Interview: Pheelz Welcomes You To ‘A Rii Set’ 

Even when he was contributing to the ascension of YBNl as one of Nigeria’s most renowned record label, Pheelz was operating beyond his core duties as a record producer, often offering songwriting direction and conceptual direction for some of the records that helped shape the de rigeur YBNL sound. On his own, Pheelz has become one of Afropop’s most well-regarded acts since the success of 2022’s “Finesse” with BNXN. His latest project, ‘A Rii Set,’ hinges on a full integration of his disparate influences, merging the flamboyant showmanship of Pheelz with the technical proficiency of Rii the super-producer. 

“I feel like I’ve gone through a defining moment in my life and I feel like the music interprets that as well,” Pheelz said in an interview with Apple Music’s Africa Now Radio. In some respects, ‘A Rii Set’ sounds like a reckoning with self that has been a while in the making. From the self-affirmation of “I’M OK” to the propulsive jamming of “DIRTY DIANA RHYTHM” and the nostalgia-inducing “GONGO ASO,” Pheelz treats the music as an outlet for self-expression. “I feel like ‘A Rii Set’ is a direct representation of my internal emotions,” he admits. 

This interview has been edited for clarity. 

How are you feeling about the new release?

It feels good, no pun intended. It feels really, really good. I’m grateful. I feel like I’ve gone through a defining moment in my life and I feel like the music interprets that as well. I’m grateful to God, grateful to the fans for sticking with me, grateful to the media, grateful to Apple for always showing support and love. I don’t take anything lightly or for granted.

You started in the choir in your church?

That was honestly my first introduction to music. I was a five-year-old kid and I just stumbled into the church, the adult church actually, during the moments where worship was going on and I saw in real time how music can control emotions and elevate people out of their worries and anxiety and fear. So, I saw that in real time and that was what got me attracted to music because I’m like, I want to be able to do this. I want the skill to be able to do this because I like how this makes me feel. From a very young age, I understood the power that music has to raise vibrations and the importance of that in human life. It’s okay to sing about fancy cars and girls and all that but sometimes we need to understand the spiritual power that is music and how frequency and sound literally raises vibrations and how vibrations create reality and how it’s important to use that workflow as an artist to touch people’s lives.

What’s your relationship with your father?

To be honest, my father didn’t believe it at first and I love him. He didn’t believe it at first because my father is a preacher. When a pastor’s kid says he wants to do music, especially secular music, it’s frowned upon. He told me he had a vision because he has a gift for dreaming and seeing visions. [In the] vision that there were angels surrounding me and the angels came to him, and they’re like, you have to let this kid go because we got this kid, we’ll protect him. This is his mission, this is his path. Let it be.

How did you meet Olamide?

Around that time, Olamide had a friend called Maye Hunta that happened to be an artist. Maye Hunta had a song back then called “Ekaette” that was big in Africa. So, Maye Hunta would come to my dad for counseling as a preacher, just for advice and like mentorship. At that time, I had already been tinkering around with my brother’s computer on FruityLoops. So, I had already made beats and songs and written songs for church and church programs. I had all that burnt onto a CD.  When Maye Hunta came for one of his counseling sessions with my dad, I blocked him on his way out and I was like, “Yo, big bro, I’m a producer and I also sing on the side as well, do you want to listen to some of the stuff I got?” He was like,”Yeah.” I gave him the CD and I forgot about it. Fast forward a couple months down the line, he had played it for ID Cabasa and ID Cabasa was looking for an intern at the time. So, ID Cabasa asked if I could be an intern. After fighting with my dad over and over and then the angels literally intervening,  my dad let me go for the internship. It was in that internship I met Olamide. Olamide and I became friends and brothers and we’ve been working since that time. 

How did “I’M OK” with Tiwa Savage come about?

It’s my mantra that I’m sharing with the world because that’s what I tell myself anytime I go through crazy stuff and I believe in the power of the tongue and the power of positive affirmations. I strongly believe that if you say something over and over, it affects your feelings and that creates your reality of being okay. So, “I’M OK” is showing the world what works for me and hoping it works for them as well because if you put positive affirmation onto the frequency that is music, it becomes really powerful. That was my idea behind just repeating I’m okay, I’m alright over and over so people can do that as well and feel okay. The song literally raises your vibration if you listen to it.

What was the inspiration for the production on “DIRTY DIANA RHYTHM?”

I feel like ‘A Rii Set’ is a direct representation of my internal emotions. Dirty Diana is my guitar. It’s a musical instrument that I play. I call her Dirty Diana. “DIRTY DIANA RHYTHM” is just her just being herself. We make love, that’s what we do, Dirty Diana and I. We invite our fans to listen while we make love but Dirty Diana is my guitar. I perform with Dirty Diana, I make music with Dirty Diana. There’s a song called “Jamming” that dropped last year that has the phrase “Dirty Diana, bami ba won soro” and I play Dirty Diana and that one has been going crazy on TikTok for like months. So, Dirty Diana is my musical instrument, she’s my baby and another way I express myself through.

What was the intent behind the live performance elements of the EP?

There are really no music videos, it’s all live performances. It’s all live because I really want to invite my fans and whoever wants to listen into that world of actual true live performance art. I feel like that is missing, especially in the Afrobeats space. I feel like we need a lot more of that.

How did you make “Ride or Die” with Ami Faku?

That’s my friend. I respect Ami Faku so much, I’ve respected Ami Faku for so long. Working with her on this project means the world to me, she’s amazing and she brought so much light to that song. I’m so grateful for “Ride or Die.” man. I feel like it will be one of the fans’ special. I feel like there’s a very quiet power that Ami has in her voice, like she doesn’t stress when she sings, but in that meekness, there’s strong power. That’s what I’ve always felt from all her songs that I’ve listened to. When I was making “Ride or Die,” I was like, “Yeah, this would go crazy if Ami Faku gets on it,” because I could hear her on the song. She’s such an amazing vocalist and artist and even more amazing in person. Shout out to Ami Faku, man. My love and light to her wherever she is. She’s incredible. She blessed me with the record.

What did working with so many artists teach you?

It taught me that I’m amazing, plain and simple; that I am incredible at what I do, that God has blessed me with incredible and impeccable talent. The world deserves to hear me and I deserve to be heard by the world and I will be heard by the world. It just taught me that music is my calling and it’s what I do best. Yes, there’s the business side of things, but it has also taught me the spiritual side of music. I feel like as artists, we really forget the responsibility we have as musicians to make music. It is really a gift and even more than a gift, it is an anointing. I sound like my dad now, but I can’t help it. When we make it in the music industry, we forget the spirituality that music is. We are making something out of thin air, literally. It is not a product. It is not like an iPhone where you  put chips together. You’re literally tapping from the divine source of creativity. We cannot forget that. Yes, we can make money with it; sell and buy and create an industry from it, but at the root of it, I believe we should not forget that this is a spiritual activity. I feel like life is reminding me about that every day the more I work with these big names. It reminds me every time that yes, this is a spiritual activity.

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