Bravo

On his debut album Bravo, Cheque fuses rapping and singing in an iteration of Afro-fusion that draws from pop, cloud rap, R&B and emo-trap. “It’s generally Afro-fusion but with trap and pop music,” Cheque tells Apple Music. “I love hardcore rap but I’m determined to put melodies around it and sweeten it.” His melodic take sees him provide motivation (“Rockstar”), show his friends appreciation (“Change”) and express his affection (“Sweet Love”), while providing insight into his personality. “Everything I say in my music is who I am,” he says. “One of the things I try to conquer with my music is to never be ashamed of what I’m saying. It’s why I named the album Bravo—it’s brave.” Here, he talks us through the album, track by track.

Rockstar
“Coming from a place of struggle, that’s definitely what it felt like when I made this song. Don’t bully me, don’t look down on me… let me shine! Rockstar is basically about overcoming. I know a lot of people are going through a lot of things and when you hear this, I don’t want you to feel like you can't get something from this. I come from a place where they say, ‘Please don’t try this trap music’. It almost brought me to a place where I didn’t want to do it anymore but I realised that this is who I am and no matter how I tried to go the other direction, this is very genuine.

Dangerous (feat. Ayra Starr)
“I recorded this song just after I dropped the Razor EP. It was more of an R&B vibe at the initial stage. I loved it! It was so sexy and was exactly what I thought about a partner. When I changed it up I wanted it to be more Afrobeats to get this balance. It just felt like I needed to get someone [to feature], to feel like I’m talking to somebody else. Our female artists in Nigeria are really coming up really fast now so I just had to call Ayra.”

Call Me Baby
“When I hooked up with the producer [Lazybeatz] I just knew what to do instantly. When he gave me the beat the melody just came to me and I felt it. It was one of the few beats that I had from him that didn’t make me wanna go hustling—it made me want to go in that love direction. I was like, ‘What's the title of this song, “Call You Baby?” Nah.’ I wanted to have a final response, I wanted her to reply to my question in the song.”

No One Else (feat. Jackboy)
“When I started music, the vibe I put on “No One Else” was my real self before I discovered and started to do emo-trap. When I got this song, I was like ‘Okay, I didn’t get affected by people saying don’t do trap’. I was like, ‘If I have this kind of song maybe I should get somebody that’s not from here’—so I got [American rapper] Jackboy He got me the verse and it’s the fastest verse I’ve got.”

LOML (feat. Olamide)
“I had a complete song, and I just tried to get the best person I could think of at that point that could really blend with me on the song. It was Olamide; it’s always fantastic to get love from the OGs. I was just learning to record Afrobeats, it wasn’t something I was doing before. I was just thinking about the perfect couple and how to express love to somebody who’s been there for you.”

Blind
“This was definitely a personal experience. Everything I’m saying in this song is exactly as it happened—no words were minced. I’m a real homie that gets shorties, but I met somebody that made me feel like ‘Okay, I’m not gonna get up to no more—we gotta stay focused and get serious.’ It turned out to be a very terrible idea!”

Body
“This is the oldest song on the album. I was still of a clear mind at the time I recorded this song; no one had broken my heart. It’s just a cool, sexy vibe worshipping a woman’s body. Whatever you have is great, we love it.”

History [Cheque & Fireboy DML]
“I didn’t think twice. Fireboy is one of my oldest friends so I didn’t really stress myself too much. I was just looking for a guy that really had history with me. I finished the song but I didn’t know the chorus of the song. When he came in he said ‘Are you crazy?’ ‘cause the chorus right now was [initially] my first verse. I was like ‘Is it not too much…English?’ He made a very tangible addition to the song.”

Sweet Love
“‘Sweet Love’ is just vibes. I honestly didn’t put much thought into making this song. I just heard the beat and I wanted to have these sexy vibes. I like me a confident woman and I have a type physically too—I’m not ashamed to say I like this or I like that. It’s about energy and us being supportive with each other.”

Change
“I’ve been blessed to have good friends around me. I’ve come across friends that really helped me grow, even when I had no house to stay in; they fed me for a while. I cannot go out in public and say, ‘Stuff my friends’. I wanted [this] to be on the album, so [that] when I listen to my first album, I know I’ve said something about what I really went through. I slept on the couch for a long time at my friend’s place, so no matter what, I always remember where I come from.”

Anybody
“These are my origins. This is the place where you find me the most. I always see myself as a teacher—I have to [enable everyone] to understand me. This is my bass, the kick that I love and what I like to express. It’s a combination of rap and rap-singing. In the song I was going high-pitched, low-pitched and shouting. I was just everywhere. If anyone wants to know my ability on a song, they should play this song.”

Pray
“This particular one I got from watching a movie. The person was saying that in all his life he has always wanted a certain type of woman, and she was exactly what he wanted. That stuck in my head. It’s a very straightforward chorus… ‘You’re everything I prayed for’. It’s a marriage song; a sentimental one saying, ‘Thank god I found you’. I’ll have to play this at my wedding.”

Free
“This one is saying, ‘Don’t test me!’ It’s a commanding song and very direct—‘I’m gon’ put you down so don’t try me’. I’m not telling you I’m strong, I’m showing you. It was important to end with this sound because I don’t like to be put in a box and attached to one column. When I make an album you can never really expect me to do the same thing. I try to imbue my work with my originality and it was important to open and close with that trap sound.”