Introducing BILS, Afrobeats’ Newcomer

Ferdinand Ekechukwu

The evolution of the social media has changed a lot of narratives around talented people across the world, especially the generation Z, coupled with the level of competition in the Nigerian music scene, mostly in the afrobeats genre. But for BILS, born Daniel Oshodi-Alagoa, his face is already on the digital space, but just making his way into the bursting Nigerian entertainment scene. He is an Afrorap/Afropop artiste, with a unique and engaging sound that is heavily influenced by his late brother David Oshodi Alagoa, Fela Kuti, and Tupac Shakur.

His journey into music started just before he relocated to America to further his studies; there he bagged a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Sciences from Texas Southern University. “BILS (Built-in Lagos State), it’s not about money. It’s where I’m from,” he says, talking about his journey into music. He passionately recalls: “My brother gave me that. I used to go by Hoodbilli when I first started, but my brother had always called me BILS. When he died, I took that name BILS, because every time someone says it, it reminds me of him. So anytime I hear BILS, it just reminds me of him you know.”

As a young chap growing up, BILS found music out of depression when he left the shores of Nigeria. “I grew up in Nigeria. I left when I was sixteen. I went to America to further my studies. I went to University and now I’m done. So that’s one of the reasons I have been away for a long time. Generally, I have come back like maybe twice but I have been away for, since 2008. That’s when I actually left Nigeria. That’s when I found music. I found music out of like depression. Because you know people have the story wrong when you go to the other side they think it’s all like greener on the other side. You know you get there you realize how different you are. How you don’t fit in you know.”

The four-time Nigeria Entertainment Award Nominee released a 7-track EP in 2019 titled “Mans On The Move”, a fusion of Afrobeats, soul-lifting melodies, and hard rap which charted #1 on the iTunes US world charts. BILs has gone on to perform at SXSW twice, which is one of the biggest conglomeration films and music festivals with an average of over 200,000 attendees and its stage showcase some of the world’s biggest talents. His art has earned him recognition over the years and features with the likes of Afrobeats Superstar Olamide Badoo, Davido amongst others.

His music has been described by fans as catchy, engaging, and unique enough to grab any music lover’s attention. He talks about his genre of music. “I make music based of half of how I feel with the fusion of afrobeats because that’s my core. That’s who I am. That one can’t change. But I can go to America and they like rap and I say ‘oh you like rap?’ I will mix my afrobeats with the rap and they will be like ‘this sounds difference I like how this sounds’ you know. And generally we know Africans don’t really, no let me not say Africans, Nigerians don’t really favour rap as much as other genre because it’s not as melodic. So with the afrobeats factor it really adds that you know the harmonies, the vibes, it gives you the bounce that people want to relate to.”

On what he’s bringing to the music scene, “I say this from a place of creativity, pain, the journey I have been on and my passion, nobody has what I have! And what I have is the best of both worlds. I have experienced that. And I have experienced the other side. Dually I can tell a story to both sides. I can tell someone in America because there are kids in America that are Africans that were born in America. That can’t totally relate to what is here because they have never been. And they want to come back because of me; my type.

“That weird you know ‘little box’ that was from there but it’s here. I’m the one telling them ‘you should go back o! Get your passport, go apply here, and go do this…’ So it’s basically what they have done. Or what I am right now is like an export. It’s like I’m exported to go bring more Africans back home that’s the idea you know. So what I have now I don’t think anybody has it. And even if they do, they don’t have my story. I have my own story to tell. Everybody has their own story. And I have my own story so that’s it.”