In the dynamic world of afrobeat music, artistic collaborations and album choices are crucial to staying relevant and creating a lasting impact. Iyanya, a well-known figure in the music industry, recently made headlines with the release of his latest album titled ‘Once Upon A Cat’.
The origin of the album’s title is intriguing, since it stems from a comment posted by a teasing user on social networks. Indeed, during an interview on Naija FM, Iyanya revealed that the idea for the title came to him following an exchange in pidgin where a user gently made fun of him by saying “that one is once upon a cat “. An innocuous remark which ultimately gave new life to this album.
In ‘Once Upon A Cat’, Iyanya chose to highlight a new generation of emerging artists by inviting them to collaborate on his tracks. Talents such as Moonlight Afriqa, Tee Dollar, Qing Madi, M3lon, Pawwz and Young Duu had the opportunity to share their art alongside this music icon.
Beyond music, Iyanya also shared his future plans during this interview. In particular, he plans to revisit his old hits by creating remixes and grouping them together in a new album. An approach which shows his desire to reinvent his music while retaining the essence of his flagship pieces.
Finally, the artist touched on other topics during this interview, including his relationship with Ubi Franklin as well as a social media controversy regarding a fan he met during Davido’s Timeless concert in 2023.
This new artistic direction and this choice to collaborate with emerging artists demonstrates Iyanya’s desire to stay in tune with current trends in the music scene while providing a platform to promising young talents. ‘Once Upon A Cat’ promises to be an album rich in musical diversity and inspiring collaborations for fans of afrobeat music.