Teni doesn’t want to be put in a box. The Nigerian songwriter and artist spoke to Rolling Stone for the On Your Radar video series to discuss how she approaches songwriting and her career.
“For me, my best music comes when I’m being myself, I’m free and not thinking too much,” she explained. “Maybe later I can go back and clean it up, but I make my best music when I’m unconscious, not conscious. That’s when my best melodies truly come.”
Teni reflected on writing her first hit song, “Like That,” which was recorded by Davido. “I was like, ‘Whoa, I wrote a song that’s a hit.’ I hadn’t written a hit for myself yet,” she said. As for her solo music, Teni described herself as a “world artist” and someone who can’t be put into “one box.”
“I hope Teni represents the freedom to create, the freedom to express, the freedom to break boundaries, and the freedom to not be boxed,” she added.
The new interview comes about a month after she released her album Tears of the Sun, which featured songs like “No Days Off,” “Malaika,” and “Lanke.” (Read Rolling Stone‘s profile on Teni.) She also revealed that her favorite song to record was “Dads Song” from her 2021 LP Wondaland.
“It’s such a driving force in how I lead my life and how I make my music and how much I want to go hard everyday,” she said of her father. “I am his seed and I can continue his legacy while making my own legacy.”
Teni shared she’s a lot more vulnerable in her new music than ever before, and that the lyrics embrace the place where she is today. “It’s not just writing a story, but telling my story,” she said. “It wasn’t a continuation of anything: It was just, ‘Teni, where are you right now?’”