In Conversation With King Perryy

Interview by Daniel Gaston

King Perryy is a Nigerian-based Afrobeat artist who released a song called “Denge II” which has made over 100,000+ Tiktok videos, he has also made songs with a lot of well-known artists in his country such as Tekno, 1DaBanton, Runtown, Victony, Ria Sean and a lot more people.

How did King Perryy come about and who is King Perryy?

I started making music age of 13, I went to a secondary school and was supposed to be a priest but since then I have been making music but I got signed to a label in 2018.

How did you make your transition from the route that was set for you to making music for yourself?

It was not the easy route I remember going to the studio but I would lie to them and say I was going to church and I made all these sacrifices because of my love for music. I used to be a dancer then I started rapping then I started singing, so making the transition was scary for them because they didn’t want to accept that I was going into music.

Did you experience any cultural barriers breaking into the industry from Lagos?

As artists we always go through challenges there is one phase then the next phase and the next phase so there were hurdles. But figuring it out has been the most interesting part of the hustle and being able to be original in the world today is the most important thing, and that is one thing that I stand for. originality. 

How important is it to champion your background in your music and to the world?

Very important to me as an artist, because, like I mentioned originality bolds down to our heritage and where we all come from it is always important.

How did your recent song come about? What was the creativity behind it?

Earlier this year, I released a continental playlist that featured Victony, Tekno, 1da Bandon, Ria Sean, I’ve always wanted to connect the dots with the music and connecting the dots means Africa and worldwide so working like Shatawale and Runtown and these guys have been doing this for a long time. So connecting with them was amazing i had to fly to Shattawale to shoot his part and Runtown had to fly to Nigeria to shoot his part.

Are there any UK artists you are listening to?

I have a song featured with Backroad Gee, i like a bit of J Hus, I love Steff London she is so great we got something in the pipeline there is something there. Skepta, Central Cee, Dave I listen to a lot of UK music I want to work with them.