Tkrayne might be considered a newcomer in the mainstream music scene, but he has been around, creating his show-hat, feather after feather, as one of the fast-rising singers, songwriters, and performing artists in Lagos, Nigeria. Tkrayne, whose birth name is Alakija Oluwatosin, is a Yoruba boy from Abeokuta who grew up in Benin. He comes from a family of five, has two sisters, and studied computer science at the University of Benin.
While Tkrayne has been in the music scene for a long time now and was making music even in his university days, he officially started making a menacing entrance in 2020 with his EP, ‘The 8th Sense’ which was a combination of Afro-joy, Afro-fusion, Afro-trap and rap. He considers his entire music journey so far, a spiritual one; with everything leading up to the exact moment and place he is right now.
Kizz Daniel is an amazing mentor, I’ve learned so much from him in the last few weeks, and I’m just really grateful for the opportunity.
TKrayne, Moda Culture
Tkrayne ties his music, in every way, to his entire energy as a person; his personality, relationship with God, journey, mental development, and overall growth.
“The growth has not just been about my music, but it has been for my personality, my mental growth, and everything else, like my general relationship with God. It has been trying. I’ve learned a lot of social and mental skills along the way. To a very large extent, I’m grateful that I learnt all these things before getting to this point; if not, I probably wouldn’t know how to appreciate the little blessings I’ve had.” —He tells Moda Culture.
In May 2021, he signed with a London-based international record label, Musiq International. This ushered in a new chapter for Tkrayne, as he admits to the event being a complete and total transformation in his life and career. He speaks about the experience thus far, and how it uncovered a lot of things for him as an artist. He acknowledges that his future with Musiq International is promising because of what he’s learned, is still learning, and is yet to learn.
It’s actually been a crazy year. May made it a whole complete year. It has been fun.
Tkrayne tells us about his one-year anniversary with Musiq International, and how he commemorated it. He spent all of January to April preparing for the Afro Classic UK and USA tour, and May performing with Kizz Daniel in London, Manchester, Glasgow and Birmingham. According to him, his management played a very big part in planning and organising, that’s why he was able to perform his songs at these venues; especially the one in London, which was the biggest venue for him. He expressed his gratitude to them and told us about his experience.
“Performing in that kind of audience was surprising, not terrifying. Like I said, I feel like the past two years that I didn’t release anything and wasn’t really out there, built me mentally for this journey and things like that. I wasn’t really terrified or nervous, I just did it, had fun, and enjoyed myself. And I’m just grateful for the opportunity.”
This opportunity and a new chapter have been such a thrill for the youngster. Tkrayne takes with him these experiences and lessons, and they continue to shape his art form and persona. As thrilling as these moments were for him, he shows determination and focus. He understood that as important and exciting as performing for such a large and diverse crowd was, he had his assignment to do.
Tkrayne left the Afro Classic Tour back to Nigeria when they (Musiq International) were just about to travel to the United States for the next round of the event. He was pumped and inspired, he wanted to get onto his own projects. He understood that he had to sacrifice that part of the excitement and move on to focus on his career, as he couldn’t wait to put down all of the inspiration he had garnered from the tour.
About the USA tour, I wouldn’t be going with them, I have to be in Nigeria, I have to get a couple of things done. As much as the whole performance thing is important, I have my own career to actually grow; because I have to drop my own projects, go for the interviews, do the whole promotion thing.
Many fans are geared up for Tkrayne’s latest release, and he’s just as excited to put out his latest body of work. He performed two of his unreleased songs in London and a lot of the guys and the girls were screaming and vibing to it; which he agrees is good reception already. These songs are part of his latest project, which is an extended playlist titled ‘TYLE’—Took You Long Enough. According to him, there are big expectations for this EP and a lot of promotions to happen, because it is a body of work he has invested a lot of time and resources in making, and it holds a very special place in his heart.
I spent the last 8-9 months really working on it to see how I can create a body of work that is special to me and I feel that you guys will love it. My project is dropping soon and is titled ‘Took You Long Enough—‘TYLE’; so when I put it on, I can just say stream TYLE.
TKrayne, Moda Culture
This project is going to be sick and he guarantees that we’re going to love it!
In the meantime, the artist is only in a relationship with God and his music as he describes his relationship scene as standby. He is just particularly focused and doing what needs to be done at this moment. According to Tkrayne, he doesn’t want the ‘daughters of Babylon trying to attack a son of Zion lol’, so he’s just really doing what he has to do; only after then, would he worry about the ladies.
