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Fireboy DML gives hard advice to newer music talent
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Fireboy speaks about his career
Ahead of his upcoming album, Nigerian music star Fireboy DML sat down with Brook Asther of Office Magazine, sharing insightful advice for aspiring artists. Initially hesitant to offer guidance, Fireboy emphasized the importance of developing a unique sound.
“Finding your sound is the beginning of everything,” he stated. “It doesn’t start with chasing favors or connections. Whoever’s gonna help you, they have to see something in you first. You gotta put in the work, there’s nothing for them to see otherwise.”
Fireboy highlighted the dedication required to succeed in the music industry. “The game is a very jealous bitch,” he said with a laugh. “Music is very jealous. I had to sacrifice a lot of dreams to become who I am today. That’s one thing that’s always been constant: music is selfish. You have to give in, you have to be ready to sacrifice almost everything to have it.”
Fireboy DML for Office Magazine (2024). pic.twitter.com/SAvyzhlSOM
— SHFL (@whatsonshuffle) June 17, 2024
Despite the challenges, Fireboy assured aspiring artists that commitment ultimately pays off. “As long as you do that,” he explained, “everything else will fall in place—the money, the fame, the investors, the backing, the support, the fans—everything else will fall in place. Find your sound.”
Fireboy’s message is clear: develop a unique sound, put in the hard work, and be prepared for the sacrifices necessary to succeed in the music industry.
Fireboy speaks about his career with a tightrope-act balance of matter-of-factness and humility. He is under no illusions about his role in the global surge of popularity experienced by the Afrobeats genre since the late 2010s, but he is also refreshingly uninterested in battling to keep the spotlight on himself.
He is sparing when discussing the details of his own success for any longer than necessary, but he becomes animated when he speaks about the influx of young and fresh new artists emerging from the continent. “There’s a lot of talent out here. Right now the doors are so wide open for everyone to come in and flourish,” he describes. “As a true artist and true creative, it’s exciting for me when a new crop of talent comes and it changes the soundscape of a generation. It’s a beautiful thing to see. [The soundscape] gets tiring sometimes, it needs to be reshuffled once in a while.”
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