Michael Ajuma Attah was once TooClassiq. Now, he’s Llona, a voice for the struggles faced by young adults living in today’s world. Forged from the fires of Kaduna and Abuja, the Kogi native weaves sombre melodies in a way that is not quite ‘Afro-depression’ but not so far from it. His introspective lyricism, brutalist fashion style, and visuals portray the image of a singer who wants to bare all he is, without painting the image of being a saviour, and on songs like Another Day, Llona shows us he can do even more.  

In this interview with WeTalkSound’s Eriomala John, Llona speaks about how the circumstances of his childhood shaped his career, label struggles earlier in his career, catching the attention of Bella Shmurda for HBP remix, and growth in his artistry. 

Who is Llona?

To be honest, I really can’t box Llona into one person, because I have lived a lot of lives. I’m unpredictable. Today I can be this, tomorrow I can be that. But to put it simply, Llona is this guy out there trying to change the story for myself and my family. Llona is somebody who’s trying to connect the missing dots. That’s who I am.

The family perspective is interesting. Tell us more about your upbringing.

I’m the first in a family of three boys and a single mother. We started in Kaduna, from church. My mom gave birth to me in the church, because then she did not have money to take care of us. So there were these Yoruba churches that used to help pregnant women whose husbands weren’t there. From there, we moved to Kaduna and from Kaduna to Kano, and  I started schooling in Kano. But we weren’t stable because my mom travelled around a lot. So growing up was more of travelling and meeting different people, and before you could make new friends, your mom was on the road, already. Maybe this time because she owed an establishment, and had to pay, but couldn’t and did not want the embarrassment. 

So, your upbringing influenced a lot of your music. 

Yes, to be honest. If you’ve observed, I don’t know how to put words to express these things when I am in casual conversations. And for everything I’ve done, I failed woefully. Music is the only thing I have done, that I’ve done right. When I want to speak and express how I truly feel about something, it’s just music.  Recently, I traced it to many years ago when I used my grandma’s plates on the floor underneath trees as drums. The music has always been there, but I never figured it out until much later. So, yes, music is how I can express myself properly. 

Can you tell us more about how you tapped into the music as you grew older?

While growing up in Kaduna, during that MI’s time, (sings Nobody feat. Tuface), I would put a paper on the wall to make a stage and then gather my neighbours —the guys I played with—, and use them as a choir. And I was just singing people’s songs. I enjoyed artists like P-Square so much, so I always embodied their music and performed them as my own songs. Up until Olamide dropped Eni Duro, I was doing that. After Eni Duro, I realized I could put my words together as rap. So I started putting my words together and began rapping to classmates in the missionary school I attended in Kano. During FCS on Friday, I’d just be out there, rapping to my classmates, and they’d love it.

Aside from Olamide and MI, which other artists shaped your artistry?

The crazy thing is, my admiration for those artists didn’t directly shape my craft. My admiration for them was more personal—it was about their character, their energy, and how they connected with their audience.  Like I said,  I didn’t know much about the technical side of things back then, and that pushed me to develop myself like this.  When people around me would discuss different artists and their music, I often found myself a bit out of the loop. The only aspect I really tried to emulate was Olamide’s sense of fashion.

 During that Ile Fo Illuminati era, he was wearing this Benny thing. So if you check, up till now, I’m still on my Benny p. In Kano, it got to a point where people were calling me ‘Owe-la-mide’. So what Olamide did was influence my style. He made a lot of things not weird for me. 

Your bandana, for instance – 

No, my bandana is all me. That’s pure Llona.

Do you have a military background?

My senior brother is a soldier. He’s in Lagos. And right from time, I’ve always been that military boy. Even when my stepfather took me to the village, I was always at home, playing with trees and pretending to be a soldier with imaginary enemies around. When my mom moved to Kaduna and I was in school, I seriously considered enrolling in the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA).

The earliest record on your Spotify page is Nobody. Before that, were there any other places you had put your music?

Before I became Llona, I went by ‘Tooclasiq’, As Tooclasiq, I had a different style entirely and I even had an EP out. I had a song that went so viral that Lyta  — who had just left Olamide and had just gotten a verse from Davido  — called and asked to be on the song’s remix. We dropped the song, and it took off but then, the song left me behind. “Nobody” was my first song as Llona but that’s not the first song I’ve ever done. If you check YouTube, you will see that I named the “Nobody” video, “Llona Intro”.

Was the ‘music leaving you behind’ your first proper experience with the industry? 

Yes but you know, I’ve been in the industry and it’s nasty. It was in stages for me. It started with me participating in online competitions and winning prizes like iPhones. Then, while trying to get into UNILAG, I won the Lagos School Breeze competition. After I won the competition, the environment became awkward because I was now popular.  I eventually decided to leave school and focus on my music. In 2019 I got signed to Johnny Blizz Records. I signed a four-year deal and three months after I signed, everything crashed. That’s really what fuelled me to not give up in the industry. After everything crashed, everybody left and just wanted to move on to the next artist that was buzzing.

Do you feel comfortable enough to talk more about those three months?

The person who signed me knew nothing about the music industry. He signed me because he believed in me. So, he reached out to me, gathered my family, and we sealed the deal. They even arranged an apartment for me—a two-bedroom place in FESTAC, furnished with basic amenities like a chair, TV, and bed. His guy in Lagos just took me to pageants and radio stations. I’ve never been one to enjoy discussing topics unrelated to my music, like my favourite meal or colour. It just felt forced to me. So I told him I couldn’t go to the radio stations because I had nothing to discuss. After three months, everything started to unravel. The label rushed the process, pushing out singles quickly to capitalize on potential revenue since the more singles you dropped, the more money was budgeted. Everything was rushed within three months and crashed and by the time I realized what was happening, it was too late But I believe all that had to happen to push me. If all that stuff didn’t happen, I would still be naive. That was just that phase of Galilee to prepare me and push me ahead. 

