single central lyrical theme of “Romance”.
On the choice of the theme, Zayn Africa told Daily Trust Youthville that romance is an unending cycle with humans because as they fall in love, they break up, they make up or try again.
The album tracks include; “Saurara”, “Don’t cry”, “Don’t Cry remix ft. Babsin”, “Kece On My Mind”, “Mamanmu”, “Mamanmu remix ft. Dj AB & Feezy”, “Kishiya ft. Feezy”, “Kije Gida”, “You Want It ft. Dj AB & Feezy”, “Ki Dawo” and “Banga Wata Ba”
“I’m very fluent in speaking Hausa that’s why I made it my primary language of art,” Zayn Africa explains his language choice.
The artist who was born with the talent of music said, “I write my own songs. I didn’t really have any form of musical training, it is something I was born with, not attained later.”
On the stereotype that you have to be in Lagos to be a success in the music industry he said, “I believe this is in the past but I don’t believe it anymore with the way music has grown and excelled in the digital world.
“The internet has taken music to a different level where you get to commercialise, promote and become successful from wherever you are.”
Zayn Africa said his music has been able to pay the bills “through talent shows, events performances, music feature and productions”.
The highest point in his music career has been having “my own copyrights which helps protect my work”.
He added that getting verified as an artist on google and other commercial music platforms like Audiomack and Spotify was also a high point because it “helps my work to become globally accessible and searchable on the internet”.
He said the constant awareness that he is not the only upcoming act in Nigeria keeps him awake “I sometimes can’t sleep at night thinking if I don’t wake to create a super music to hit the chart, someone out there is working to beat it, so I have to put in work all the time.”
He also stated that the conservative nature of northern Nigeria is also a challenge as “not every society welcomes music, it is hard to cope with societal differences”.
Zayn Africa who is working on his next album says it is going to be themed around the ups and down of life.
The singer who hopes to have a record label that will sign and help upcoming acts says he also wants to write and release chart toping music.
In era of extreme leveraging of the internet Zayn Africa said, “as a millennial, I use the social media to pursue my goals by connecting with people who can help me spread the word about my music. I always try to find the type of content that seems to really resonate with my fans. I pay attention to what people like and what proves beneficial for my music, then create more content like that.”