Five minutes with Mightyyout: The Lagos force on his debut EP, family and survival

Mightyyout arrives with Mightyyard like a flare in the night — seven tightly wound tracks where Lagos grit, dancehall fire and afrobeats bounce meet testimony. Forged in survival and faith, the Davido Music Worldwide signee carries scars from Port Harcourt to Lagos, including an attack that forced him to flee and a motor accident that kept him on crutches for eight months, and turns them into pulse. Back in the booth he found his ritual: “No lights. No eyes. Just me, the mic and whatever spirit shows up.” 

From a vault of over five hundred demos, he carved a first statement that moves between romantic pull-ups and street anthems, closing on “Story,” an unvarnished reckoning with grace and grit. With early momentum including teaser singles “Wetin Dey Sup”, “I’m With You” and “Paradise” crossing two million plays, a sold-out Boxpark Croydon headline, Mainland Block Party mainstage and co-signs from The Native to Pulse Nigeria, Mightyyard lands with real weight.

Built with day-one producers Oracle and Wondavii and supercharged by heavyweight link-ups — Davido on “I Know,” Popcaan on the swaggering “Ibadi” — the EP is both arena-ready and intimately African in cadence and conviction. Across these records, Mightyyout balances global ambition with hyper-local authenticity: Lagos street vernacular threaded through hook-heavy choruses, Afro-spiritual undertones flickering beneath dance-floor percussion. 

Here, he traces the moment these five hundred songs became seven, unpacks the creativity unlocked by recording in total darkness and reflects on how near-misses, faith and a fiercely close creative circle shaped a debut that steadies spirits as surely as it moves bodies. 

Mightyyard feels like pain turned into purpose. What was the moment you knew these seven tracks were the right first statement from a vault of over five hundred songs?

Shoutout to my manager, he really came through on this one. We struggled a bit, mainly because we had so much great music to choose from. Most of the records on this tape were created two to three years ago, and even though I had newer ones ready, we knew that good music never expires. These records had to come out first to lay the right foundation for my sound.

You record “in total darkness”. What does that ritual unlock creatively, and how did it shape the vocal takes we hear on Mightyyard?

I believe in the power of creation and, if you know how the story goes, it was from total darkness into the excellence that was created. So I kind of just tap into that energy when recording. And when it’s dark it’s just peaceful and helps me reflect even deeper and better.

Survival sits at the spine of the EP — from Port Harcourt to Lagos and eight months on crutches. Which song on the project carries the deepest scar, and why?

To be honest, all the songs carry their different scars. If not on the topic exactly, then the moments they created — the feeling or situation I found myself at the time. But I did clearly speak a little about it on the last track, “STORY”, from the tension you feel when trying to do right by family to the struggle of not being accepted or well believed in.

Your sound fuses dancehall fire with afrobeats bounce and Lagos street cadence. How do you keep that balance between global ambition and hyper-local authenticity?

I don’t even try to be honest, I just do me. Just a normal ghetto boy from Nigeria living his best life and then my talent, on the other hand, rubs off on my personality. I guess that’s where the blend and balance happens, but I can tell you there’s no crazy work behind the scenes trying to sound the way I sound. It’s all just natural.

Talk us through “I Know” with Davido. What did he bring out of you in the studio, and how did the DMW family influence the direction of the EP?

This record opened me up to a much bigger audience, and I’m truly grateful for that. The funny thing is, I made the song a while back, before any features. Even before I met Davido. But when he heard it, he instantly knew it was the one for us to do together. He wasn’t even in Nigeria at the time. He just recorded and sent it back. When I first heard his verse, especially the way he transitioned from my chorus into his part, I was blown away. That was all his idea and it’s pure magic. Big ups to Davido.

“Ibadi” pairs you with Popcaan. What did you learn from bridging Jamaica and Nigeria on that record, and where do you see afro-dancehall heading next?

I’d rather say experience ‘cause it’s the first time I’m having such a giant on a record with me, and it’s kind of exposed me to experiencing more love on my sound and style from that part of the world, which I’m grateful for — knowing afro dancehall is going to get even better and bigger in the near future.

Oracle and Wondavii have been in your circle from day one. What’s the secret language between you and your producers that outsiders wouldn’t catch?

It’s actually no secret, just an intentional act of friendship bonding us.

“Story” closes the project with testimony. If listeners remember one line from that track, what do you hope it is, and what truth sits behind it?

“This is my story, this is my song” is a very strong line ‘cause, as we all know, everybody has one story or the other in this journey of life. Another is “Family dey call and my mind dey cut” ‘cause, for someone like me that’s very family-minded, there’s this consistent worry of how things can get better for everybody at home. And considering that I’m quite [far] away from home sometimes, when things aren’t going as planned or expected and I’m being called, I get tense ‘cause I don’t know what to expect.

Your live run, from a sold-out Boxpark Croydon show to Mainland Block Party, mirrors your streaming footprint (big in the UK, rooted in Nigeria). How are you designing a stage show that speaks to both worlds?

It’s really just a thing of my audience, ‘cause wherever I find myself, there’s always a sound for every atmosphere or crowd. And I don’t really think deep into it. I let things naturally flow.

You’ve dropped teasers like “Wetin Dey Sup”, “I’m With You” and “Paradise” over the last year. What did those records teach you about your audience — and how will you build on Mightyyard in the next chapter?

So after seeing the reception I got from the different sounds I put out, like how “Wetin Dey Sup” is so different from “Paradise” or “I’m With You” in terms of style, I kind of now realise that I don’t have to bench one style for the other, knowing fully well that both can blend.

Listen to Mightyyard here.