Meet Wurld, the Nigerian born artist with a ''Contagious'' message

The talented artist recently paid a visit to Pulse for an exclusive interview, where he speaks on his music, his return to Nigeria at this time, and a breakdown of what to expect from his upcoming EP ''Contagious'' scheduled for release before the end of the year.

For those hearing of Wurld for the first time, how will you describe yourself

My name is Wurld, born in Nigeria, real name Sadiq Onifade, went to America, studied Computer science, I am a lover of arts, just sharing good content.

Professionally, I have been doing music for about 7-8 years, but I have been into music and finding myself for about 13 years now, meeting people, producers and songwriters.

On what inspired his decision to take to music and his choice of Electro Fusion

''I could not stop myself from going into music, even back in school, I would go to talent shows right after my classes and really just stay involved and learn every day.

I owed it to my parents to finish college, I have a masters degree as well, I made the transition more into music when I felt I could do it full time.''

WurlD's sound is described as electro-fusion, a progression from the regular house and EDM-inspired rhythm, which sees him infuse different genres to create his own sound, and he explains why;

''So the electronic fusion, as a songwriter, I find myself in different rooms working with R&B artists, rappers, so it was really hard for me to do just one genre of music.

It starts as far back as being a child listening to Fuji music, Juju, Afrobeats, so I was literally taking all these vibes in and so the fusion is just me putting it all together and that for me makes me satisfied.''

Sharing his thoughts on the acceptance of Afrobeats in the United States

The likes of Wizkid and Davido have made giant strides into the American music industry over the past couple of years, performing at major concerts and having African music getting played on American radio stations and Wurld who has lived a large part of his life in the US describes the movement.

''The movement is stronger, what is happening is like everyone is sharing the music with their peers that are not Africans, more clubs are playing the songs, so people are consuming the music in larger numbers.

It is a beautiful time to be African, the likes of Wizkid, Davido and have done an amazing job, but it takes a village, it takes more than two or three people to get the movement going, we have a lot to offer to the world and the music is one of them and people are ready to accept what we have to offer.''

On the message he hopes to pass through his music

''Authenticity in depth, lyrics, I want people to be liberated and feel like they can do anything when they listen to my music, it is a conversation and my goal is to add a different range to the conversation, I just want to add another layer to the amazing things people are doing.''

My songs like 'Show You Off', 'Trobul', and recently 'Contagious' are all passing different conversations.

My music is usually inspired by life experiences, being aware of my surroundings, I pay attention to people, I create from a very selfless mindstate, my goal is to make the song from someone else.

So what brings him back to the motherland

''I feel like I have been gone way too long, like Africa is my huge part of my support system and I don't feel close enough, so it is important I make it back home.

While I am here, my goal is to connect with some of the amazing Nigerian artists and work with them.''

He list some of his favourite Nigerian artists, ''Brymo, I am a big fan of , Wiz, of course, Davido is awesome.''

He narrates how he met Walshy Fire of Major Lazer

In 2016, Wurld had his biggest break with the release of the song 'Show You Off', which features producer Shizzi and Walshy Fire, one part of the trio that makes up the international group, Major Lazer.

''That song is special because Shizzi had the music already and I met with him through a friend of mine, Kingsley, and when he played me the record, I loved the Fela vibe in it, I created the record over like a week, I shared it with a friend of mine that knew Walshy Fire, he heard it, added some things and it was done.

After the song was done, people around me were like this song has to go out and I paid attention to the energy of about 20 people around me and since it went out, it has been everywhere.

On why it has taken five years for him to put together a second body of work,

''I have so much music to share and it is ready, 'Evolution' was a different space, that is my straight electronic space, that is me finding myself, right now, I have found myself and it takes time.

I had to try different things and the greatest thing I have learnt is 'staying true to yourself', it is easier to fall into different things because it is cool.''

He speaks on writing for R&B star Mario

Outside being a songwriter and producer, he has also written songs for a number of other artists including R&B star, Mario.

''I did, it was interesting, I was working with Mario on his last album with RCA records, the album never really came out, but one of the songs I actually wrote for him came out, a song called 'Love, Sex, Drugs', they actually leaked the record and we did like almost 8 songs on the project, I was part of the songwriting crew on the record.

I have also worked with artists like , and a number of producers like , just to name afew, those are like my neighbours in Atlanta, so they always come around to the studio there and I was always like behind the scenes as a songwriter.

On his record deal and his song certified gold in Eastern Europe

''I am with , we have an amazing partnership, and I think it is an amazing time for the rest of the world to see what we are made of as Africans and our goal is to contribute to what is happening.

In 2015, his song 'Follow You' alongside Polish disc jockey, DJ Gromee was certified Gold and he sees that as his biggest feat yet;

''Yeah, my song went Gold, that was my very first major achievement, it was really big in the Eastern part of Europe like Denmark, Poland.

I was working with DJ/producer Groomee, he played it for Sony Music in Poland, they loved the song, they wanted to sign me, but it didn't feel alright for me signing in Poland, but he went ahead and the song went on to open doors for me.''

On what to expect before the end of the year

''Expect 'Contagious', 'Trouble' and so many collaborations, it has been constant work behind the scenes, 'Show You Off' is the first song from the ''Contagious'' EP, the titled track is the second and more to come.'' he concluded.