When talks about his place in the music industry, he often returns to the language of football. A lifelong fan of the game, he has always identified with the striker position where the expectation is simple: make your chances count. It is an idea that has followed him into music too. His friends recognised a similar quality in the way his songs consistently  connected with listeners, eventually giving him the nickname that would inspire the title of his second album, ‘9’. “Everything I touch turns into a goal,” he says, explaining the thinking behind the title. It is an expression of confidence but also of an artist intent on establishing himself as someone the industry can depend on.

The past few years have given him plenty of reason to feel assured. Following the success of “alone” in 2024 and his debut project catharsis in 2025, Fola has become one of the Nigerian artists whose presence is increasingly felt across the scene. His voice has travelled beyond his own releases appearing on records with some of the country’s biggest names including BNXN, Ayra Starr and Davido. Yet, when asked whether the pace of his career has changed how he sees himself, he is quick to resist the idea that success has made him a different person. He is still Fola, he says, only more confident, more intentional and shaped by experiences he could not have imagined a few years ago.

With ‘9’, he is making a case for his staying power while giving listeners a better understanding of the person behind the growing catalogue. The title carries the confidence of a striker who knows what he brings to a team but the album also reflects someone still learning, taking in new experiences and finding his footing as life changes around him. Speaking with CLASH, Fola discusses the journey from catharsis to ‘9’, the people who have shaped his career, and why despite everything that has changed, he remains guided by what feels right to him.

You open ‘9’ with ‘Awade,’ drawing on K1 De Ultimate’s music while reflecting on your own journey and what lies ahead.Why was it important for you to incorporate that Fuji influence and talk about where you are today? Why did you want the opening to reflect that?

Firstly, shout out to K1 De Ultimate. He’s a legend, someone we’ve always listened to in Nigeria. He’s a Fuji legend. My dad, my dad’s friends, everybody listened to him. His music was everywhere. I just always like to infuse my mother tongue into my music.It was just something I wanted to do. I’m also someone who likes to tell my story through my albums. If you pay enough attention. I wanted “Awade” to be a song that tells my story. It was just something that came to mind. I infused it, and it worked out.

It felt very reflective too. It drew us into your world, almost like you were telling us about your own experiences. I loved that. Moving on to the title, I know you’ve always described yourself as a striker. As someone who has always played football, what did being a number nine teach you that you wanted to bring into your music? What made you give the album that title?

I’m just trying to cement my place. Like you said, number nine symbolizes a striker in football. My friends actually started calling me a striker because of the songs I was putting out. They know I love football a lot, and the position I played when I was really, really passionate about it was a striker. It just made sense. What I wanted to let the world know through the album is that everything I touch turns into a goal. A striker is someone you need to build a team around. It’s someone you can’t do without, someone you depend on to score goals. It’s someone you always need to have around.

You’ve clearly cemented yourself and the numbers don’t lie. On the track ‘How Many?’, I know you sampled Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s words where she’s speaking about self-doubt and self-belief. Why did that particular message resonate with you and how do you feel it connects to the bigger picture of your career right now?

Shout out to the legend, Chimmanda. Actually, the sample was included because she was stating everything I was talking about. She just broke it down and I liked how it made sense. I came across it on TikTok, and it spoke to me. I was really down at the time and I just felt like I needed that message. It made things easier for me.

It was really nice hearing that message, especially towards the end of the song. I also know ‘WAF’ started gaining attention after the unreleased version leaked online. What was it like seeing people connect with the song even before its official release? Sometimes, when an artist’s song leaks, they might not want to put it out anymore. Did seeing people connect with it shape your decision to finally release it?

I really wanted this song on the project because I actually named my debut EP after it. Unfortunately, it didn’t make the EP. I wanted to put it on catharsis as well, but I took it out at the last minute. Now I’ve finally put it on this album, and it’s catching on everywhere. Everyone still loves it. It’s such a solid song. It’s just one of those things where you never can tell. It’s amazing. I’ve always known it’s an amazing record, but I feel like I had a little doubt about it. 

Just to go back to what you said about repeatedly removing it, why did you eventually feel like it belonged on 9 this time around?

It was supposed to be on catharsis, but I took it out at the last minute. I love the song. I feel like the song itself is mad at me right now. I can just tell. Coupled with the fact that everyone already loves it and people keep asking about it, I just couldn’t wait for it to come out. I personally couldn’t wait for it to be released, I had to make that decision.

Another track, ‘Miss U II’ revisits your older song ‘Miss You’ which came out in 2023. Why did you want to return to that story? What made you want to give us a sequel?

I just felt like the story wasn’t complete. I also felt like the first ‘Miss You’ deserved to blow up. I just felt it needed some more attention. I wanted to finish the story. I didn’t want to put out the same music again because it was already out. I had to complete the story with ‘Miss U II’.

Can we say your perspective on love has changed since the first ‘Miss You’?

Maybe a little bit. Obviously, I made the first one three years ago so I’ve seen things now. I’ve learned a few things, and I’ve decided to put what I’ve learned into this new song.

Another amazing track is ‘Crime. I know you reworked 2Baba’s ‘If Love Is A Crime’. How did you approach reworking a classic like that? What made you want to put your own twist on it?

