Demokeen is building his sound on his own terms

Building a career without a label means doing almost everything yourself before anyone is paying attention. That's the reality Demokeen describes when asked about the hardest part of his journey so far. “You can make good music, but there is still the challenge of funding releases, promotion, building the right relationships and getting people to actually discover the work,” says the singer-songwriter and producer, born Abiodun Gabriel Odumakin.

What he chose instead was to absorb more of the work himself. “I navigated that by learning to do more for myself,” he shares. This would entail honing his production abilities, being more intentional in writing songs, and putting out music for extended periods of time in which his numbers did not move much. He now has a discography with over a million streams and views, which he views as evidence that consistency works.

His music has garnered critical acclaim as well, with reputable publications such as The Guardian Nigeria, Pulse Nigeria, Culture Custodian and the Independent Newspaper critiquing his music independently of any major record label promotions.“Seeing my catalogue eventually cross 1,000,000 streams... showed me that consistency was gradually paying off,” he reflects.

That self-reliance traces back to a curiosity that started in childhood, when Afrobeats and Afropop were part of the same musical mix as R&B, soul and reggae. Demokeen never saw a reason to stay within one sound. “I never wanted to be restricted to one particular sound,” he explains. He wanted to understand how songs actually got made, not just perform them, which is why he taught himself production. “Today I try to make music that still carries my African identity while allowing me to experiment with other influences,” he adds.

That same instinct extends to his move to the UK, which he describes as another influence layered onto an already wide palette. “Being in the UK has opened me up to sounds and cultures that are different from what I grew up around,” he says, interested in how African sounds can sit naturally alongside British influences without either flattening the other.

Hidden beneath all the technicalities, the common denominator that Demokeen keeps repeating in his mind is simply that he desires the music to be genuine, stemming from relatable moments of truth and love and relationships and fear and ambition and insecurity and growth, but also being purposeful in making sure that the human element remains within the song.

Influences reveal his ambitions. He cites artists such as Burna Boy, Asa, and Wizkid, but is careful to highlight exactly what he admires in each one: global fusion from Burna Boy without abandoning an African identity, songwriting skills and emotional control from Asa, and melodic simplicity from Wizkid. “I listen beyond the finished song,” he describes, “and pay attention to writing, melody and production.”

Nothing about that process has been fast. Building independently meant learning to be his own label, promoter and producer before anyone else believed the investment was worth making. What he has to show for it is a catalogue that reflects where he's been, Nigeria first, the UK now, built without shortcuts and, so far, entirely on his own terms.

By Abioye Damilare Samson