11th October, 2021
By Taiwo Okanlawon
On a conversation King Steve Benjamin had in Lagos, Nigeria about his experiences through his career and his life. He recount on How he sang in schools, church, and clubs in Moscow and people were like they’d never seen anything like that. He became a local champion,”.
KSB grew up in Nigeria up until high school. Eager to travel out of the country, he followed his dream to school in Russia although he had no idea what the place was like.
According to him It was a very strange place for him at the time with almost few Black people in sight. He had developed a love for Afrobeats earlier through his uncle who always brought him CDs of afro albums before digital stores came into existence.
Now in Russia, he realized pop and rap music brought him a lot of attention among his peers and suddenly made him cool to hang with, so he started developing his own Afro lyrics. In high school he had listened to Wandecoal which would become his formative influences.
KSB holds the title of the Founder and pioneer of Afrobeats in Russia Federation and its hemisphere.
KSB recalls how rough the journey was “but at the end it was worth it,” he said.
KSB was ahead of his peers and colleagues in school and had already made a name for himself for his hard punching Afrobeats and lyrical dexterity. KSB became the last man standing among their colleagues to stick to Afrobeats music.
To KSB “Afro music is something he would do for free in this life regardless of the job he engage on” so even after university, he always found time to record some music at a friend’s studio as he worked in finance to pay his bills.
He also recounted when a friend organized a tour in Russia for an International/Russian artist “Guru Foundation,” Through the tour, he got to meet the Famous Timaty, Walter, Philip Kirkorov, Polina Gagarina and many more A list Russian artists.
Seeing what he was achieving in Russia, it motivated KSB to stay and fully pursue music in Russia as his family has always been in full support of his career path.
Whenever he went out to the clubs in Russia, Everybody else called him “Star Boy” and was also nicked named “Russian Wizkid” because he was very charismatic and made his presence felt wherever he went.
And to him things weren’t so smooth though, At the time he was trying to figure out a sound for Nigeria, he had put out an afro record and it didn’t really do well. KSB tried so many different things at a time in Russia when the music was quick with a fast BPM.
KSB once talked about how resonance and musical frequency helped him understand the theoretical meaning of how African music makes you feel.
“I realised that instead of trying to take Nigerians to a different place musically, it was for me to create it at their own frequency, Afrobeats was just like the unwelcome cousin your parents force you to invite to family functions,”
He laid few emphasis on how most Nigerians viewed Afrobeats . His song made KSB start getting paid gigs and national recognition. He finally found his blueprint and there was no stopping him.
Fans sometimes forget KSB is a pop singer because of how effortlessly he blend his songs with pan-African subjects laced with soulful vocals. To him societal issues and the results are purely musical with his thought process when making his projects “every album is a reflection of where my mind is at, at that time and as i learn and grow as individuals, i find ways to share what i have learnt into my projects.”
He also explained that the inspiration behind his creativity has been his environment and current state of mind which have become legendary and the fact that he has helped shine a light on various new talents who are making waves worldwide now.
According to KSB , “my love for music has always urged me to search for new artistes, new voices or new perspectives, trying to find out what is their reality and connecting mostly with artists who are giving me a piece of themselves through their music. I have always believed in calling musicians together, and creating a community to project their craft.”
KSB also believes that after understanding what resonance means, he feels the music coming out of Africa now is great in so many ways.
African music has always been about how it makes you feel and that is interpreted in various ways which reflects all the music coming out now. Until the world realizes Africa is the source of everything he believes his job is not done.
“The state of Afrobeats right now is being sold on a base frequency. Music should be created freely without hindrance. In most countries that African music is entering right now, they may not understand the language but they understand the frequency.”