Sekou

Don’t Miss Sekou Live in London This December

When Sekou released his 2023 debut single, it announced the arrival of a new vocal prodigy. A teen with a bold assertion of pop superstar potential, gliding between adult contemporary balladry, gospel, 80s funk, and contemporary soul.

Born in Ashby, Leicester to a white mother and black father, Sekou was raised on a diet of music giants and vocal titans like Whitney Houston, Prince, Chaka Khan, Amy Winehouse and Ariana Grande. The church, however, would be the setting where his desire to sing to would be cemented. “Church is where I discovered that music was what I wanted to do”, Sekou recalls.

Despite his budding skills being enriched and strengthened at Church, Sekou quickly noticed that Leicester wasn’t the fertile breeding ground needed to jumpstart his ambitions of making a life for himself in music. “Leicester was quite dry, I had to look for places to even find music and I didn’t know any artists around here. I’m glad it was boring though, because that inspired me to seek it more”.

That hunger and drive to make his dreams a reality eventually led him to London where he would study at East London Arts & Music (ELAM), the arts college founded by Chase & Status. “Trying to get into music where I’m from was very difficult, so I had no option but to go to school here”, Sekou attests. In what was a miraculous turnaround, Sekou was offered a place there a mere 3 weeks before the next academic year was due to start.

Specialising in music performance, it was at ELAM where Sekou found the proper infrastructure needed to refine and sharpen his craft. “I don’t think I’d be anywhere today, if I didn’t go to that school”, Sekou admits. Though his relocation to London was initially predicated on submerging himself deeper within the mix of the music industry, ELAM and the city at large would also provide Sekou with a community and  a sense of refuge eluding him at home. “I made some of my best friends there. I felt a sense of freedom and confidence that I didn’t feel at my previous schools where I grew up. I felt like I could be anything I wanted to be and not feel judged”.

During this time, Sekou would start uploading covers of songs by other artists, notching up an excess of 3 million views in the process. Eventually, his rich, creamy and bottom-heavy baritone would catch the eye of executives at Good Soldier Records who immediately signed him. Soon after the label would arrange for their new signee to perform at several high-profile events. These included the BBC Music Introducing tent at Glastonbury, select dates on John Legend’s UK tour and most notably at the wedding of Brooklyn Beckham and Nicola Peltz.

Yet, progress was initially slow when it came to finding material to release. “Getting discovered and actually putting out music from what I’ve now learned are two completely different things”, Sekou confesses. Left to his own devices for what would be a 2-year limbo period, Sekou returned to the place that got him his deal in the first place: social media. “I wasn’t even trying to go viral. I just wanted to build an audience and have my voice seen and heard”.

His internet savvy and conscientious nature would eventually bear fruit, as it was through this second wave of online covers that he would start to break bread and connect with the people needed to take his infant career to the next step. “After that people were reaching out, left, right and centre wanting to work with me and assist in creating my sound”, Sekou remembers.

That early momentum led to a string of high-profile opportunities, including a television debut on Jools Holland and a slot opening for Renee Rapp on her UK +European tour. The beginning of 2024 would see the awarding body at the BRITS would also take notice, scoring a ‘Rising Star’ nomination, while being shortlisted for BBC’s Sound Of 2024 poll. At the same time, fashion houses began courting him —Sekou was suddenly invited to sit front row at shows for Harris Reed, Valentino, and Louboutin, and even commissioned to create original music for KidSuper.

Still, beneath the hype and mounting pressure one crucial element was still missing: an excess of material that could both satisfy Sekou’s artistic integrity and meet the growing appetite of his new audience. “There was so much pressure to keep following up from these things and to keep announcing things but I had no music in the vault. Not to blame it on anyone, but everyone around got ahead of themselves when I felt more songs were needed”.

Nothing would prepare Sekou for when he found Justin Bieber in his DMs. “When we first started speaking, I saw it being one of those moments where you take it as it is. He has 300 million followers; we’re never going to connect again”. A brief moment between humility and disbelief would eventually blossom into a full-fledged creative connection. The culmination of this was Sekou contributing background vocals on ‘Too Long’ from Bieber’s latest album ‘SWAG’. Their synergy extended far beyond the sessions that produced that song. “We made a lot of music together, I won’t say too much, but there are a lot of surprises up my sleeve”, teases Sekou.

Today Sekou is on the other side of a creative rebirth, as he prepares to-emerge with his forthcoming mixtape ‘In A World We Don’t Belong’. Releasing track by track with a body of work expected in the New Year, the 9-track collection is a firmer stamp to the world on who he is as an artist and more importantly who he’s always been as a person. “The title came from me always feeling like an outsider from when I was born all the way through today. Listening to it back as a whole body of work, it just said tome – “freedom”’.

Completely helmed alongside long-term collaborator Theron Thomas and Jeff Gitelman (J. Cole, H.E.R, Mac Miller), the project is markedly more upbeat and utilises profound use of brass instrumentation. “It’s just been us 3 and some really talented musicians. I’ve found my footing with this sound world. It’s got a vibe that feels very me”.

Pulling from the influence of Motown, Luther Vandross, The Jackson 5, Carl Carlton and the flamboyant dynamism of Prince and Tyler, The Creator, the new mixtape beholds a more accurate portrayal of who he is and where he comes from. “My previous music had no real identity whereas this project is very black and shows there’s a culture and heritage to my music”.

The project’s first single, Catching Bodies, is a playful, feel-good take on unrequited love and self-celebration amid the ups and downs of today’s hookup-driven dating culture. “It’s very tongue-in-cheek and fun but with a diva-ish vocal”, Sekou remarks. The accompanying video directed by IGGY London (Mabel, Griff, Grace Carter) is a Spike-Lee inspired tapestry of summer, community and fashion. Draped in top-to-bottom Nicholas Daley, the video serves as a striking debut of Sekou’s visual identity— tailored, tasteful, big afro in tow and rooted in self-expression. “It’s very performance-focused and it’s the first-time people will see me dance”, he notes.

Looking ahead to the rest of this year and a looming 2026, Sekou is declaring nothing but a constant flow of output and activity. “It’s all about constantly pushing my face and name out there”, he affirms. The all-important debut album which has been gestating for close to 3 years is also on the horizon for next year. Now that he’s found a partnership with Theron & Jeff, he plans to keep them at the apex of his new music, but intends to include fresh contributions from DIXSON, Labrinth, Jon Bellion and production duo Monsters and Strangers.

For Sekou, exercising patience for this long-awaited full-length album is key as he’s making a concerted effort to grow organically in the meantime. “You can only do a debut album once. Majority of the world don’t still know who I am. I want mine to come at a time where there are eyes on it, and by that, I mean the general public. I want to have people from the council estates and corner shops to know my name, not just industry eyes”.