From Ibadan to Lagos: My Journey as a Nigerian Independent Artist
Taiwo Tinuoye (TyBlinks) on growing up with music in Ibadan, moving to Lagos, and building an independent music career with 40,000+ Spotify streams.
Writing
Blog & News
Notes on making music independently, the Afrobeats scene, and the stories behind the songs.
What 40,000 Spotify Streams Actually Taught Me About Authentic Music
40,000 Spotify streams as an independent artist with no label and no ad budget. What the number really means, and the metrics that matter more than raw streams.
Afrobeats Goes Global: How West African and UK Music Converged
How Afrobeats moved from regional genre to global force, why the UK became a second home for the sound, and what it means for independent African artists.
Writing 'Without You' for My Wife: The Story Behind the Song
The story behind Without You (2023) — written and performed as a tribute to my wife when we got married. On writing honestly, and why specific songs travel furthest.
The Business of Independent Music: Releasing Four Singles Without a Label
A practical breakdown of how an independent artist releases music: distribution, metadata, release spacing, playlist pitching, marketing and the honest financial reality.
The Afrobeats Artists Defining the Sound Right Now
A guide to the artists shaping Afrobeats today — the established names, the innovators pushing the genre, and the independent wave coming up behind them.
Music as More Than Entertainment: On Songwriting and Healing
Why songwriting functions as emotional processing and spiritual practice, not just entertainment — and how music helps both the person making it and the person hearing it.
Music Production Setup: The Tools Independent Artists Actually Need
A practical, honest guide to building a music production setup — DAWs, plugins, microphones, interfaces, monitoring and acoustic treatment — on a real budget.
How the Spotify Algorithm Works: A Practical Guide for Independent Artists
How Spotify decides who hears your music — collaborative filtering, audio analysis, editorial curation — and exactly what independent artists can control.
African Artists in the UK Market: How the Corridor Actually Works
Why the UK became the most important international market for African music, how the London-Lagos corridor developed, and what it means for independent artists.