Multi-talented British Nigerian singer, songstress and actress Lucianne (formerly known as Luci Monet) is back, and she is back with a bang. Kicking off 2022 with new music Lucianne is not holding back and is ready to shake the table with her new Afro-R&B single ‘MORE’. Under her own newly formed independent label RIV, Lucianne is calling the shots; giving you raw talent and a taster of her forthcoming comeback EP titled ‘Becoming’.
We had the opportunity to get to know the amazing Lucianne in a close-up and personal exclusive interview:
Q: For those that may not know you, could you please introduce yourself?
Lucianne is a British-born Afrobeat musician, and also an actress, entrepreneur who loves God!
Q: Yes, you are multitalented, we love that! Where did it all begin?
L: I think probably the music, I would say. I did not actually know I had a talent; I was really young, and I just thought everybody could sing. Until we went to a family friends house, and their daughter started singing and everyone was like “wow your voice”. And I thought, hold on a minute, I can do that. I can do that. And then I sang, and everyone was like wow you have such a nice voice. I think that was it for me, I thought OK I have this thing that people to seem to like; God must have given it to me for a reason.
From there, I started to work on perfecting my vocals and use my voice and that’s when I started writing. I would say that is where it started, then I got into dancing and that is where the creative side of me was birthed to be honest.
Q: Growing up, what was at the forefront of your mind?
L: I wanted to be on stage, I loved performing. I knew I could sing and that was one element of it, but also in primary school they had dance competitions. So you know, five best friends would come together and we would do a routine and enter a dance competition. From there I found out, I loved to be on stage. From there I just knew I always wanted to be on stage and perform. Whether it was singing or dancing; I wanted to be on stage. With the acting, I fell into when I moved over to Nigeria to pursue music; this was 4-5 years ago.
However, the people that wanted to sign me, wanted me to do things I was not trying to do. It was ritualistic things that I am not even into, so that whole journey to Nigeria thinking I was going to do music took a turn. I dropped out as I knew this was not something I had signed up for, this is not the path I need to take to go where I want to go. I was stranded in Nigeria for a few months. So, I moved in with my cousin and she knew someone that owned an acting school. I started going there in my spare time and he thought I was brilliant, so he put me forward for auditions. From there the ball started rolling, I got a lead role and on set the Director referred me for another movie and I was like oh OK! *laughs*.
This opened a lot of doors for me and I believe this was because I did not compromise my faith, I said no to what did not sit well with my spirit. I just believed that God used that to open a whole new door for me.
Q: Thanks for sharing this part of your journey. Just to touch on that, a lot of the time the trials and tribulations women face in the music industry tends to be swept under the carpet. What message would you share to others that may be in a similar situation?
L: You do not need to, it’s a lie. Any voice that is telling you that you need to dress a certain way to be noticed, it’s a lie. Any voice that you need to spend a night with someone in power, it’s a lie. Honestly, the minute you decide to love yourself enough to protect yourself God will do the rest.
Q: Tell us more about your new single ‘MORE’?
L: This song is my favourite, I love this song. It’s called ‘MORE’ it’s my debut single as Lucianne. I took four years out and found myself in Nigeria during the time I was just talking about. As this new found me, this song was birthed through the lockdown and the whole pandemic. My husband was stuck in Nigeria, we could not see each other for 9 months and this song is basically telling that story through music. It’s all about love or relationship, a yearning that you have for someone that you are only communicating online with, and you are just desperate to take it offline. To have that physical presence, to just connect physically, wanting more of that person.
Q: What can we expect from you in the future?
L: So much, there are so many songs that have planned to release over the next two years. By the grace of God, there will be more features, with what I have got planned I look to collaborate with more established artists as well. I know it’s about to be something beautiful, so you can expect a lot of hit singles, you can also expect to see me on your screens: movies, tv-series, and things like that.
Watch Lucianne – More (Official Video) below:
Connect with Lucianne on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and TikTok.