What was the link between that point and KVLT, your current label?

After everything crashed, my brother saw potential in me beyond what had transpired. I was still operating under the name Tooclassiq, but it felt like I was stuck in limbo. 

This one time, I was resting at home while my landlord hosted a family gathering, and they happened to play one of my songs. I met the DJ to ask if he knew who sang the song he just played and he was like, “Yes, Tooclassiq featuring. Lyta”. But I was right there and he didn’t know me. Even on Uber rides, drivers would unknowingly play my music, oblivious to my presence in the backseat.It got to a point where I felt like my talent wasn’t getting the recognition it deserved. My name was not mentioned in conversations. In a in a fast-paced world where legacies can be forgotten within a month, I questioned how I could stand the test of time.

So, I knew Lagos was too noisy. At that time, my label boss — now more of a brother— left Ghana and went to Abuja. And just because I knew he would be alone and I needed time to think, so I joined him there. Little did I know that God had a bigger plan in store for me. What was meant to be a two-week stay turned into nine months, during which I underwent a transformation and developed the persona of Llona. KVLT was like a prophecy.They were rolling out artists like Victony, and while chilling at a spot in Abuja and ordering nkwobi, I witnessed the release of Victony’s “Pray” at 6:00 PM. At that moment, I knew KVLT was where I wanted to be. A year later, it happened. 

Do you still go back to Abuja or have you worked with any of the Abuja collectives?

Yeah, I do. I rolled with Abuja people in 2018. I was in Gosa primary school because of my mom who was in Abuja at the time and I had to go and see her because since they (my family) left Lagos, I had not seen her. So I had to go to Abuja and do my stuff from Abuja. So there I spent like a year or two and mixed up with them. I was going for their shows in bars, performing in the streets. I had a whole lot of episodes in Abuja.

Are there any potential collaborations with artists in Abuja and beyond?

I don’t know, to be honest. Right now, I’m in a space where I have to see myself locked in.

Maybe after I’ve created the song and I’m listening it could drop in my spirit. But I don’t have any specific people in mind. Of course, there are people I’ve wanted to work with at a certain point. People like Burna Boy, Olamide and Davido.

How did HBP (the single and remix with Bella Shmurda) come about?

I wrote HBP during the nine-month stay in Abuja. I remember that night because it was December. Sleep had become hard for me and everybody already left. It was just me and my label guy, Johnny Blizz. He was sleeping that night, and I was outside by 02:00 a.m and I was angry.  Angry in the spirit, not about whatever was happening. And then I wrote it and when I was done, I went inside and woke him up because I knew I needed somebody to witness what I was going to say. I had gotten ‘that’ song. Around the time I wrote HBP, I felt like I had been taken advantage of. At that point, people already felt like I failed. And for a minute, I let what people felt get to me. So HBP was like a breaking point for me. It was me telling myself I would just get high blood pressure if I kept thinking about those things. I was telling myself to focus. Then the song dropped and all Glory to God.

About the remix, I was on my way to Ëvil in The Day” and just received a text from Bella like,’ My bro. This HBP is crazy”.  I was like, “Appreciate you”. And the next thing, Bella just called. He asked where I was and said he loved the song so much that he needed me to come to the studio. After the show, I went straight to his house, he did his thing, man, and all glory to God.

What inspired the concept for How I Live?

How I Live is a song where I reflect on myself, my mistakes and what’s happening at that moment. I just dropped HBP and everyone said, “He’s the guy”.  But at that moment, I still wanted people to know that was not all of me they would get. So when I dropped How I Live, I wanted people to know I wasn’t perfect. It was me preaching to people who think I don’t have my skeletons. I wanted people to see the type of person I was. With those pictures, I wanted them to see me and those flaws in my true form, not the perfection they see me in. That’s why I was in my general uniform.

Your recent single, Another Day, has been doing quite well. How has the experience with the song been? 

It’s been crazy, my bro. But it’s something that I’ve prepared my mind for. It’s a song where as I was feeling it, I poured it down because it’s been a long road. Thank God for my guys. 

When I had Comforter doing well, for instance, I was in the streets. The song was big but I had to survive from one friend’s place to the next. So yes, I’m thankful for this one. 

What’s the wildest encounter you’ve had with a fan so far?

There’s this crazy one. I had a show somewhere in the trenches then as Tooclassiq. I walked into a shop, and the guy started playing my song. What made me feel really special was how he kept looking at me. It felt really good to be recognised. 

Have you experienced any mistreatment due to your ‘dark’ style?

Yeah, a lot of people have assumed I’m mean. I remember at Bella Shmurda’s concert in Ibadan, one guy asked if I was angry with him. People have this very uptight behaviour around me because they just feel I’m this very strict person. 

Tell us five projects you’d listen to on a random day. 

Twice As Tall and I Told Them by Burna, Timeless by Davido, Get Layd by Omah Lay, and Satisfied by Mercy Chinwo. I try to find balance because I’m a very spiritual person and without God, I would lose it.

Are there any plans for your fans?

I’m big on mental health. So I’m trying to set up plans where my fans can just walk in to get a therapy session for free or talk to somebody when they are down. Something to show that the artist you listen to cares about you.

Where would you want to see yourself five years from now?

Wherever God wants me to be, to be honest. I just leave it to God. I know that I’ll keep working hard and since God said he’d bless the work of my hands, he would bless me.