SGaWD’s comfort zone is one where she’s challenging herself to express her full artistry in a multidimensional manner. Her sense of artistic freedom finds its most potent expression when hip-hop serves as the foundation upon which she builds a sonic edifice that incorporates house, dancehall, electronica, and alté, keeping listeners on their toes with anticipation. Set on making rap music enjoyable across many genres, the supremely confident MC embodies the boundless potential for sonic alchemy that contemporary African hip-hop seems to have a hard time achieving. 

In an industry where the tides rise against women, to drown out even the best talents, SGaWD continues to sail through the storm. She’s been showing up since Savage Bitch Juice in 2021 and she’s not about to let up.  She engages in a battle against being boxed in, becoming just another rapper. On her latest EP, Tha GaWD – Side A, she leans on unhinged beats, going toe-to-toe with the sounds. A lyricist of remarkable dexterity, SGaWD stuffs her lyrics with fierce bars upon bars. A clever, talented and unorthodox rapper and singer who doesn’t care for creative boxes and doesn’t need an invitation to talk her shit because even “Jesus knows she’s got it.” BSide caught up with the rapper to chat about pushing the envelope, the great need for more female representation in hip-hop and her plans to keep being excellent.

This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.

BSide: Hey SGaWD. What have you been up to? You just dropped a remix of “Dump All Your Worries on the Dance Floor” and as usual, it bangs. 

SGaWD: Yeah. I’ve been busy recording a lot of music and preparing for new releases. I wanted to put out the remix because I’m exploring more collaborations with other artists, producers, and DJs. “Dump All Your Worries on the Dance Floor” was a great track to experiment with because it can be morphed into different things. I saw it as a chance to test the waters. RKT really liked the original so he flipped it. When he sent me his remix, I was really impressed. I loved his take and wanted to release it. He was on board, so we decided to drop it before moving on to other projects.

BSide: What are the most exciting projects that you’ve listened to in the past month?

SGaWD: I haven’t really been listening to projects. But I’ve been listening to songs off of projects. I like “Romantic” by Charli xcx, “John Wayne” by Young Nudy. I also really like Rema’s “AZAMAN” and Seyi Vibez’s “Abu Dhabi.”

BSide: Right now, most of the shit I hear is boring. So I’m very excited when artists get very inventive and disruptive. You’re one of the few who consistently avoids that “boring” label. Even if someone doesn’t like an SGaWD tune, they can’t call it boring. How would you say that your music fits into the current export trend, or stands out from it?

SGaWD: I believe my music occupies its own distinct space. As you mentioned, much of the current music is repetitive and monotonous. You may think you’ve heard a record somewhere, but the truth is you haven’t heard it anywhere. They all just sound similar. The key is to create something unique and refine it. Trying as much as you can to do something different is really important. That’s why tracks like “Rude” and “Boytoy” are significant. If you listen to “Rude” and then “Boytoy,” you’ll see how “Boytoy” represents an evolved version. While personality, charisma, and cash are important, the essence of the music must be distinctive to make an impact. At the end of the day, if it’s not what it is, then it’s not going anywhere.

BSide: There’s this liberty that can be felt from your music, I love it. What were your influences while defining your sound? 

SGaWD: I’m drawn to cheeky rappers. For example, I’m not a huge fan of J. Cole — not because he isn’t a great rapper, but because sometimes he misses the mark for me, he just doesn’t get it. I prefer artists like Lil Kim, Nicki Minaj, who are bold and confident in their delivery, who are very cocky with it. Nicki Minaj can talk about how fire her cat is in two songs without repeating any line twice. I admire that level of knowledge, grit and vocabulary. It takes deep understanding and constant consumption of various references, whether it be pop references or metaphors, to achieve that. It’s the kind of rap that makes you laugh or go, “Oh, my God” and you can text it to your girl. That’s the kind of music I like, the kind of rap I like. I really like Lil Wayne, too. I think he’s amazing with the bars and the punchline.

BSide: You mentioned artists like Lil’ Kim and Nicki Minaj — foreign figures who operate in a social climate where there’s a BIT more freedom of expression as women. Has it ever been implied to you to tone down yourself?

SGaWD: Oh, my God, yes! Plus when I first started many people told me that no one would listen to my music. 

BSide: Obviously, they lied.

SGaWD: Yeah, I mean, to be honest, I feel like I was a bit early as well. Sometimes, you might be a little bit too early. Now, I believe that “Boytoy” and “Rude” will be relevant three, four, or five years from now, and people will realize that no one else can create something like this. I appreciate being ahead of the curve, though, because it makes me a reference point for the future. When “Rude” was released, no one was making music like that.

BSide: No one still is. 

SGaWD: No one still is, you know. But now many girls are coming up and they’re not ashamed to talk about things like that. They’re not ashamed to be very braggadocious in their rap. It’s nice to see things like that, because when I started, a lot of people were like, “pack this shit up, go back to America.” But as I said, it’s nice to see that many people are excited to make interesting music. 

BSide: I’m reminded now of the current discussion about hip-hop in Nigeria and how it’s progressing to “a good place.” I don’t completely agree with that. Just because four or five male rappers are popping right now doesn’t mean hip-hop in Nigeria is getting to a good place especially with so few women ‘actively’ involved. What do you think?

