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folarin and keziah

Unveiling the Harmony: An Exclusive Interview with Gospel Duo Folarin and Keziah

The A&R Factory Team recently had an enlightening chat with the much-loved Gospel duo Folarin and Keziah. They tell us more about what it’s like to work as a couple and take us deep into the creative glue of their wonderful music project which has inspired so much during these dark times.
How would you describe your brand of music to a new listener?

After much thought through the years, we simply define our sound as worship music. There is so much opinion about what constitutes gospel or Christian music genre and we’ve struggled to understand the key differences. For example, we observed that many artists that identify as black are automatically grouped into the gospel category even if their sound says otherwise. Similarly, very few artists that identify as white describe their music as gospel. This creates a type of artificial divide that has left us with more questions than answers in terms of defining a genre. We’ve decided to  focus on writing songs that reflect our Christian faith and express them sonically however we see fit. We have been privileged to minister in multicultural spaces and we have learnt that people just want good music and the genre stereotypes can sometimes hinder our ability to connect. We love and listen to several Christian and gospel artists but find that our music blend is genre-defying which gives us the opportunity to connect with listeners regardless of their color, creed and culture.

How did you both start performing together and what is the writing/production process like?

We both started our music journey on different trajectories. Folarin started leading worship in a local church in Nigeria in 1997 and has been doing so ever since. Keziah also started singing in the choir as a teenager in Nigeria but took some time off in her early twenties to focus on other ministry gifts in the church. After we got married in 2011, we both started singing at Talbot Christian Center, Nottingham, England where Folarin was a worship band leader. About a year later, we moved to Canada and continued singing in church as worship leaders in St Catharines and Hamilton, Ontario. We started writing songs and sharing them with members of our Christian faith community and this received an overwhelming response. It soon became obvious to us that we wanted to be more involved with music outside formal church settings. We started the band, Folarin & Keziah in 2018 and released our first album in 2019. Our song writing process is atypical as it tends to focus on inspiration and tapping into the moment. For example, I (Folarin) was having a conversation with a patient who was recovering from Stroke when the inspiration for Relentless (first album title track) was received. We were listening to a heated conversation about who the greatest basketball player is and we concluded it was basically impossible to pour the accolade of ‘greatest’ on any human being. We got to work and the song greatest (title track of sophomore EP) was born. Relentless was written in less than an hour to write while Greatest took over a year to complete. Once we create a song, we reach out to our team to arrange a recording with a live band off the floor. That typically results in a demo that needs additional productions for the final track. The next step involves background vocals jumping on the track before we finally work our way around the track to add our voices as lead singer.

As a couple, how do you find performing together and has it made your bond even stronger?

We really enjoy performing together and we continue to evolve as a duo as we push each other towards excellence. Performing together gives us the chance to spend more time together and travel together. However, contrary to what most people may believe, working as a couple is also fraught with the challenges you face when working with a family member. Performing together also helps us see each other in a different light and exposes to what we both act like when at work. With that knowledge comes more patience to learn how to complement each other and create great music without sacrificing our uniqueness.

Please provide more details about your label and how everything began?

We started God Colors Media Inc in 2019 as a creative start-up focused on producing, performing and publishing worship worship music that is undignified and genre-defying.  Like many independent artists, we invested a lot in music production and audio-visual gear during the pandemic when all studios were closed. Although we always wanted to have our own label, that period quickened the process. We decided to self-release all our music and control the production, distribution and promotion of our music. Having a label also allows us to retain ownership of our intellectual property since we write most of music ourselves. Our vision for the future is to support newer artists by offering more flexibility, creativity and control. As we grow in the music business, God Colors Media will help us maintain a larger share of any profits we make from music sales. God Colors Media is currently registered with the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN).

Your 2nd album was just released. Please explain to us how the project came together and what is next?

Our sophomore project, Greatest was released on November 1, 2023. The EP contains 6 tracks and is a collection from some of the songs we started writing during the pandemic. Everything to Me, the first single from the EP, was released at the end of 2022. This was followed with four singles Greatest, Long to Worship, Audience of One and King of Glory in 2023. We decided to feature our friend and one of the most dynamic worship leaders we know, Melina Dulluku-Fisico on the project. Melina is a singer songwriter, musician and worship leader in Ontario, Canada and listeners will get to hear her beautiful voice on Audience of One and King of Glory. Like our first album, all songs were written by Folarin & Keziah with Sam Williams (Toronto) receiving co-production credits. We have an album release and worship concert scheduled for November 12, 2023.

