Connexion
Bella Shmurda: The Formation of Afropop’s Most Spiritual Man
On this week’s episode of Afrobeats Intelligence, presented by OkayAfrica, the Afrobeats story gets a new arc through one of its most intriguing characters. Bella Shmurda holds a unique place in Afropop due to his insistence on crafting only music that comes from his heart, with a distinct voice that has vivified the mainstream in no small ways.
In conversation with Joey Akan, the artist provides a conscious map of how he fought his way through the inner streets of Lagos, armed with nothing but his sound and his heart. It’s a deeply personal episode, as Bella Shmurda has always been a candid conversationalist, and here we get even deeper into his process.
The evolution of Bella Shmurda’s writing is one of the early points in the episode; the artist talked about how using songbooks made him a more precise songwriter. “I think I had more inspiration when I used to write in books,” he said. “I have to think properly about my lyrics before writing because I have to cancel, and I don’t want to cancel. So, you have to be precise about what you write on that paper, and I feel like I need to go back to that. I’m more reasonable when I’m writing.”
Entering into what Joey called the intersection in Bella’s work, aspects such as spirituality, love, and inspiration were discussed. “I just want to see people happy,” says the artist about why he has a sense for motivating people, a quality he traces back to his childhood. With a clarity that his listeners are familiar with, the episode peels back the influences behind the artist as they discuss various subjects that circle back on emotions and subjectivity.
It’s clear from this Afrobeats Intelligence episode that impact will always be central to the music Bella Shmurda makes. “At this moment, I feel like I’m not in the industry anymore,” he says. “My kind of music, I’m not doing songs now for trend, because this beat is hot, this sound is hot, let me jump on it. I don’t think I’m in that space anymore. I just want to do this music for the reason I want to do it, which is uplifting people’s souls, making people self-conscious, and helping people go through life with my music.”
