Get to know Kah-Lo, the Grammy-nominated Nigerian MC

Faridah ‘Kah-Lo’ Seriki had to move all the way from Nigeria to New York to kick-start her career in music. These days, her home country is filled with rising stars like Wizkid, Mr Eazi and Davido. But growing up Kah-Lo didn’t have the opportunities her fellow Nigerians enjoy today.

“Before I moved to New York I was trying to do the same thing [as those artists], but we didn’t have the internet capacity we’ve got now,” she says. “With SoundCloud and Instagram, they’re now about to reach people all over the world.”

Kah-Lo arrived in New York from Lagos in 2009, aged 16, to study. But once she graduated she was quick to pursue music, performing at coffee shops, uploading demos to SoundCloud and, eventually, connecting with UK producer Riton on Twitter and starting a working partnership. “I’m new to all of this, while he’s been doing it for twenty plus years,” she says. “There have been a lot of mistakes I’ve been saved from by him.” They’ve formed a formidable team since Kah-Lo made her debut on the Grammy-nominated ‘Rinse & Repeat’ in 2015, which set the template for her carefree, deadpan vocals over Riton’s energetic, bouncing house grooves.

The party-starting bangers have come thick and fast since then, with tracks like ‘Money’ and ‘Betta Riddim’ adding an afrobeat twist to the hip house dynamic – although she likes to distance herself from the genre dominating Nigeria’s airwaves. “I’m African but I’m not making African music,” she says. “My music doesn’t connect with Nigerians the way local music does.” Meanwhile, on tracks like ‘Fake ID’ and ‘Ginger’, she employs a monotone energy similar to New York artists like Azealia Banks and Zebra Katz.

But don’t call Kah-Lo a rapper. “I don’t like the term ‘rapping’; my style is more talking,” she says. “I actually prefer to sing, but talking over house just works better.” In fact, there are moments on upcoming debut album, ‘Foreign Oil’ where Kah-Lo has already started to make that transition to singing – like on ‘Ready To Make A Move’ where she lets her vocals loose over Todd Terje-esque grooves.

Looking to the future, Kah-Lo plans to step out from under the wing of Riton and release her solo work in the next year. And her Grammy nomination has only motivated her further. “Next time we’ll try to win!” she says. But for now, with her album with Riton landing in August and slots at South West Four, Pukkelpop and Reading & Leeds, Kah-Lo looks set to soundtrack the summer with future-facing festival anthems.

Riton & Kah-Lo’s debut album ‘Foreign Oil’ is due this summer

Charlie Case is Mixmag's Staff Writer, follow him on Twitter