Last, what advice would you give a new musician who is just starting out in this game?

To anyone, thinking about creating music especially with a spiritual essence. Know your listeners, create music you love and look for people that you can work with that will offer great advice but not try to change your vision into theirs. Ultimately, time is the greatest revealer. So, learn to be patient while waiting for your music to be heard around the world. That itself is not a guarantee!

Hear their music on Spotify. See their creative journey on IG.

Interview by Llewelyn Screen

Folarin and Keziah – Relentless: Soulfully-Inspiring Christian and Gospel

Folarin & Keziah’s Christian & Gospel album “Relentless” provides an ethereally sweet array of soundscapes which may vary in genre and tone. Yet, one thing which remains a constant is the inspiring soul poured into each of the singles.

The album’s title track invites you to immerse yourself within a serene offering of smooth RnB complete with soaring blues guitar progressions and Folarin & Keziah’s nuancedly celestial vocals leading a choir. The extended single lays out comfortingly contemplative lyrics which were penned poignantly enough to provide aural salvation to everyone – whether you’re pious or not.

You can check out Relentless along with the rest of Folarin & Keziah’s uplifting debut album via Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast.

Folarin & Keziah harmonised chapter and verse on the presence and power of God with their 2023 EP, Greatest

On November 1st, the award-winning Canadian worship music duo Folarin & Keziah delivered their ‘Greatest’ EP, which stands as a testament to their mission of forging a cutting-edge intersection across the convergence of Christian and contemporary gospel genres.

By weaving cinematically striking elements of rock, RnB, soul, funk, blues, and pop around the impassionedly upraising lyricism which taps into the salvation of faith and emanates the assurance of unfaltering hope, Folarin & Keziah orchestrated one of the most seminal devotional records of the decade.

If you’re looking to be liberated from fear and to vanquish semblances of incertitude, just hit play on the duo which has been repetitively celebrated by the Gospel Music Association and hear them harmonise on their strident reverence for the presence and power of God.

Stream the Greatest EP on Spotify or purchase the 6-track release via Bandcamp.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Folarin & Keziah Have Redefined the Christian and Gospel Genre with Their Latest Single “Jesus is Alive”

After hearing Folarin & Keziah’s latest collaborative Christian and Gospel single “Jesus is Alive”, I can guarantee that it’s not just the pious who will appreciate the riff-filled, Funk-soaked high octane mix which they’ve created.

How many times have you hit play on a single to discover it was passionless, soulless and sterile? Consider Jesus is Alive as an aural antidote. Jesus is Alive is brimming with an infectious amount of soul which won’t fail to resonate around the monstrous guitar riffs, funky bass lines, soaring synth lines, and the charismatically magnetic dual vocals from Folarin & Keziah. The energy in this single is more potent than any track I’ve heard this year. It comes highly recommended, and not just for the artist’s exposure, consider it as doing yourselves a favour.

Folarin & Keziah are due to release their debut album on December 6th, so make sure to give them a follow on Instagram & Facebook to keep up to date with news of their release.

In the meantime, you can check out their single Jesus is Alive via Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Folarin & Keziah modernise Christian & Gospel in their fusionist soul-stirrer, Everything to Me

Folarin & Keziah

Christian & Gospel duo, Folarin & Keziah shared the love through their single, Everything to Me, which casts aside the traditional aural archetypes to bring in the new school of contemporary gospel. The eclectic fusionist style allows gospel instrumentals to evolve around the shimmering dualistically balanced harmonies. Soul-stirring scarcely scratches the surface of the emotions that flood to the surface while their sonic poetry is in motion.

The soaring electric guitar riff towards the outro of this compassionately enlightening single, which could have come from Prince himself, proves how serious the Nigeria-hailing, Canada-residing duo is when it comes to the modernisation of gospel. Yet even amidst all of the innovation, the original utility of Christian & Gospel resounds.

Everything to Me will officially release on December 30th; check it out via the artist’s official website. Stay tuned for their 2023 full-length LP, which will be followed by a Canadian tour.

Review by Amelia Vandergast