Born Isama Nkechi Ada, Athena DME is confidently strutting across life’s stage. With a passion for music born from her early days, she’s taking over the scene with her fearless style and unique sound. We caught up with her to speak about her beginnings, her goals, and everything in between.

How did you get the name “Athena DME”?

You know, it was given to me by someone close to me, it embodied something that they saw in me that I also saw about myself. That was how I started being called Athena. Then I added “The main event”, DME.

How would you describe your sound to someone who’s hearing it for the first time?

I’d describe my sound as something energetic, something that just keeps you moving, something that makes you want to think big, that elevates your mind. There’s a lot about my sound that people are yet to discover and I’m happy for those that have already discovered it.

We know you started music at a really young age, so what has kept you going all these years? Why have you been doing this?

Oh, the vision, the passion, the vision of the passion, the big dreams, you know.

Okay, so what exactly is the vision? What’s the goal? 

The vision is that tomorrow, I’m among those at the top. You know,  I’m not just doing music for fun, I want to mean something in this society and to people, to bring openness and bonding to people.

We hope that you achieve everything you want and even more. So, who are your biggest musical influences,  whether local or international, if any? 

I look up to the likes of Tiwa Savage, Beyonce, Seyi Shay, Simi, Rihanna, a whole lot of them. Wizkid, Davido, Burna, they all inspire me because they’re all at the top.

That’s a solid list. Can you walk us through your process? How do you typically bring a song to life?

Sometimes the lyrics come first. Sometimes it’s the sound. Sometimes it could be people inspiring me. I make music out of almost everything and nothing at the same time. 

You’re a person who expresses yourself through fashion, your fashion is a visible part of your brand. How do you approach your personal style, and what do you have to say to the claim made by a certain actress that you’re kind of taking cues from Ayra?

(Laughs) Oh, you know, people will always have their perspective or their opinion, but it doesn’t have to stop you if you know yourself and if you are clear to yourself. My fashion is who I am, it is just what I feel from the inside. If I were to describe my style, I’d call it “Industry Baby Girl”.

Is there something you are experimenting with right now, musically?

Well, as an artist, you definitely have to try out many things, and not just in the recording aspect. Creativity as a whole is an experimental round on its own. Every day, you experiment to prevent being in your comfort zone all the time. You know, kind of a happy growth. So it is definitely a yes.

Your song with Slimcase, called “Baby Girl Lifestyle”, ties into “Industry Baby Girl” being your style. Can you tell us a bit about just how the song came about?

It was initially a solo song, but I felt that there was something missing, a masculine energy. I took it to my label (shout out to my record label, Flex Era Records). They gave me some options, and I decided on Slimcase.

You really hit the nail on your head without one, because the song turned out great. Speaking of your songs, you have a new one that just dropped called “Away”. Please tell us a bit about it.

It’s a very emotional song, a real-life story. I have an auntie I used to live with when I was much younger, who was in an abusive relationship. It was a life-threatening situation, she was married to a man who constantly abused her. The family kept trying, but all efforts to get her to leave the marriage weren’t getting anywhere because she was so in love with him.  She kept saying, “Time will tell.” And one day, she finally said, “If you know you don’t love me anymore, you don’t want me, just get away from me”. She left and is now happy again. When she heard the song, she recognised herself in it and called to ask me if it was about her, and I told her it was to celebrate her journey.

That’s a really tough situation, and one that’s important to speak about, so thank you for shining a light on it. There’s another one of your songs that has a pretty interesting backstory, “Blessings”. We heard that an agency gave you 1 million naira and you used that for the song. How did you turn N1m into a song in this present economy?

First, I’d like to shout out Ehi-Kings Real Estate, they’re the ones who gave me the money. The secret was having a good team around me, they really helped manage the money. Actually, we ended up spending under a million because we still had N20 left over. 

Your journey has not been completely smooth; you’ve faced some challenges. A while ago, you fell off a stage and needed surgery, it was like your career was about to be over when it had barely started. Now, you have to carry the scars with you as a reminder. How have you been able to overcome that?

Like I told somebody recently, a scar’s not a disease, it’s just a scar. It tells you a story. It says what the body has been through and what it has overcome. I read comments about it, and it’s really shocking that people could actually speak negatively because of the scar when they do not know what that person has been through. I call those people ignorant, and I call my scar beautiful. It’s just a scar.

How do you deal with comparisons between your sound and that of other artists?

Well, life is about healthy competition. My sound is mine and it works for me, people are welcome to make any comparison they want. I’ll be busy doing my thing and living the Baby Girl Lifestyle.

You have an EP dropping in September. What should we expect from that?

A whole lot, trust me. I’m not going to give any clues because I don’t want to ruin the surprise effect, so I’ll hold it close to my chest. Just know it’s going to be a whole lot. For now, while you look forward to it, go stream “Away” and all my other songs.

What is one thing that you want everybody to know about Athena DME? What should we think when we see you? 

Just think about you know think about something big, something unique, something that says “main event”, something that screams confidence. I want everyone to feel like I’m coming into their lives to turn negativity into positivity. Let’s grow together.