Afropop fans who’ve followed the career of Victony since 2024’s Stubborn and its 2025 companion, Very Stubborn, understand him as a talent continually grappling with childhood trauma, imposter syndrome, and a specific sort of survivor’s remorse in the wake of his mainstream success. Yet even they would be mistaken to think they had him figured out. In the first half of 2026 alone, the singer added additional strings to his bow with songs like “FRE$H” and “SLICK,” purging the weighty subject matter of his previous work for a slicker, more danceable variant of his sound. This journey of regeneration reaches a high point on sophomore album STARLIFE, Victony embracing life as a pop star with all of its trappings. Years of wrestling with his demons have made Victony hyperaware of who he is now: “Baby no dey take me seriously/You know I’m a jonzing guy,” he admits on the title track, accompanied by YKB and Blaqbonez. Where STARLIFE also soars is the interplay of the past, present, and future of Afropop as envisioned by our star. On “2FRESH,” he’s giving props to the OG divas of the Nigerian cinematic world as avatars in his fantasy. There is a callback to Ayra Starr’s album 19 & Dangerous on “ARMED & DANGEROUS” along with Tyla’s “CHANEL” on “MISSIN PIECE.” And then there are “FYNE” and “CLEAR” gesturing toward what’s to come, leaning into Brazilian funk as both party invitation and a symbolic acknowledgment of Afropop’s appetite for diasporic camaraderie.