Nigerian afropop star Oluwatobiloba Anidugbe, professionally known as Kizz Daniel, revealed the tragic personal loss that preceded the release of his new EP, ‘Uncle K: Lemon Chase’.
The singer released the 7-track EP, ‘Uncle K: Lemon Chase’ on 29th May, 2025, which includes songs like: ‘Black Magic Girl’, ‘Titi’, ‘Secure’, ’Al-Jannah’, ‘Peace I Chose’, ‘Eyo’ and ‘Police’.
|
|
However, during an interview with Nandi Madura via FaceTime on ‘Africa Now’ Apple Music 1, Daniel disclosed that the songs in the new EP reflected his real-life experiences.
Narrating his ordeal that preceded the new EP, Daniel said: “The EP came about due to a regrettable incident that happened with the actual body of work, which was to be the ‘Uncle K’ album. My workstation crashed, and we lost a lot of songs.
|
|
|
|---|
“I was supposed to go on tour with the album, which we had already announced, so I returned to the studio and came up with some songs that sounded sonically similar. We came up with a name that fitted the situation—‘Lemon Chase!’
“I was locked in the studio for months, but when life throws you lemons, you make lemonade out of it—and that’s precisely what we did with this EP. I’m still in shock about how well it is doing. I’m very satisfied.”
Speaking further on ‘Big Girl Magic’, a track on the new EP, the ‘Buga’ hit maker noted he sang the song for his lover, but reconsidered the title because of how women would feel about the body shape he sang about in the track.
The Flyboy I.N.C. boss said: “The title of this song was initially ’Big Girl Magic,’ as I was talking about my woman being a bigger, chubbier woman. I thought some women would find it insulting, so we swapped the ‘big’ for ‘black’.
“But if you listen to the song lyrics, you’ll hear me say, ‘I’m not looking at size/Are you crazy, size doesn’t matter to me/If I F with the girl, that’s it!’ We celebrate everyone, all sizes.”
While further recounting his losses in previous years, which inspired ‘Al-Jannah’, another track on the new EP, the songwriter said the track was a tribute to deceased family members.
According to him, “‘Al-Jannah’ means ‘paradise’. I wanted to write a tribute song. We’ve lost people in the past; we lost our son in 2021; I lost my dad in 2015; my wife lost her mum in 2024; I lost my step-mum; we lost a whole lot of people. I wanted to make a song for everyone, not just one person.
“It’s about our loved ones we have lost in this journey of life. I accomplished that by using the word ’friend’ in the song. When my dad was alive, he was my best friend.”
Moreover, Daniel expressed his excitement working with Folarin, Odunlami, and Fola on the track, ‘Titi’. “He’s amazing—I used to call him ‘The Future.’ Nigerian fans call him ’Striker — number 9.’ He’s an incredible artist,” the ‘Twe Twe’ crooner stated.
The EP featured Beninese-French singer-songwriter, Angelique Kidjo and top Nigerian superstars; Fola, Zlatan, Odumodublvck, Bella Shmurda and Runtown. Since its release, ‘Police’, ‘Al-Jannah’, ‘Titi’ and ‘Black Girl Magic’ have recorded 4.8 million, 2.8 million, 2.4 million and 1.5 million streams on Spotify. The album has also had over 3 million views on YouTube, while ‘Al-Jannah’ featuring Odumodublvck and Bella Shmurda topped at No. 7 on YouTube music videos.
Debut album recovery
Kizz Daniel also announced the recovery songs from his 2016 debut album, ‘New Era’, from his previous record label, G-Worldwide, after a legal battle for the last 9 years.
The singer announced the victory in an X post: “From long nights in the studio to several mediations, finally, I now own every song on the ‘New Era Album’ 2016 + ‘Yeba & Sofa’. I got my master’s back. This means more than words can explain. Thank you for riding with me.”
In November 2017, Kizz Daniel parted ways with G-Worldwide and established his record label, Flyboy I.N.C.
His former label head, Emperor Geezy, filed a lawsuit against him for copyright infringement after he laid a claim to Daniel’s initial stage name, ‘Kiss Daniel’, which led to the singer rebranding to ‘Kizz Daniel’. Daniel was eventually cleared of all allegations, as he announced in the X post.
READ ALSO: MUSIC REVIEW: In ‘Pressure’, Seyi Vibez switches lane, embraces softer side
Music break
The hit maker also announced his decision to take a break from music after the release of his latest EP to focus on his family.
Making the announcement in an X post on 4 June, Kizz Daniel said his family had accused him of prioritising his music career over them, which influenced his decision to take a music break.
He wrote, “No more recording for me. I am just enjoying life like it should be. My family has dissed me for choosing the studio over them, and I’m changing.”
Despite lamenting that he lost an album to his workstation crash, the singer stated in the post that he has over “600 songs” to give his fans before his retirement.
