Filled with passion and determination, a young Major AJ, who had at the time just finished university, would move to Lagos in pursuit of his career as an artist. With three singles under his belt, he would attract the attention of one of Africa’s biggest labels, Chocolate City, sign a deal in 2021, and draw closer to achieving his dream of being a top star not only in Nigeria and the continent but on a global level.
Having dropped his debut project Retroverse in 2022, Major, who has quickly become one of the most exciting talents in Nigeria as an Afro-Fusion artist who blends diverse sounds with afrobeats, is positioning himself for his next project, among other amazing things, which he discusses with Nana Kojo Mula in a conversation for iMullar.
Before we get into the conversation, I want to say that Batman is the greatest and DC is the best. Now that we have established that, let us talk about who Major AJ is. Why the name Major? Do you have a military background?
Major AJ is an Afro-fusion artist from Benue State Nigeria. The name Major was inspired by my dad, who was in the Army and a Major. He played a major role in who I am today. So years later, when I started doing music, I was trying to find the perfect name for myself. We had an artist in Nigeria that I used to listen to called General Pipe, whose name I really liked. So he kind of inspired me to just go ahead and use my dad’s rank. So I just did Major AJ.
Being the son of a major, there is a level of strictness that comes with it. How would you describe where you grew up and how your father’s position influenced you growing up?
My background was kind of mixed; I feel like coming from a military background instilled a lot of discipline in me and a lot of morals. My mom’s family is very musical, and she and my grandma were in the choir. So, it made it easy for them to let me chase my passion. All I had to do was make sure I went to school. I thank God for my military background because it really taught me a lot, like how to put myself together and everything, and also the fact that my mom’s family gave me a little bit of freedom. So that is the result of who I am today.
At what point did music come into the picture, and when did you decide to take it up full-time?
Music started for me as a passion. I used to follow my mom to choir practice. And from there, I started playing the keyboard in church, joined the choir, and everything. I started singing in school. But when I knew I wanted to take music very seriously halfway through high school, I met some friends of mine, and we started a group called Double Ice Wiz “DIW.” That was when I realised I was good at it. I used to rap back then, so I decided to just go for it. I loved music so much that there was nothing else I would rather do.
You started putting out music in 2020 but had to put out your first project, Retroverse, in 2022. Can you run through the period from 2020 to 2022 when you dropped your first project?
I wanted to make music for a long time but couldn’t chase the passion fully because I had to go to school. So, I finished university in 2019, and moved to Lagos around 2020, worked with Telz and Leriq, and dropped two singles that year: Terminator and Original Love. In 2021, I dropped Salo, produced by Steph, which is the song that got the attention of my label, Chocolate City. We worked together to put out the project Retroverse in 2022, and the project was well received, especially the song Taboo, which did well locally and internationally. I dropped My Own last year featuring Blaqbonez, and my most recent single has been Some Kind Things featuring Psycho YP and Minz. The challenges were there, but those are part of the game. I can’t remember every single challenge I faced, because there are always challenges. But we just do what we have to do, and we put in the work.
Chocolate City is a big name in the Nigerian and African music space. Looking at the people who have been through the label and are currently there, do you feel pressured or intimated by any of that?
I have never felt intimidated. There were different offers, but none of them were on the level of Chocolate City, and I also wanted to take my time waiting for the right one, or when I thought it was the right time to sign because I was doing my stuff like an independent artist for about two to three years, but when they came, I felt it was the right time and team to sign with. That was how I started working with Chocolate City.
There have been a lot of conversations about labels and how they are bad and will take advantage of you as an artist. Were there any doubts in your head when the label approached you, and what did you say to people who still don’t trust labels?
My take on this is that I think people always like to twist the situation, and I feel like everybody uses everybody; without labels, a lot of artists would not be who they are today, and you wouldn’t even know a lot of artists without labels. A lot of artists do not even have funding, especially in this part of Africa. With the current situation of their economy and everything else, it’s very hard for artists. It’s a two-way thing because, yeah, some labels have done their artists dirty, but what matters is the deal you sign. So, for every artist out there, you just try and make sure that you know and study the game. You understand what you’re signing. You need to get a proper lawyer to look into what you’re signing. That’s my take on that.
You are a gamer, or so I have heard. Is it something that influences your creativity, and what else would you say influences your creativity as far as music is concerned?
I am a gamer and vlogger. I will say the angle of my music and my gaming influences is my creative direction. If you look at my recent video, it looks like something you will see in a video game. It influences my styling and the colors I use. I love gaming and anime a lot. I am also open to streaming soon with my major geng (fans).
Earlier this year, you dropped Some Kind Things, featuring Minz and Psycho YP. First off, let us talk about collaborations. How easy or difficult is it to secure collaborations within the Nigerian music space?
I am a big fan of collaborations. I grew up on collaborations like Molowo Noni. I like the MoHits records because they bring a lot of diversity to a song. I like variety and diversity. When I recorded SKT, I knew I needed to get some people on. I sent it to Pyscho YP and was working on getting Odumodublvck on, but he was busy at the time, we got Minz on the song, who is also my guy, and he killed the record. There are more collaborations coming this year and on the project. I am a big fan of collaboration over competition.
STK is already in the bag; what should we expect from Major AJ in the coming months, and as a Ghanaian, should we expect any Major x Gh works?
More music and more music. Some Kind Things is the first song off of my incoming project, “BadBoy Major” season. More collaborations are on the way. There are some amazing and interesting things coming, but music is the most important thing. I am working on my relationship with the Ghanaian space. I am coming to Ghana soon to connect with more artists there. I am currently working and recording with a few, but I am working on building a stronger relationship with the Ghanaian community. I am a big fan of the works of Kwesi Arthur, Black Sherif, and a lot of other people I like and want to work with. I want to get to a point where I have a Ghanaian name or something. But you should hear some music from me and some Ghanaian acts.
Any last words for your fans or anyone else who would be reading this?
I just want to give a big shout-out to my fans; they have been amazing wherever they are. As I said, the project is coming: more music, more videos, AJ Originals, more vlogs, and my streaming channel is also loading. So be on the lookout for some amazing things. Stay locked in its Badboy Major season.
