Odeal is a natural born hustler whose worldly travels have shaped the person he has become.

Growing up he spent some time in Germany, Spain, and Nigeria before settling in the United Kingdom. 

Just before releasing his latest project “Sunday at Zuri’s,” Odeal sat down with Nounouche Magazine to share his journey thus far.

Known for his genre-surfing musical style, Odeal spent time schooling in Nigeria, where he was introduced to Afrobeats. Upon returning to the United Kingdom, he heard how artists such as NSG and J Hus were creating different variations of Afrobeats. “I was thinking this is completely different from what I was hearing in Nigeria.”

While at boarding school, Odeal’s dream for music began to grow. As a budding artist and producer, he drew inspiration from James Brown, Fela Kuti, Burna Boy, and Wizkid. Landing in London in 2017, Odeal’s hustle began.

He made significant sacrifices to make his musical career a reality, going as far as selling his beloved camera and Beats headphones to invest in a new laptop for music production. These sacrifices became the building blocks for his EP “Pragma,” of which he is proud. 

“I loved the whole process of making that project because it was just me. I could release music and didn’t need to depend on anyone else,” he shares, reflecting on the independently released project in 2018.

Influenced by his experiences, Odeal recalls the summer of unrest and protests in 2020 after the death of George Floyd and the global spread of the Black Lives Matter movement. Odeal released “More Life,” which spoke about his personal experiences with loss. 

“We were in shock. So many people were passing. I would play back voice notes on Snapchat from friends I lost talking to me about my music. It was emotional for me. My people need to live longer. No one’s getting to really see their dreams, and it just doesn’t make sense to me.”

Odeal’s ambition is to lead the way for his peers. “I want to be the voice that allows other people’s music in the UK to be heard internationally. I want to open that door so others can do this and go on to do amazing things.”

Speaking about “Sage,” released four years ago, Odeal mulls over on the journey of refining his sound into what it is today. “It has been an interesting journey of trying to refine the sound I always had in my head. I always try to make songs that feel most like me. I’m always trying to make that one song that feels perfect. It’s been a fun journey of learning and trying different things. But I’ve come a long way; I feel like the sound is in a great place right now. My younger self would be proud.”

Touching on his growth over the years, Odeal shares that much of his growth happened mentally. “Being in the industry and being able to block out the noise and focus on what is important to me, it takes a certain level of growth to do that. Knowing that you’re not running the same race as everyone else. The music and where it is at right now, the attention to detail is the highest it has ever been. Even at this level, I am still having fun. I don’t feel the pressure of anything else.”

Growing up, Odeal always knew he wanted to make music and become a successful musician. “To be honest, what drove me was that I wanted to make the best music ever. That has always been my goal. That is subjective, but I always wanted to make the best song in every scenario. I wanted to make music that doesn’t exist, music that doesn’t sound like anything else. That was the main goal. I didn’t know any of this would happen. It was all God. I knew that if I didn’t make the best song today, then I would do it the next day. I would have kept going until it happened, until the music was undeniable.”

Odeal further explains what success means to him. “I feel like you could be the biggest artist in the world and still not have the hearts of people. Success to me is being able to touch people’s hearts. When you hear a song that is a banger and it becomes the theme song to your life. If I can get people to feel like that across the board, that would be success to me. It’s not about doing numbers and not knowing where they are coming from. I want actual people to connect to the music. I want to build a fanbase of like-minded people who are interconnected through the music. It’s about knowing that you have a brother, sister, or there’s a girl that listens to Odeal in Germany and you’re all the way in Africa or Spain. Or just knowing that there are people in London who like the same things that you do. My whole fanbase being interconnected like that worldwide is what success is to me.”

As we conclude our interview, Odeal shares a message of hope with his fans. “Be yourself and know that our uniqueness makes us bold and relentless. Anything that makes you different from somebody else is something you should lean into and never be shy about. Ten years ago, when I was making the music I was making, it wasn’t cool. But now the rest of the world wants to hear this type of music. If I had chosen at that moment to just do what everyone else was doing, I would be behind. I would just say, keep doing what you’re doing and wait for the light to shine on you.”