Music

In a year brimming with highly acclaimed releases from women in Nigerian music, Qing Madi’s voice is hard to ignore, set apart by its youthful resonance. 

Before her emergence on the Afrobeats scene, Qing Madi (real name Chimamanda Pearl Chukwuma) had regular life plans like most young people: get a degree, then get a job. She had just moved from her birthplace of Benin City to Lagos with her family. This move brought on more opportunities in the form of songwriting gigs for artists such as Skales, Iyanya and Larry Gaaga. 

“One day, I was asked to do backup for Blaqbonez and showed up for the vocals. I met his producer Ramoni, and he played me this beat that I thought was so beautiful,” she tells Billboard via Zoom. “I asked to do a freestyle to the beat and titled it ‘See Finish.’”

She uploaded it onto TikTok in 2022. “I used to post cover videos on TikTok and some of them would blow up,” Madi says, citing her renditions of “Overloading (OVERDOSE)” by Crayon, Ayra Starr, LADIPOE, Magixx and Boy Spyce and Burna Boy and Ed Sheeran’s “For My Hand” as examples. “I never put out anything original because I wasn’t bold enough and didn’t think people would like it.” 

But as “See Finish” went viral, Madi says she was swarmed by DMs from different local and international record labels. “My mom was so overwhelmed by what was happening from just this one freestyle, but we eventually decided that I would get signed to Jton Music and Columbia/Bu Vision,” she says. “The next step was to release an EP with songs I’d worked on.”

Released last November, her seven-track self-titled EP carries relatable reflections on great first loves, independence and a wide range of emotions one experiences on the journey to a fully-formed identity. On “Madi’s Medley,” she asserts strength in difficult situations. “Why” explores what it’s like to be your own person amid pressure to conform. Eight months later, Madi released its deluxe version featuring three new songs: the “Vision” remix with Chloe Bailey, the Kizz Daniel-assisted “YBIL (You Believe in Love)” and “Sins For U”. 

Since then, Madi has performed in the U.S. for the first time as part of BNXN’s tour, gained co-signs from Afrobeats superstars Wizkid and Ayra Starr (with the former tapping her for background vocals on his “Diamonds” track last year) and earned a spot on Billboard’s 2024 21 Under 21 List. Still, the 18-year-old singer-songwriter admits she has moments where she can’t believe it’s all real. “Seeing the crowd screaming my songs back to me affects me in a big way,” she says. “I’m really writing songs for the whole world to listen to.”

Qing Madi spoke with Billboard about her mainstream success, the upsides of delusion and why she never feels the pressure to fit in.

In some interviews you refer to your music as “Afro-delulu.” How does this describe your sound?

Most of the stuff that I sang about on the EP was not part of my reality at the time. In “American Love,” I sang about traveling around the world, when I’d never even crossed the border. I was looking to the future and then it just started manifesting with all my current travels. I can be delusional, but I like to talk a lot about the things that I want, and somehow they always come to be. And “Afro-delulu” wasn’t even a term I came up with, my fans created that for me and I liked it and went with it.

Your music touches on themes like love and heartbreak in a relatable way. How do you bring these ideas to life?

Besides being delusional, I also write about things that happen to me or my friends. “See Finish” came from a friendship breakup that hurt me, and no one really talks about those, because they’re not supposed to hurt as much as heartbreak from romantic relationships. I’m not a confrontational person – so if I have an issue with someone, I’ll probably make a song about it, because it’s the easiest mode of expression for me.

This year, Afrobeats has been largely defined by women, each with their own distinct sound. What’s it like to be part of a rising crop of artists who decide to prioritize their own vision and go outside of the norm?

It’s beautiful. I’m more proud of the audience than I am of the industry because the crowd is opening their ears to us. There have always been women with different sounds, but some never got the opportunity to be heard because the audience would be like, “This music is too slow, this isn’t what we want.” We’re all growing to the point where everyone has a genre that they truly enjoy, and since they’re more accepting of other kinds of music, we don’t have to subject ourselves to a particular pattern. It also helps that Nigerian music is more global than ever before, so I’m proud to be part of it, being on the inside and getting to watch the growth up close.

There’s some pressure on artists to have the perfect brand or to present themselves in the most appealing way to the public. How do you put your own perspective first?

When people think of a female artist, they usually picture someone whose style and appearance is very “feminine.” I’m not really trying to fit into that ideology, because that’s not who I am. Sometimes people say things like, “You’re a pretty girl! Why not dress more like this?” Or “If you change your style, you’re going to get a lot more [public approval].” But I try to stay true to myself and not become somebody else. There are people who are more accepting of a different kind of look and girls who just want to be comfortable. I’m trying to use my image to speak for them.

Young artists today are also burdened with the focus on numbers, branding and engagement around their music. How do you handle these expectations?

I don’t focus on what people expect of me, because there’s always going to be criticism. My  music is always from my heart, so if it doesn’t feel genuine to me, it won’t be released. When I put out “See Finish,” people were like, “She’s a one-hit wonder, she’s not going to do it again.” And when “Ole” [featuring BNXN] came out, they said, “You just got lucky with a major feature.” 

If I listen to the negatives, it would mess with my mind, and if I rely on the positives, it would make me too comfortable and I would only stick to a particular sound and style. So I block everything out and I never read comments on anything. My focus remains only on creating.

As your music continues to attract audiences worldwide, what is your outlook for the future?

There has been a lot of growth, and I don’t think about limitations because of the fast pace at which we’re growing. Everything is falling in place and I’m just really hopeful. I only care about how my music is being received, how it resonates among the audience and how it contributes to the growth of Nigerian music and women in general. I feel like my album will be in the works soon, and it’ll represent how I feel and what I speak for.