New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Nonso Amadi, the globally acclaimed, Canada-based Nigerian singer, songwriter and producer whose triumphant return after a two-year hiatus was celebrated recently with the premiere of the lavish "Foreigner" music video, proudly follows up today with the YouTube
Red Carpet video premiere of his latest track, "
Different" featuring visionary R&B duo Majid Jordan.
Nonso describes "
Different" as, "the feeling you get when you meet a girl you like in a room filled with other beautiful women - and how she stands out from the rest and makes you want to chase after her."
The catchy and vibrant record highlights the fusion of R&B and Afrobeats with fellow Toronto-based sensations
Majid Jordan assisting Nonso on the single. Vocalist Majid Al Maskati expressed, "We started working with Nonso because we were fans of one another's music. We connected during the pandemic and met at Noble Studios in Toronto. From there we just started making a bunch of music together. "
Different" is one of those songs that feels different, is different, and brought us to Nigeria for the first time, where we experienced something different as well."
When asked to recount the collaboration, Nonso stated, "I had an instant musical chemistry when I first met Majid & Jordan to work on songs. I found that every line I wrote, they would push me to go even further with it and be more descriptive in my words so as to paint a clear picture to the listener. Till this date I try to apply this movie-script-like method on every song. This was the case with "
Different" and other songs we worked on."
In support of the "
Different" video, which was filmed in Nonso's hometown of Lagos, Nigeria, MTV Base Africa recorded an episode of its "
A Day In The Life" series during the shoot. Stay tuned for news of the documentary film's premiere. Nonso traveled to his hometown of Lagos in February, to celebrate his return and the release of "Foreigner," surrounded by the family and fans who nurtured his early aspirations and fueled his global forays. Nonso has worked hard to cement his place in the next generation of artists bringing Alte, Afro-R&B to the international stage. On February 27th, he performed at the Mainland Block Party event in Lagos.
Nonso was also in Kingston,
Jamaica for the
Bob Marley Roots '77 Birthday Concert (February 6th), an Earthstrong celebration event. Nonso joined reggae, roots, and dancehall legends Marcia Griffiths, Bugle, Amanyea, Tony Rebel, Gyptian, and Queen. The concert was live-streamed with Nonso performing original tracks "
Better" featuring Simi, "No Crime," as well as a tribute performance of Marley's "Africa Unite," live from the historic Tuff Gong studios. Nonso also recorded a live version of "Foreigner" while at Tuff Gong studios, you can watch the intimate performance video.
On June 11th, Nonso will take the performance stage for the prestigious MURAL Festival in Montréal, Quebec, Canada. The international street art festival, now in its tenth year, is an 11-day annual event that celebrates the democratization of urban art across the city of Montréal.
Beginning his musical career while studying in Nigeria at Covenant University and then Swansea University in the UK. Nonso Amadi transformed into a sonic-globetrotter after his move to Canada - leading him to fuse the soul & rhythm of African music with modern soft textures of R&B. With an affinity for contemporary R&B, Nonso developed a desire to explore North
America and Africa in equal parts - citing Toronto-native Drake's genre-hopping capability as an inspiration for his own creative fluidity. Nonso's music is powered by borderless infusions and intention. "I really loved Mary J Blige, Brandy, Wyclef Jean, Paul Play. I love R&B because it's slow enough to allow you to feel," he says of his early experiences with the artform.
Nonso's refreshingly honest yet tranquil approach to music has allowed the likes of Juls, Santi, and Odunsi The Engine — the latter of whom he collaborated with on the War EP' — to entrench his arrival across Nigeria and the continent at large across the late '10's. With over 100,000+ million streams across platforms, Nonso Amadi refuses to be the typical straight A-student stereotype. Instead, he stands tall as a constantly evolving, textured lyricist able to translate Alte, Afro-fusion and hip-hop into his R&B-canvassed approach to storytelling, best represented on his last EP Free (2019), which features Afrobeat's heavyweights Simi and Mr Eazi.
In 2019, Nonso made the conscious decision to step away from social media and paused the release of music — all to take a deeper dive into his artistry and separate from noise and distraction. Unaware of the global pandemic looming, Nonso's time to cleanse and create was stretched into a longer hiatus. Currently recording his debut album, with the support of Universal Music, Def Jam, and an international team — the now 26-year-old, Nonso Amadi is determined to shed even more of his creative-skin. "I want listeners to hear this next project and know who I am and what I've gone through. I want to make great songs that tell my story." Nonso Amadi is proudly represented by his management team; Jade Busola and Quiet As Kept (Trung Hoang, Gavin Sheppard).
