Simi: Why it took me three years to produce ‘TBH’ album

Simi, the Nigerian singer, says her fourth studio album took her almost three years to produce.

The project titled ‘To Be Honest’ was released last month.

In an interview with Dadaboy Ehiz on Apple Music’s Africa Now Radio via FaceTime, the songstress revealed why it took her that long to create the body of work.

“It took me almost 3 years, from conception of the idea to the actual release of the album. It was the sound, I had the idea from the beginning, I knew what I wanted to say but for me I think the hardest part was “How do I want to say it, What sounds do I want to go with, or not want to go with?” Simi said.

“I did loads of writing, removing and adding, mostly because of the sound I was going for. There are lots of songs that also fit the idea but not the sound I was looking for, so just all of that I think was the hardest part.”

“The album is just really chill. It’s music you can drive to, music you can chill to, music you can romance too.

“I just let my voice do a lot of the work – my writing here is more in-your-face, and more daring. It’s just more modern. I listen to this album and think Damn, I did that,so I’m really excited for people to hear it.”

Simi added that the album should not be compared with her previous projects.

“When I’m working on a project, my goal is not to beat the last project. It’s not to top anything. I’m just trying to express something, so how do I want to do that?” she said.

“The funny thing is that every project does different things for different people.

“For a lot of people, my very first mainstream album ‘Simisola’ was the thing that made them love me, so some of them have a hard time moving on from it, whereas some other people are excited to see me evolve and hear different sounds from me, so again it’s what am I trying to do.

“For me that’s the goal, when I’m trying to express something, how best can I express it? It works for some people, it doesn’t work for some people, and that’s ok.”