In an interview with Apple Music Africa Now Radio Nigerian superstar DJ, music producer, and artist Spinall talk about his new album ‘Top Boy’ and the creative process behind it.
Meaning of “Top Boy”: Spinall calls himself Top Boy which is a tag that is common to his music and brand. When asked by host Dada Boy Ehiz what’s the meaning of Top Boy, Spinall revealed that a Top Boy was someone who had beaten the odds and made something tangible of whatever resources they had.
“A top boy is anyone who has beaten the odds and used the resources made available to them to get from point A to point B. That’s who I am, and I feel like all the people that I have on the project as well. They’re genuinely passionate about music and they just give the best with the little resources they have. A lot of them are not signed to any majors… They’re doing this with a little at their disposal, and that’s what a top boy is.”
The making of ‘Top Boy’: According to Spinall, ‘Top Boy’ is an album that’s different from the albums he previously released. He revealed that he produced and co-wrote a good amount of the album while also traveling to different parts of the world to collaborate with other creatives.
“This album is different from a lot of the albums I’ve put out in the past. This album really resonated with me on so many terms – from producing most of the tracks to co-writing to flying here and there to find somebody – it was really really that album that asked me to do I really wanted to do this or not. I’m glad that we’re able to answer this question after three years. It was a lot of lessons and a lot of blessings in the making. I really still wanted to put way more people on the project, honestly, but I think I’m very satisfied with where we are on the final cut of the album.”
On the type of music in ‘Top Boy’: Spinall revealed that while he’s known for making party songs, his new album had a collection of different sounds that includes Pop and R&B.
“I know I’ve put out a lot of dance records, but there’s a lot of R&B records, records that you can create moments too – not just in the clubs or at the parties, there are personal records. There are records with people like VanJess, there’s a record with Amaarae, and there are so many records that could fill a void that you probably didn’t even know existed.
With this album, we were all things that are SPINALL, from Afro to Afro-house to deeper house to R&B to different sub-genres of Afrobeats. It’s really amazing and I’m really grateful to everyone that worked with me on this project.”
‘Top Boy’ was released on February 17th, 2023 and it packs 15 tracks with guest appearances from different artists across the world. it’s available on all streaming platforms.
