Next Wave #915: Dolapo

In Association With Vero True Social

Though her career is young, with flawless vocals and star quality Dolapo has already begun making quite the impression.

Dolapo’s love for music began in humble beginnings. Growing up in Tottenham, singing along to her favourite songs is a memorable part of her childhood: “I used to sing at home with my sisters, and mess around singing to Destiny’s Child, and it never sounded bad!”

The North London native fondly remembers singing in school and at her local church which she attributes to her musical style today: “The type of church I went to, it required quite a musical background singing as part of a choir and as a choir leader, that’s where it pretty much all took place for me.” Mixing this with her awe of some of the 90s massive R&B superstars such as Aaliyah and TLC, armed her with the vocal style we hear in her music today. 

Being a solo artist was not something Dolapo immediately stepped into. She was regularly writing music and began by singing backing vocals for many of the UK’s prominent rappers. Spending time in the studio helped her to create a lot of new relationships with her peers: “It was from staying in the studio, I met Tion [Wayne] in the studio, I met MoStack through the studio. You just bump into these people, and ask, ‘How’s it going? What are you working on today?’ It’s always been natural.”

Last year, Dolapo also dropped her track with WSTRN’s Louis Rei, ‘Down.’. And it’s not hard to see that the singer’s mellow attitude creates a breeding ground for new music: “It was an organic vibe, it was just us bouncing ideas off each other. Melody guiding. It was a cool process. It was interesting to see him write from absolute scratch”.

While Dolapo has been fortunate enough to work with some of the UK’s greats, there’s one person she’s keen to collaborate with: “Dave. He’s something special. I hope we never take him for granted because I think he’s probably one of the best things out of the UK.”

Releasing track upon track has seen Dolapo go from strength to strength. Her music is strikingly heartfelt. But how much of her material is from her own life stories? In her own words “too much”.

She admits: “I’ve been pretty unlucky in love. I always call ‘Blink of Eye’ a fantasy song, of what it would feel like to fall in love with the right person. ‘Something New’ is a mere reflection of life right now,” she laughs.

Listening to her music, we experience a different Dolapo on each of her tracks. Whether its afrobeat or R&B, this is a trend that we should continue to expect from her: “Even now, I’m wrapping up my EP, and there’s a huge variation among the tracks which I do like. For now, it gives people a nice introduction to me and what they can expect”.

Dolapo attributes her musical versatility to her upbringing, which was surrounded by a diverse set of sounds, “It all kind of comes from the different influences. All the different sounds are still sounds that are a part of me and sounds that I grew up listening to.”

Dolapo is currently close to finishing her EP which she anticipates will be ready in August. But like many artists, she admits she keeps changing her mind on when it will be released. With her first headline show due to take place in September, Dolapo promises more singles and more features.

And while the singer has just begun to gain ears on her work, it’s clear that she’s a talent made for the profession.

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Words: Nikita Rathod @NikitaRath0dhttps://twitter.com/NikitaRath0d

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