ALL EYES ON KOLD AF, DELTA’s VERY OWN

Kold AF’s beautiful journey keeps getting more exciting. Three years after her musical debut, she is set to embark on an exciting new era, powered by her brand-new EP “Kaution.” Following its release, she shared her thoughts with us.

Hailing from Delta, Nigeria, this southern Nigeria talent describes herself as a fusion artist as she explains: “I like to fuse genre, this is what stimulates me. In every single song that I make there always will be a representation of where I’m from regardless of what genre is mainly represented, which for me is dancehall.” In a land where Afrobeats ruled for many years, Kold AF found her music inspiration from an early age, leading naturally to a strong dancehall orientation: “Dancehall plays a major part in my music and in my life. I listened to a lot of dancehall growing up, especially Sean Paul! He was the first artist I heard. I love the flow of his voice, and the combination with the beat just getting you in the movement. That’s my heaviest influence, and my dad kind of introduced me to this genre as well. Even though I’m not from the Caribbeans, I just really connect with this music and it’s funny because people from the south of Nigeria often lean to dancehall. It’s kind of a spiritual connection with this genre, but at the same time I’m not trying to speak like a Jamaican or else. I tend to fuse this genre with my own culture, so my song come with pidgin lyrics and various influences from Nigeria.”

Kold AF is part of an important and fast-growing generation of talents who will benefit from the democratization of African sounds around the world: “I’m very happy that music from this continent is getting the light and recognition that it deserves because there’s a lot of talent that are coming not only from Nigeria but all the continent.” With the release of her EP “Kaution”, she is making a bold statement and positioning herself as an unstoppable force in the music world, wielding dancehall-fusion as her weapon of choice. She tackles themes of grit, resilience, enjoyment, and self-preservation with confidence and style : “I wanted to create uplifting anthems for my audience but also for myself. I needed to have a safe place where I can go to my own music to get self-motivation, hype me up and get me back on track. It can happen a lot to artists.” In this body of work, she delivers these messages in songs such as « 365 », « Ten Toes Down » or « My Way ». This approach is even more interesting when you hear that some tracks on this EP, such as « Manyana » and « 9 lives » are much more joyful : “In addition to these themes of self-motivation and resilience that resonate globally in my EP, I wanted to emphasize the importance of taking a break, recharging and escaping a little bit. To me, that’s part of the whole process, and that’s why I wanted to express it in my EP.”  

A bright and exciting future ahead for this talented South Nigerian artist, who has already been co-signed by Jazzy, Joeboy, Tems and Lojay. This acknowledgement was also reflected in her inclusion in the roster of Apple Music’s Up Next program last month: “I was really happy! The people they’ve brought into this roster are really talented so being in this category is really an honor. It’s great to see that they recognize me and see my vision.”

As 2025 approaches, we asked about upcoming plans for Kold AF: “I am going to do my own show this December in Nigeria, I’m very excited about it. It’s going to be an incredible evening representing me, not only in my music, but also in fashion and art. And December is always an interesting month, so you never know what might happen very soon.”

Listen to Kaution below :