Alpha P, is a 19-year old singer-songwriter from Benin City, Edo State who is taking over the Nigerian music industry. Currently signed to Universal Music Nigeria, the youngster has released the EP “King of the Wolves” in 2020 which includes the popular hit, “Paloma”.
First featuring on the highly acclaimed Hollywood movie ‘Coming to America 2’ soundtrack and later landing a guest spot on the Masterkraft Remix to Justin Bieber’s mega-hit “Peaches” that also featured Omah Lay, the rapper has continued to mount new heights in his career, which have only served to edge him further to his explosive world-dominating moment.
Alpha P recently released his brand new track named “Oh No” a viral song that’s taking over TikTok thanks to its so called #ohnochallenge .
In the last few years, a new class of musicians has broken through the Nigerian music industry that have expanded the sounds of our time and widened our musical tastes by repurposing sounds from other eras with a modern take.
In discussion with Alpha P, there is a clear hint of the willingness to do just the same. He wants to move unencumbered through genres and create a whole new sound.
Over a Zoom call, he talks to me from his home in Lagos about his past, present and future.
Who were your biggest inspirations growing up?
Definitely Micheael Jackson, and when I was 10/11 years old I first heard Justin Bieber and it literally changed my life. He was so young and was already achieving great things.. I was so young as well and I thought “Hey I don’t need to be older to do this”. I was always used to the fact that only grown people could become great artists but that changed my whole prespective and goals.
Another artist from my generation that I am inspired to is Billie Eilish. Overall, I get influences from many places, for example over here in Nigeria we got Burna Boy, Davido and the whole scene who are my major influences.
Is Gospel part of your inspirations?
As a kid, I was too young to understand love and the only love I knew was my love for God. I grew up in a very god-loving family so Gospel music was a big thing and the real first approach I had to music. I started performing in church and it helped me build my stage confidence and grew as a person. It’s a very positive environment.
What inspired you to write your hit single “Oh No”:
It was pretty much about my past and something I thought other people out here could relate too.
It’s about this hopeless romantic who is in love with this girl but she’s not paying attention to him because he’s not financially stable but he’s the sweetest guy ever. I’ve seen that happening a lot growing up.
It’s sad because this is something that happens very often here, people always like to talk about the good side of love but not the complicated part.
It’s awesome because the first day I dropped this single I received so many messages from people telling me that they could totally relate because the same thing happened to them as well.
What is your favorite music instrument?
The keys for sure. I kinda learned how to play it when I was living at my parents house but I honestly haven’t been practicing ever since I moved out two years ago.
Cool, so you live in Lagos on your own?
I live in Lagos with my manager. My family is still in Benin City and I am in Lagos State.
Which countries would you like to visit?
I wanna go to so many places, The U.S, The U.K, France because of Paris but also Zanzibar, Tanzania, Kenya.. I am also a big fan of nature so that’s an important factor for me. Being able to embrace nature at its fullest, the outdoors and get to experience the real vibe of a place. I would definitely love to visit Brazil as well!
What’s the story behind the name Alpha P:
So the P stands for my actual birth name Princewill.
But the real story began when I was younger, I started music in church singing and rapping. All my friends have the coolest strong names and I was only “Prince”, I thought it sounded too soft for a rapper and I wanted something harder.
Then one day I went to church and the pastor was talking about God, Alpha and the Omega in the Bible. Later that day my friends were asking me if I came up with something and I just randomly said Alpha P without even thinking about it. I suddenly realized how strong it sounded.
The word Alpha describes the leader of the pack in the animal kingdom, but it also means the inception of something. For me it stands as the leader of the new sound.
What are your thoughts on Afrobeats taking over the world charts?
I feel like now the Afrobeats genre it’s in a great place. It’s moving organically and faster, look at the UK for example. I believe that it’s going to be the N.1 genre on the planet. It’s getting to that point where everyone wants to show up to Afrobeats concerts and shows and people are so proud to call themselves Africans nowadays more than ever before.
The governments here don’t do a great job in empowering Africans but with Afrobeats we are able to spread a positive message and help us be proud of our identity. We are the people pushing our culture, creating a sense of belonging that is so strong and it’s amazing.
What are your 3 favorite songs of 2021?
Gunna - RELENTLESS (feat. Lil Uzi Vert)
Lil Nas X - Dead Right Now
And my own song “Oh No”
What is your family favorite song by Alpha P?
Honestly they love everything I do, we have a family chat where we always share each other’s updates and I always make sure to share my music with them. I haven’t seen them in so long.
What are your favorite activities besides creating music?
To be honest most of my time is dedicated to music, if I am not making it, I am listening to it. I am also great at table tennis, I could probably be a professional table tennis player.
I also love to cook, I am a really good cook, especially when I get tired of eating outside food. My dad taught me, he always made sure I knew how to provide for myself, at the beginning I didn’t feel like doing it but the more I grew up, the more I realized how cool it is.
I also love to play videogames, Mafia is one of my favorites, especially for the soundtrack of the game. Sometimes I just get in the car and drive around randomly listening to the game’s radio.
What does music mean to you?
It’s everything, my past, future and present. It’s how I am able to impact the world and share myself with the world. It’s the tool that’s going to help me take my family to the next level, to inspire the younger generation.
Everybody was born with a skill and my contribution to the world is music.
What does love mean to you?
I have never been in love in my whole life so I don’t know about that kind of love. But I can definitely say that love can be many other things like positivity I receive for my music, my family and so on.
Music comes from my spirit, if my spirit isn’t in the right place, I can’t really create to the best of my abilities. Watch the music video for the track "Oh No" :
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