Kah-Lo Gets Deep On Dance Roots, Riton & Daniel Caesar

Since bursting onto the global dance scene in early 2016, GRAMMY nominee Kah-Lo quickly made a name for herself as a vocal talent to watch closely.

The hugely catchy dancefloor-burner "Rinse And Repeat," produced by close collaborator Riton, was an instant hit, and earned the pair global recognition and a GRAMMY nomination for Best Dance Recording at the 59th GRAMMY Awards.

Raised in Lagos, Nigeria, before moving the U.S. to attend school, Kah-Lo is now newly relocated to London. Over the past year, she's played shows in the U.S., London, Paris, and Ibiza, Spain. In honor of International Music Day on Oct. 1, she let us in on her touring experiences, the formative local music scene in Nigeria, current projects, and her first experience attending the GRAMMY Awards.

Do you think the success of "Rinse And Repeat" opened any doors for a wider acceptance of mainstream pop and house music in Nigeria? Are you hearing any more of those mainstream sounds in local clubs?
House music in Nigeria isn't that widely accepted. I won't say "Rinse And Repeat" played a role in it specifically, but in the past two to three years, there's been a more open approach to music in general. Back when I was living in Nigeria, there wasn't a specific house music scene or club night, but in the past two years there's been stuff like that coming in. Black Coffee came in last year, and most club nights like that, it's mostly expatriates who do visit, but then you do see Nigerians there. Afrobeat is the dominant genre, but house is slowly finding its place. There's this really big song there now called "Maradona" by a girl called Niniola, and it's really housey. They're starting to open their ears to that sound.

How did you hope to expand and capitalize on the success of "Rinse And Repeat" with "Fasta"?
My voice on "Rinse And Repeat" is a pretty unique vocal, not to toot my own horn. (laughs) I'm just hoping people can see me in my own light, as my own standalone artist. I mean, most of what I do wouldn't be possible without Riton, but [with "Fasta"] I'm hoping people will see me and the artist that I am.

You mentioned back in January that you were very anxious to release some new music, and that in particular you hoped that it would be "very exciting for the global house music scene, for Africa, and specifically for Nigeria." How excited are you to now be continuing to share more new music with the world?
I'm really excited, because no one has really gotten that formula down to mix the sounds. With Nigerian music and Afrobeat —when you make Nigerian music, if you put any "Nigerian-ness" on it, you automatically get boxed into Afrobeat. Some people even call what I do Afro-house just because I am Nigerian. So with "Fasta" and "Rinse And Repeat," and with even "Money," it's like putting it on this world stage and saying, "OK, this is not just Afro-house anymore, it's just as good as regular house, and it is regular house." The only difference is maybe I put in a little pidgin here and there, and my dialect is different.

What has been your favorite place to tour thus far in your career?
(laughs) Well … I haven't actually been to that many yet, but I have been to Ibiza, which is really nice. It's much hotter there, but the climate is really close to Nigeria. It's really nice and sunny, and I swam in the ocean for the first time there.

What's your number one place where you'd still like to do a show?
No-brainer for me would be New York. I honed a lot of my craft there, because I lived there for seven years, so it'd be really nice to go from coffee shops there to a big, amazing show.

Who were some of the artists you met at the GRAMMYs last year?
I ran into Remy Ma! She looked gorgeous. I got to see Kirk Franklin from afar, and Skrillex. I could also see Lil Yachty, Desiigner and 2 Chainz from where I was sitting. And then Sofi Tukker was nominated with us in the same category, so we sat together.

Where do you keep your nominee medallion and certificate?
Well, London isn't "home" right now, but I'll definitely have a special place for it when I get back home. Right above my bed!

What types of world music were you exposed to growing up? Do you remember feeling a divide between the type of club music you would end up being drawn to and making and more traditional local genres like Afrobeats?
Growing up, we didn't have cable, but local TV played lots of Nigerian music, South African music [and] Ghanaian folk music. So it was mainly African world music. Then when we did finally get cable, I got into more foreign music, and I got really into Brazilian bossa nova. Then I discovered Pandora.

Do you remember the first time you heard the type of club and house music that you would end up making?
Yeah, it was Faithless. I think maybe it was "God Is A DJ." I remember I was just like, "What?" I remember being really entranced with it. That was right around the time we'd first gotten cable, and naturally I was watching the music channel like 24/7, and they played a lot of Faithless. Then I heard M.I.A.'s stuff, and reading an interview of hers, I heard Slick Rick was one of her big influences, so I went to check that out.

What is the last new song you heard by another artist that floored you?
I would say the whole Daniel Caesar album that just came out. It makes me almost want to go back to hardcore soul songwriting again.

If you had never decided to become a musician, what would you be?
Well, I was actually into tech and digital marketing before. I had internships at MTV and VH1. So I probably would have been a producer or a digital/social marketer. Everything in my industry is becoming very DIY, so I'm very happy I learned a lot of that stuff early on.

(Kah-Lo Photo: Blaow Photography)

Kah-Lo Gets Deep On Dance Roots, Riton & Daniel Caesar

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