It is almost impossible to box Ayobami Emmanuel Alli-Hakeem, who goes by the stage name Anendlessocean, pronounced “an endless ocean”, into a single category. Far from being a gospel artiste, his daring fusion of sounds and textured experimentation has carved a distinct lane for him within Nigeria’s gospel music scene.
He emerged in 2020, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. The momentum swelled with the release of his debut EP ‘Apeirogon’ on July 9, 2021, and he has not slowed down since. In this interview with TheCable Lifestyle’s Testimony Adebisi, Ayobami speaks about his evolving sound, his forthcoming album, and the intentionality shaping his artistry and brand.
Anendlessocean: The name is gotten from the fact that I believe that whatever God is the source of is infinite. It was pretty much the reason why I started using the name in 2019, because I used to use the name “Ayo,” which is my birth name. God is the source of my music and talent. That’s the story
Anendlessocean: I have always wanted to do music for the longest time. I would say probably since 2015. I studied petroleum engineering, and I put out a song in 2016, but I would say my career really started in 2020. I put out an EP in 2021, and in 2022, it just moved upwards from then. But I have always wanted to do music as far back as ten years ago.
Anendlessocean: Yeah, definitely. I am looking to have a lot of collaborations this year. I can’t mention names yet because I’m not sure about anything. Most of the projects and songs I put out are hardly collaborative. I think I have only featured one person in the longest part of my career, and I think I want to change that this year and do more features.
Anendlessocean: My full name is Ayobami Alli-Hakeem, because my dad is Muslim and my mom is a Christian. There was also a time I practised Islam before I gave my life to Christ. So I have pretty much always been a Christian for the longest time because I have been with my mom — my beautiful soul, rest in peace — who was a Christian. The name Alli-Hakeem is an Arabic word, and it is such a strong name as well, which is why I kept it.
TheCable Lifestyle: You sing folklore and afro-soul, and there has been a lot of evolution in your sound. There is also intentionality and storytelling in every line and even in the music videos. What are you trying to explore exactly?
Anendlessocean: First of all, I really do love music, and I have grown up with a lot of music for the younger part of my life. My mom, dad, aunts, and uncles were not just regular or passive listeners. They were actually intentional and invested listeners. I am surrounded by music. I have a very vast palette of music, different sounds, and different genres. For me, apart from just experimenting, I enjoy music, so I am doing a lot of things and putting a lot of sounds into my catalogue, exploring, and having fun. The number of genres and fusions is pretty much a lot that you can’t really scope through everything. I love music, and I am interested in doing as many different songs as I can.
Anendlessocean: I am working on an album, and I just released a new single. I can’t wait for people to hear that one. I am building towards the album, and I can’t wait to hear it.
Anendlessocean: Factually, you are right. Luckily for me, I am working with very brilliant and amazing people. You cannot get people to understand what you are trying to do if you don’t bring them into your world. To be honest with you, that can be very difficult. There is nothing you are doing that is very easy; to go with the flow, it takes a lot of work and intentionality to keep your head up. I am super intentional about it, and I love what I do. My team are also very intentional about whatever message we are trying to put out at every particular time.
Anendlessocean: This album is my most different album yet. People should expect a lot of differences, and I am working with more people and more features this time around. Hopefully, all of them come out as expected. I feel like this is also a direction in my life right now that I really want the world to share with me. I am very big and positive about creating music that means something to people — music that they can always fall back on. Not just a trend. Nothing about my music has been non-intentional. I have put out two albums, and I have never had any features, but I am going to have a feature on this one.