‘If Love Is a Crime’ is one of 2Baba’s songs that I really like. I always listen to it after ‘African Queen’. It’s always that song. Everyone loves it. I was just listening to it one day, and I started thinking about doing something different with it. There was a part where something wasn’t coming together in the song or the beat, and I was thinking about how to make it work. I always make my decisions quickly. If something sounds good to me, I just want us to get it done. It was really sounding good, so I called my producer and said, “Let’s get this done. I think we can do something good with this.” We tried it, and it worked out. A big shout-out to 2Baba as well. He really liked what we did. He showed me so much love. I had to go and play it for him, and he kept telling me to run it back. There were a couple of Yoruba words in the song, too, so I had to keep explaining their meanings to him. He was so welcoming and genuinely excited to listen to it. I really enjoyed that experience. A big shout-out to him for clearing the sample for us. Everyone loves the song.

I also spoke to BNXN last month, and he was telling me about the beautiful musical chemistry you both share. I wanted to hear your perspective on what makes that musical chemistry work, especially when you keep returning to each other’s projects and collaborating.

Big shout-out to BNXN. It’s just full of love. He’s one of the very first people who really showed me genuine love in the industry. I’ve never forgotten that. We’ve always made music together, and we share ideas. We have a lot of songs together. It was just about picking one out of our catalogue. ‘My Type’ was supposed to be on BNXN’s album, and ‘Shamaya’ was supposed to be on mine. We just met one day, talked about it and decided, “You know what? Let ‘My Type’ be on my album, and we’ll do the other one for yours.” That’s how it happened. It’s way more than just music. We’ve done a lot of things together, and I love that.

He basically said the same thing when I spoke to him. He mentioned that you both had to swap the songs.

Yeah.

I know you’ve also worked with both Ayra Starr and Davido appearing on their projects as well. On your album, you have ‘2 AM in Toronto’ and ‘Treat U Right’. How did those collaborations come together? Were you already working on their projects when you decided to collaborate with them on your own album, or how did everything happen?

We worked on them on July 1st. I think they really liked what we were doing so they decided to let me do something on their own songs as well. I’m happy with how everything came out.

Both songs?

Both songs, yeah. I really like how everything came together.

And how did ‘Treat U Right’ come about?

I just had the feeling that something was missing. I don’t know. I reached out to her team, and she didn’t even stress me. She just sent it to me. We were still in the studio, and I was like, “Ah, this is too good”. We quickly got the second song done as well.

And what about ‘2am in toronto’?

You know after the success of ‘B4 B4’, it was just something that got me going. I was in Canada at the time, and that’s when I stumbled upon the song. It was something I had made but I wasn’t really listening to it at that point. I just came across it again, paid attention to it and really loved it.  My manager listened to it. He just asked me, “Can Davido do this?” And I thought that was really amazing. It was such a good fit because it sounds like something Davido would do. It has a similar progression to his sound. Then ‘November’ came about. I sent it to him. He gave me a timeframe for when he would send it back, and he eventually did. 

I also wanted to touch on the other features on the album, including Bella Shmurda, Darkoo and Zlatan. How did you decide to bring those artists into the project?

When I met Darkoo, I was in London. I just always knew that we would work together. ‘Hold U Down’ was the last one we did when I came to London. I think that was the first time I was in London.  I have a couple of songs with Darkoo as well.

I know you’ve also been on a run of collaborations appearing on different artists’ projects. I’ve been listening to so many projects and speaking to different artists this year, and your name keeps coming up as a recurring feature. How intentional have you been about choosing the collaborations you take on?

I just like making music. I just like doing many things. It does something for me. Any collaboration that comes my way, I get it done if I like it. The ones I connect with, the ones that feel right just come naturally through the process of making music.

I don’t think it’s changed that much, though. I’m still the same Fola, but I’m more confident now. I’m also more intentional. I’ve learned new things, seen new things and had new experiences. I’ve been in rooms I’ve never been in before. It’s not really that I’m new to anything, but I’ve grown. That’s it.

 I also want to talk about your relationship with Bella Shmurda. He’s played an integral role in your journey, including with Dangbana Republik . How has that relationship shaped your growth, and what lessons have you learned from working together?

There’s so much I’ve learned from him. He’s my brother. Big shout-out to him. He’s such a great guy.I have known Bella for a while and  it’s always still been the same. We still share the same little ideas all the time. But he always lets me be myself. He doesn’t even force his own ideas on me. He allows me to make my decisions and do what I want to do. He’s also someone I can trust. When I made “It’s Over”, I just knew it was Bella’s kind of song. I didn’t even have to send it to him. I drove to him and told him I needed to show him something. I played it for him, and we got it done that same day. I have a lot of songs with him. It’s always good working together. Zlatan is my big bro as well. Everyone just shows me love. I just wanted to end the album with that song. I’d already told him what I wanted to do and he understood the assignment. He gave me exactly what I wanted..

Finally, with ‘9’ now out in the world, and people showing it so much love, what do you want listeners to understand about you as an artist? We know you’re definitely here to stay, but what would you like people to take away from this chapter of your career?

You know everything, like I said, the growth, the achievements and the actual me. I just want people to know me better after listening to the album. I want them to understand that this guy is just living his life and doing whatever feels good to him.

‘9’ is out now.