Sekou is still growing—literally and metaphorically. In the year following his first live performance—at Glastonbury Festival 2022, no less—the Midlands-born, London-based artist has not only added pop music titans like Sam Smith and Dua Lipa to his rapidly expanding fanbase but gained in height too, taking his already impressive 6’5” stature to a towering 6’7”. Perhaps it’s those extra couple of inches that have helped Sekou take his snowballing career in his stride. His talents first emerged in church, where he sang “nonstop,” but his love for music can be credited to his mother, who raised him as a single parent. “My mum is very humble, very down to earth, and she keeps me on my feet,” he says. “She put me onto my first-ever song, which was ‘Greatest Love of All’ by Whitney Houston. We both came from a part of Leicester that’s very rough, so working hard to give back to her what she gave to me is really important to me.” He was 15, studying for his GCSEs and already singing with a rich, powerful maturity beyond his years when he decided he wanted to pursue a career in music and began posting cover songs on social media. A clip of him singing Sam Cooke’s “A Change Is Gonna Come” drew record-label attention, and shortly after completing his exams, he signed his first record deal and moved to London. Life has been progressing at warp speed for Sekou ever since. Legendary music producer Quincy Jones sent him a personal message on Instagram (“that was insane, I spoke to him on the phone after that and he’s just literally a legend”). Anderson .Paak and Bruno Mars flew him out to meet with them in Las Vegas (“we had a two-hour conversation and they loved everything that I did”). He was personally invited by Arlo Parks to join the lineup she curated for the BBC Introducing Stage at Glastonbury 2022 (“I was so nervous and it was so surreal, but it was one of the best things I’ve ever done”). And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. His first release, the lyrically poignant EP Out of Mind, which features credits from heavyweight producers such as Sounwave (Kendrick Lamar, Beyoncé) and Cirkut (The Weeknd, Rihanna), is the strongest indication of just how far Sekou has come in a short space of time. Having been highlighted frequently as “one to watch,” he intends to make sure he keeps holding attention. “I think it’s really important for me to build a fanbase and for people to go, ‘Oh, I didn’t know he could do that kind of thing,’” he says, hinting at the ways in which his artistry is evolving and the talents he has yet to utilize. “I really want people to feel like they’re growing with me.” To that end, the jazz-, R&B-, and soul-influenced tracks on Out of Mind are just a taste of how Sekou intends to channel his limitless ambition over the course of his career. He is modeling himself on artists like Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, and Prince—generational icons. “Every single artist of that generation was so great in their own lane,” he says. “They were never trying to copy anyone else. And I think it was so inspiring how they worked from nothing to something. I think that’s what inspires me too.” Here, Sekou takes us through more of the inspiration behind his debut EP, track by track. “Forgiving Myself” “I wrote this in LA in January [2023]. It was still really early, and I was just writing songs at that time. I didn’t know how to make an EP or a mixtape or anything like that, but all the songs weirdly came on the same writing trip. It was the first time I worked with Sounwave and the second song I’ve ever written. I was trying to crack an uptempo because I was writing ballads nonstop. Sounwave played the beat and I just knew the title, and I knew the concept. I was fed up with people around me at the time, and I really wanted to say something in a sassy and arrogant way. It came in the hour, and I recorded it straight away. It’s one of my favorites. I wouldn’t say full-on choreography, but you can bust a one-two out to this one.” “Better Man” “This is the first song I properly wrote. I posted it on TikTok and Instagram and that’s when everyone started to talk about me. I never had a relationship with my dad—I don’t have any hatred, but he didn’t do much for me—and I think this was one of the easiest songs to write, because I knew what I wanted to say and how I wanted to say it. I’m not the best person to explain how I feel, but when it was just me on the piano it was so easy to talk to myself.” “Be With You” “I’m kind of simping on this song, but not really. It’s about a relationship I had a year ago and being free and kind of telling someone that you still want to be with them. I definitely catch feelings way too quick, but I find it really inspiring when that happens because you can write about it. I always write about people—people I love, people I hate. I don’t know whether they know when I’ve been writing about them. I would never tell them…but I hope they do.” “You and I” “I remember hearing that guitar lick on my last day in LA—the same day I wrote ‘Be With You’ actually—and it sounds really weird, but I was really inspired by Miley Cyrus’ ‘Party in the U.S.A.’ I think that song is really cool. I like that idea of being 17, 18 and just coming to America for the first time. There’s a line in the song about old people in LA, lying about what they do and stuff—which is true! I just wanted to be a bit geeky and funny on this song.” “Too Young” “This was the trickiest song to write, because I didn’t really know what I wanted to talk about. I was a little bit lost and I didn’t know who to talk to or how to say it. I was working with Yakob [and Mary Weitz], who I wrote ‘Better Man’ with, and I sat around the piano with those guys explaining how I feel and just being honest. There’s a line in the song that goes, ‘A heart ain’t too young to love/If it’s old enough to break,’ and I just remember going from there. It was a very important moment for me.”