SGaWD: I feel you. It’s always a gradual process. The evolution of hip-hop often reflects pop culture and current trends. Right now, much of the hip-hop tracks being created is male-focused, per usual. So, I think it’s a thing where more women need to actually realize that there’s people out there for them. I’m not going to say that I’m the most popular rapper. But I feel like if more Nigerian women knew that there was someone like me making music, they would not be as focused on listening to a male rapper most of the time. Their reference point for hip-hop is usually what’s on the radio, magazines, what people are posting. I also believe that my job is to collaborate more. 

BSide: Are there any women rappers in Nigeria right now that you’re excited about, people you think are so good you’d love to work with them?

SGaWD: For sure. I’ve always been a big supporter of female rappers, female artists. In lots of ways. On my first project, I worked with Princess Mami. I’m a huge fan of hers. There are so many women making great music outside of the mainstream and the alté scene. Some have gained traction, for others, the music hasn’t fully spread yet. I’m really supportive of all the female rappers out there, like Diva Syxxty, Lifesize Teddy, Ugoccie. Ugoccie is more mainstream, but I think she’s dope. There’s also a duo called Sam and Cas. They’re super fun. It’s been a long time since we’ve had a rap duo in Nigeria. It’s important to have more female rappers to give listeners options. You can have favorites and preferences, just like with the male rappers. The men are popular because they have options; if you’re not talking about A-Q, you’re talking about Olamide. They support each other and create a sense of community. We need that kind of gathering for female rappers to build our own community.

BSide: Definitely. I think collaboration is important. How do you approach collaborations and what do you look for in a partner? 

SGaWD: For me, please, don’t be stupid. You’d be shocked by the number of people who don’t understand the basics of collaboration, like they’ve never done group projects in school. Collaboration is essentially a group project. People often miss the ethics and teamwork involved. Because I’m a very get-to-know-you person, when picking collaborators, I prefer to actually get to know them, but if that’s not possible, I ask for references. I inquire about their past collaborations. Like I said, I usually know my collaborators beforehand, but I’m open to people worldwide. It’s crucial to avoid working with someone who might do something stupid. There are basic rules when it comes to achieving a collaboration. Some of them include respect, talking to each other with respect, putting in the same amount of work.

BSide: When I listened to Tha GaWD, I was psyched. It contains interesting sounds that haven’t been popularized because of the dominance of Afrobeats. Why is it important for you to keep bringing in different ‘unconventional’ sound elements despite the seemingly underwhelming reception of non-Afropop records in Nigeria at this time? 

SGaWD: Fun. I won’t deny that I have some privilege which allows me to make music in these genres without being forced to stick to any specific genre. If I didn’t have the privilege, I’d make more conventional music. But because I have this freedom, I can experiment and say, “Okay, I want to move back.” I love Afrobeats/Afropop and have even made Afrobeats songs that I’ll release in the future. I’m just not ready yet. You can get so caught up fitting in that when you enter, everyone expects you to prove yourself by doing what others do but better. That’s not always the goal for me. The desire to blend different sounds together to create something unique keeps me pumped. I enjoy the reactions from people, whether they love it immediately or need more time to appreciate it.

BSide: Is this something that you critically assess, the potential rewards and consequences of your artistic choices? 

SGaWD: Of course, I do. I think every artist does. When we put our work out there, it’s meant to be consumed, and with consumption comes judgment. That’s why artists can be pretty sensitive about feedback; we try to put out what we feel is our best.

BSide: How strong is your conviction that people are starting to understand the root of who SGaWD is and why she makes the moves she does? 

SGaWD: They all get it. They’ve gotten it since day one. I was in it too early, but as time goes on, you’ll start seeing all these SGaWD features, and you’ll be like, “Guys, I knew her back then. She’s been amazing since then.” As the SGaWD brand grows, as I get bigger, I get more ears, people will catch on. It’s not that people don’t know; it’s that the world doesn’t know yet.

BSide: Something I’ve always admired about you is your fashion style. Your styling is always on point. What inspires your looks? 

SGaWD: (Laughs) Me?! Thank you. My style is all about comfort. I like to look good and feel good. Sometimes I’m a tomboy, other times I’m a girly girl. My style varies, so I mix and match to find a balance. I love tennis skirts, sneakers, and heels. I love doing my hair and makeup. My style is influenced by street fashion and the different places I’ve lived. For example, I’m obsessed with sneakers and leather jackets. Different things, different places I’ve stayed in contributed to that. 

BSide: That’s cool. What’s happening next for SGaWD?

SGaWD: Next for SGaWD is just to keep doing what I do, which is dropping music. The key is consistency, especially with everything going on in the country. It’s about how long you can sustain this. So, what’s next is to keep being consistent, putting out good songs, and improving. Hopefully, things will fall into place. There are plans in the works, but the focus is on maintaining excellence and consistency.

BSide: What do you want people to think when they hear SGaWD? 

SGaWD: The GaWD. Supreme. Period. She’s amazing at what she does. I want people to recognize that I have great plans and am exceptional at what I do. I want people to know that SGaWD is a powerful representation of a female rapper.