Victony releases sophomore album STARLIFE

Victony has released his sophomore album, STARLIFE, out now, a project the Nigerian singer-songwriter says grew almost by accident. He'd planned to put out only an EP this year, saving a full-length for 2027, but kept writing songs he didn't want to shelve until the collection became a 15-track album instead.

The album's early direction came from Victony's studio partnership with producer Ozedikus, the producer behind Rema's 2019 hit "Dumebi" and Oxlade's "KU LO SA." The pair built the album's lead singles, the mellow "FRE$H" and the viral "SLICK," in back-to-back sessions, with Victony calling it "the start of something."

STARLIFE carries an Afrobeats foundation with clear R&B undertones, moving from the stripped-back bounce of "2 FRESH" to the raindrop-laced slow jam "CAN JUICE" and the late-night intimacy of "MISSIN PIECE." On "FYNE," Victony samples Orezi's "You Garrit," a deliberate nod meant, he said, to bridge older Afrobeats sounds into the new record.

The album also folds in features from YKB, Blaqbonez, Fola, Bnxn and Young Jonn, guests Victony said he chose for their distinct personalities rather than chart pull. "I want them to feel the freedom that I felt when I was making this album," he said of what he hopes listeners take from the record.

STARLIFE follows Stubborn, the breakout debut album Victony released two years earlier. It's now part of the new-album wave tracked on the release calendar, alongside the rest of the week's R&B releases.