00:00This is Nigeria's No. 1 Urban Contemporary Choir.
00:23We've come together to create this thing.
00:25This is something that is not being done in Nigeria right now.
00:28We really challenge the Afrobeat space because we have come to show that Afrobeat is just not one sound.
00:35There's different sounds that can come from Africa.
00:38From studio covers to global stages, they're redefining what a choir can be.
00:43With their rich potpourri of cover versions, loud urban choir is redefining what contemporary African music can sound like.
00:51It's a rich tapestry of elevated sounds, bold, genre blending and proudly African.
00:57We all come from different musical backgrounds, you know, and diversity as well.
01:03Some of us mostly start in a famous church, of course.
01:05I love Afro-soul. I love Afro-pop. Afrobeat. I love Afrobeat.
01:09One of my favourite reggae songs would be Man Down or my song Dreadlocks.
01:14My taste in music is R&B, so I really do not have a favourite music.
01:19Their breakout remakes of Bloody Samaritan with Iron Star and Kelly Rowland to collaborations with Burner Boy.
01:25They've become a movement, redefining sound. And all this in just six years since their formation.
01:31The journey wasn't always smooth.
01:33Conflicting schedules and limited funding posed early challenges, but they refused to let that be the end of the story.
01:40You know, there's a feeling you get after putting in so much work and being heard. That's how we felt.
01:47And, you know, the world keyed in. It wasn't just Nigeria. We had people using our cover, you know, some huge footballers. It was massive.
01:58So they jumped on it. That's how we like to see it. And then that was that was how it happened.
02:05So when you bring value, you just attract the right people to you.
02:10Their choir mobilizes the masses with clips on social media.
02:14But how are these click-worthy covers created?
02:21How exactly do they keep going?
02:24We work minds together. We come to the studio, meet with the whole team, submit these ideas, you know.
02:30Everybody looks at it. And we start to think, oh, we think we should make this.
02:34There's always too many ideas sometimes, you know, but as the director, you have to make sure we reach a resolve that appears to the market, you know.
02:42So it's really amazing when it comes out fine at the end of the day.
02:45Like that's the one thing that I was really out for to create the music.
02:50So if someone heard them the first time, they loved the music.
02:54And if I heard that song that time, the first time, I get the full experience.
03:00You know, there's a special joy when, you know, we have the cover of funds, for instance, David O's funds.
03:06And then someone in the comments section is saying, hey, I heard this.
03:10And then I went to look for this and then I actually found the track.
03:14So that's like for me the biggest, it's one of the most satisfying part of it.
03:20They take preparation very seriously, both mentally and physically.
03:25Rehearsals are a major priority. Each week, they meet at least twice to run through set lists, rehearse vocals and fine tune their performances.
03:33Vocal warm ups are non-negotiable and every set is carefully tailored to suit specific events they prepare for.
03:41I was just speaking to one of my friends the other time and said, this choir does not want me to do my own thing again.
03:46Yeah, but I mean, that's funny. But yes, but that's pretty much because in the past weeks, we have been working back to back to back to back to back to back.
03:55We're here today for a rehearsal. Yesterday, I was almost dying of sleep because I could not sleep.
04:00I was sleeping at the rehearsal. So that's how hard it worked.
04:02The other day someone would say, let's take a day off, let's take a day off.
04:05I said, which day? And it was difficult for the person to find a day because that day is actually very important.
04:11Behind the voices are hours of vocal warm ups, synchronized choreography and studio grind.
04:18From beat building sessions to songwriting huddles and the magic doesn't stop here.
04:23How we manage the activities and make it work in a way that it doesn't affect our individual careers is that we kind of like have a pre-planned schedule.
04:38So that way we know how to fuse in our individual schedules so it doesn't clash.
04:44So that's how we do it. I must say that is not an easy one.
04:50Some of us are married with kids. We get to leave our kids. Sometimes we bring them along.
04:56We leave our husbands at home. It is tough. It's a lot of commitment.
05:01After all their jamming with Nigeria's top music stars, what's the next big dream for the choir?
05:07The Loud Urban Choir is an affiliation of Big Dreamers and we have major plans, major plans for our future.
05:16Part of that is putting out our debut album, an EP, you know, that contains some of the covers that we've done, the major hits.
05:25Another thing is to release our debut single. All of that we're hoping to do this year.
05:31From hustle to harmony, from Lagos to the world, the Loud Urban Choir isn't just making music.
05:38They're shaping a soundscape where culture walks in rhythm and every note sings of what's possible.
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