“It depends on whatever the mood is for the song, or whatever the melody or inspiration is for the song,” he said. “I’m an all-around Afrobeat artist. I’ll probably say Afro fusion.”
He was born, raised and grew to manhood in Lagos, where he was a student of business administration by day and a musical artist by night. He had a band, Nurty Boiz. That, he says, was his “first real foray into music-making as more than just a pastime.”
From that experience he learned “collaboration, structure and the power of voice.” When the band folded, he embarked on a solo career, and when that career was firmly planted, he moved to Denver in 2022.
“In With Love, Zaa, I’m talking about my journey, my wins, my ups and downs. You know, life — my life, my love life. Every song on the EP is another story that I have to tell.”
The first song, “Marseille,” is a story of his journey to America, “the music, the hustle, the whole thing, the dreams.”
The second song, “Currency,” tells of the success he found.
“Just me finding my feet,” he said, “trying to get into the whole dream that I’ve been looking for. Now, I’m making money, I’m spending money, that kind of thing.”
Then, “Dirty Diana.”
“Okay, I found those two things that I was looking for. Now I found love.”
Oh Diana, oh
You got a old man acting stupid
Oh oh
“But it’s long distance. So, I cannot have everything I want. It’s always a struggle in one way, or it’s always a win and a loss at the same time. It’s up and down. I pray for better days, or I hope for better days, but I’m, you know, also looking for better nights, too.”
In “LaVida Loca,” track No. 4, Zaa is traveling, enjoying life.
My life’s a moving train (my life’s a moving train)
Never switching lanes (never switching lanes)
Run down my memory lanes
So you can see how far I came
In the fifth song, he gets his better night.
“So, ‘LaVida’ is me on a trip, on a vacation, and I find a one-night stand. That’s what ‘Whisper’ is about.”
From the hook:
I surrender to sinner
I surrender to sinner
Track No. 6, “Ariwo” (pronounced AH-ree-WOO) is different. Having found some success and enjoying life, the singer finds himself the target of envy and jealousy and a victim of malicious falsehoods.
“‘Ariwo’ is about when people single you out for no reason. It’s just me talking about the bad things that are happening around me. I see all of you doing these things to me. I’m just going to be quiet, but I’m going to reply to you guys in my song. Like, ‘Look, if the shoe fits, this is for you.’”
During this period, he said, he was surrounded by a lot of noise, and that is what ariwo means: noise.
Love returns in the final track, “Faraway.” Like “Dirty Diana,” he finds a woman who really likes him, and it is not long-distance.
Every song spares Zaa’s Afro fusion pedigree, but each is very different from all the others in the mix of instrumentation, the beats with the bass and the talking drums, the horns, saxophones and guitars in the background.
“I am a very vErsatile artist, so sometimes I infuse a lot of sounds into it, Afropop, R&B, fuji (a Nigerian genre), highlife.”
You can also hear the other components of those genres, for instance the jazz, rock and disco roots of highlife.
“On every song, I try to separate,” he said. “I didn’t want every song to sound alike. Maybe one or two might look alike because of the idea, but I wanted a male version for ladies, and I wanted something that the guys can hold on to.”
In telling his own story through music, he is not claiming that he is special.
“It’s me telling my own story, telling people what’s going on in my own life, and that way more people can get to speak up about what’s going on in their own life as well, and understand that the world is not going to stop. You have to keep going.”
In Denver, Zaa has opened for many well-known Nigerian Afrobeat artists, including Davido, Bnxn, Ruger, Femi Kuti. He performed at two parties for the release of his EP. His first official concert will be sometime in 2026.
He has a website and merch — his own line of perfume, Jersey shirts and more. He has just dropped the music video for “Currency,” which joins the one for “LaVida Loca,” and he will soon release the video for “Dirty Diana.”
“I just want people to stay tuned,” he said.
So, stay tuned And connect to Zaa Nurty on all platforms for new music, videos, and social posts. With Love, Zaa Always is available on all streaming platforms with promotional support from Starlight PR.
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