Foreign Slim is a Nigerian artist performing in the Afrobeat genre. Foreign Slim recent single “Can’t Do Like That” feels like a spiritual experience and is a great song. FMHipHop has got a chance to interview Foreign Slim on her career plans, spiritual experiences, and the meaning of Afrobeat with its difference from American Afrofusion.
About Foreign Slim
At what time of your life have you decided to start making music?
I started making music at the age of six years old. My mom was one of my inspirations because when I was younger, I would watch American Idol, and she would have CDs of Mad Melon and all of the people who then inspired me on my musical journey.
Have you been involved in any music-affiliated projects before starting a solo career?
Yes, I sang in the church choir. I also played instruments. I played the clarinet, the piano, in the choir, and stuff like that.
Any specific reasons why the piano and the clarinet?
Oh, I started playing the clarinet when I was at school. I could have chosen any instrument, but I chose the clarinet because it was handier, and I like how it sounds.
What made you decide to start a career as a professional musician?
At first, I was modeling and doing all those other things, and then I just decided to return to my first love, music. And that was around that was 2019. I was like, “let me just take this serious because I’ve always wanted to be a singer. I knew that’s what I wanted to be. Didn’t want to be anything else but an entertainer or singer. That’s what I wanted.” So I was like, “let me just take this thing seriously and put my all into it because this is my first love, and it’s just my passion.” Around 2019, when I was 20, I was like, “let me just take my premier series.”
Foreign Slim’s New Single
What is your new single about?
Okay, so basically, “Can’t Do Like That” is a spiritual song. Nobody can take your god-given talent or what God destined and predestined for you. Nobody can take that away from you. The next person cannot do what you do. Nobody has the capability of being you.
So that is ascertained behind “Can’t Do Like That.” I can do what I can do, but nobody can do it like that. Nobody can do the way you do.
Do you consider spiritism a significant part of your art?
Yeah, I feel like music is very like a spiritual thing. And what comes into my soul, how I make most of my music, speaks from the heart.
Is your church choir background somehow affect your music?
Yes, it does because I put God in my music, which affects it. And not only that, just the way I move and my day-to-day life.
Afrobeat, Afrofusion
Could you specify what Afrobeat is about and how it sounds?
Afrobeat is a West African genre. It has different types of instruments to it. Drums, the shakers, it’s just like a piano, like all types of sounds, chants. Afrobeat makes you want to dance, want to like a spiritual thing. It makes you speak to your soul. It makes you just want to move, just be free.
What mainly attracts you to this music genre?
I was doing R&B and also rap. So that was a genre I was in, and I was just like, “you know what, I like this genre, but I kind of want to tap into a different genre, which is like my culture genre. So I was just like, let me tap into it.” And then I made a couple of songs of Afrobeats, and I was like, “wow, I feel like if I really like, take this crap seriously and really perfect it, that something can come out of it.”
So over the past two years, I’ve been making a lot of Afrobeat songs and just trying to perfect my sound, find my sound, and see how I fit in the genre. The genre is so diverse that it’s not only Afrobeat, just like Afrofusion, which they call the American Afrobeat. Artists in America call it Afrofusion. They call it a prof fusion because we put a little bit of our American culture that we learn from here into the Afrobeat.
What parts of American culture are shown in Afrofusion versus Afrobeats, which doesn’t have American cultural patterns?
When I say Afrofusion, I mean they kind of put a little bit of R&B to it, a little bit of pop. So that pop of American culture.
Future Plans
Are you currently working on any projects?
Yes, I am. I’m working on my next release, which will be my EP. My EP is going to be kind of like an introduction to the world. It’s going to be called “Foreign Vibes.” It will also have a couple of unique features on there. I will have some features, some big names that I always wanted to collaborate with.
I will also have good content, videos, and stuff like that. My EP will be, like, my first break into the world. So I’m really excited to work on that. I’m actually going to Nigeria as well. I’m going in November to work on that EP as well and just work on it in the motherland because I feel like I work on it when I’m in it. It gives me a different vibe with different energy because I’m back home and in the atmosphere.
Do you have plans for the near future besides releasing the new EP and traveling there for recording?
Oh, yeah. I have plans. I should have some performances coming up as well. A concert is coming up, and that’s really about it. Honestly, I’m just trying to work on my EP right now.
Where do you see yourself in the industry, career-wise?
You know, honestly, I’m not gonna lie. My music is global. I make music that everybody can listen to grandma, grandpa, kids, parents, aunts, and uncles. So I just see myself as an international artist making an impact on the world. Basically, in my music, I’m trying to target all audiences. I’m not trying to limit myself to just one audience. I want to target everybody.
And you said you want to change the world with your music. In what ways do you want to change the world?
I just want to positively impact the world with my music. I want to make music that people will listen to and just be happy, dance, and just be like, wow, this girl touched my soul and made me a better person.
About Foreign Slim Pt. 2
What’s your favorite food?
I like Nigerian food. That’s really my favorite, I’m not going to lie. General Nigerian food, yeah, I like all of it. It’s hard to go. I like this one better than the other one because all are so good. That’s the food that I grew up eating. And I tried different foods. I also love other foods, but it’s just something about my culture food that I love so much.
What’s your favorite movie or TV show or both?
I recently stopped watching TV because I’ve just been recording a lot. But I’m not going to lie. I was really hooked on “The Last Kingdom.” “The Witcher” I really like. And there is another Nigerian TV show that’s really funny. It’s called “Jenifa’s Diary.” It’s a hilarious show. So, yeah, those are the top shows that I like.
And the last question is, who’s your biggest role model?
My mom is my biggest role model. Like, basically just watching her and how she brought me up and raised me as a single mother and that she really raised me to be like, the woman that I am today that she’s like to tell me, just keep and she’s my biggest motivation as well. So it’s like, my mom is my biggest role model.
The interview with Foreign Slim is brought by Nikita Serdiuk | IG: @nikitasrdk | Twitter: @nktserdiuk
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