Simi Examines the Power of Love on New Single ‘Stranger’ [@SympLySimi]

Regarded as one of the driving forces behind Nigeria’s new Afropop wave and recognised as one of the most distinctive female voices in African music today, it’s fair to say that 2023 has been a great year for songstress and producer Simi. After the announcement that she would be joining Grammy Award-winning superstar Alicia Keys on her ‘Keys To The Summer’ North American tour, Simi returned with her single ‘Stranger,’ a captivating pop-soul ballad she wrote, composed, and engineered herself, with production by the talented Louddaa. Read on as she discusses her experience with love, motherhood, and her presence in Afrobeats today.

Bethel: Congratulations on your latest single, “Stranger”. Can you tell us a bit about the inspiration behind the song? How do you feel about the song’s message of love, its risks and consequences?

Simi: It’s funny because the answer to your first question is in the second one that you asked me. I think I was thinking about how love by nature is beautiful, but it’s also so complex. Sometimes you’re in a relationship, but you’re still making decisions, doing things, accepting things, being a person that you ordinarily wouldn’t be outside of that situation or with somebody else, or in any different kind of relationship.

Over time, you become a stranger to yourself and you don’t really recognise who you are anymore. The reason why I said the answer to that first question was in the second one was because you asked, ‘What do I think about love?’ To be in love with someone else is to make yourself vulnerable. That’s one of the biggest risks you can take as a person.

Bethel: How does that translate into the type of love that you have for your family, for your daughter?

Simi: Something I’ve said in the past is, I feel like when I became a mom, that’s when I became my most vulnerable. I’m not the kind of person who is beholden to other people’s opinions of me. As much as I love and care for the people in my life—my friends, my family—I also prioritize myself. But I feel like with my daughter specifically, I became more vulnerable because the love there is unconditional. It’s like this person has the most power to hurt you or to make you the happiest, and you can feel that. You feel like you don’t have as much control as you would normally have.

And with family, especially blood, they might disappoint you but you’re still there. You can’t un-mother your mother, for example. Even if you say ‘I disown you,’ that’s just the worst. The blood is your blood, and sometimes, loving people like that can also put you in very funny suspicions where you’re not sure. You might make decisions or become a person that you normally wouldn’t be, but because of the love you have for this person or people, it might change you.

Bethel: Is love worth pursuing despite all the risks it entails?

Simi: I guess it depends on what the person is adding to you. In all the ways you love, there’s always a risk. They always have the capacity or potential of hurting you, but if the value and the joy that they bring to your life are priceless to you, then it’s definitely worth having.

Bethel: What was it like working with Louddaa on the production of the song?

Simi: I actually met Louddaa through one of my oldest friends, one of my oldest producers. Not by age, but I’ve known him the longest. I really like working with him because I can be very demanding when working on my music. He was very easy to work with, he just got me; I would see exactly what I wanted, and if he wasn’t sure, he would let me know. It was great to collaborate in that process.

Bethel: You’ve achieved a lot in your career, including amassing over one billion global streams. What’s been the most rewarding part of your journey so far?

Simi: First of all, being able to do what I love as much as I love and have that be the saying, ‘Do something you love and you’ll never have to work a day in your life.’

I’m not doing music because it’s easy money, it’s not. I’m doing it because of how much passion I have for it. To just be able to do that and thrive in it as much as I have is very fulfilling. Also, to have people connect to you based on you being able to express yourself via music, to just be doing something I love is the most fulfilling part for me. Everything passes, you know. All you have is today, and then hopefully, tomorrow. Just to be able to be doing it at all is the best part.

Bethel: You’re one of the most distinctive female voices in African music today. What do you think makes your sound unique?

Simi: First of all, thank you. I’ve always been heavy on texture over skill because that’s just me; I don’t necessarily think that’s the best. That’s just what I’ve always liked, and I think that my voice definitely stands out as well as my stories. I like to tell stories; I like to have something people can connect to when they hear my music; not just hearing a song just to hear a song because it’s a vibe, but telling a story that people can actually connect to.

Bethel: You’ve were invited to join Alicia Keys on her tour this summer. What were you looking forward to the most on this tour?

Simi: I guess meeting her because I’ve been a fan since I was a kid, and it is such an honour for me to be able to share that platform with her. It’s amazing, especially now that Afrobeats is on a global stage, getting all this attention, and to be able to have that platform is so amazing for me. The experience is something that you can’t buy. I’m glad that I’m able to take my music outside of my own fan base to share with new people that probably haven’t heard of me before, who haven’t experienced me before.

You can stream Simi’s latest single below and discover more from GUAP’s Music section here!

Discover More From GUAP’s Music Section Here.