In her mind, Tiwa Savage still has so much more to accomplish. In fact, she feels her most excited yet, having just moved back to England. “There’s so much of my life here, it makes the most sense to be here, at this point of my career,” she rationalises. After more than two decades as a musician — inclusive of songwriting and backing vocals too — the decorated 45 year old is a seasoned pro, having experienced many firsts as one of Afrobeats’ sole women across the late 2000s. “It’s hard being the first one, I often feel like a scapegoat.”
Accepting of the duality that comes with being a pioneer, a forebear, and fundamentally a door opener for women’s representation across the modern-afrobeats realm, she’d often bear the brunt of sexist remarks, being pitted against many of her peers of the same sex, and now facing rigidity in being allowed to stand alongside the contemporary class of women in the space. “A lot of the time the conversation is about passing the torch, but I’m far from ready to retire, we can all stand as one, together,” she solutionaises.
Known for her enigmatic offering to the canon, seminal songs like “Kele Kele Love,” ushered her into a frothing space, inclusive of Burna Boy, Davido, Sarkodie, Seyi Shay and May7even, giving identity and reference to afrobeats. Across her career, she’s graced her origin genre, but also branched outward on her own terms. Her last EP Water & Garri inclusive of hybrid, afropiano cuts like the Ayra Starr assisted ‘Gara’. Even further back, on her third album Celia, ‘Glory’ claws at funk and dance, almost winking at Tiwa’s future.
In 2025, Tiwa Savage is unapologetically her, showing no signs of compromising once more. “I’ve done what people, labels, and others have wanted for so long. This album is for me.” Aptly titled THIS ONE IS PERSONAL, the singer-songwriter is at her most tender, her vulnerabilities seeping to the surface. “I’ve been able to give myself the heartbreak album from an afrobeats artist that I could never find,” she shares. Using Mary J. Blige as an analogy, she shares that she’s always wanted an album in the afrobeats and Nigerian pop realms to be really vulnerable with, reflecting her love-related scorn authentically. “We all need that scream in the mirror moment.” Over the span of two years, across recording sessions Nashville, London, and San Francisco, Tiwa inspected her introspections, traversed the matters of the heart, mind and soul and ultimately, archived her womanhood for herself and the world to see transparently.
Part of THIS ONE IS PERSONAL’s methodology involves tributing past works that made both listeners and Savage herself feel. “I love music of today, but there’s so much power in what came before and what it taught me,” Tiwa explains. For album opener ‘I’m done’ quickly instills this methodology, spotlighting ballad culture of the 80s and 90s. Backed by solely a sobering piano arrangement, Tiwa’s experienced, razor-sharp runs build, her hurt immediately easy to gauge for listeners. “I’ve got to learn how to love me first, you don’t know the value of my love,” she croons. ‘I’m done’ was hard to record for the songstress herself, the San Francisco recording session briefly paused for Tiwa to cry in real time. “I took some moments in the bathroom, I still cry hearing the song now,” she admits. Sensing her emotion, Mystro, the albums co-executive producer, ensured she reached every note needed for the conviction that ‘I’m done’ holds, clearing the studio to provide space for her emotions. “We got there, but it took a lot of me to do so.”
Like a vixen, Tiwa Savage gets under to get over in what she calls a “rebound”-tinged ‘Angel Dust’. Uniting the likes of bhangra, R&B, jazz, reggae, and afrobeats, the songstress lures her ‘lover’ for the night. “I’ve never felt so dangerous, dangerous, dangerous, scandalous,” she retorts. Carnivorous in its arrival ‘Angel Dust’ is as engulfing as honey, courting the listener and her temporal love interest for the night. A similar universe is ignited across the album, with the likes of ‘For The Night’ more pronounced in its aims. “What doesn’t kill you will make you stronger, what doesn’t heal you won't keep you sober,”Tiwa sings across her similar afropiano and afrobeats led pastures.
“We’ve all been there,” she laughs. “It’s about being honest.”
Tiwa Savage continues to enthrall listeners, her early ear, carved across her adolescence in London, taking the lead in places. “I will always be a 90s R&B lover,” she teases. “It’s the era I came of age to.” Abundantly canvassing this across her third album, she samples the seminal ‘So Into You’ by Tamia on ‘You 4 Me’. “It’s such a good song.” Across the reworked afrobeats and R&B meld, Tiwa Savage shines, her evocative vocals yearning for fresh love. Crafted by Mystro once more, ‘You 4 Me’ is an urgent example of a seamless producer, artist relationship, reminiscent of D-Mile and Victoria Monét.
Marked not only by Tiwa Savage’s relocation back to the country, but in her career to date, Tiwa Savage’s relationship with England — specifically London — is one that inspires her creative pursuits. Across THIS ONE IS PERSONAL, Tiwa Savage ushers her creative pursuits forward once more, the appearance of Skepta helping her pave things forward. Skepta adds a tempered, softer edge to ‘On The Low’. Contemplating going public, the pair weave between public and private, the percussive soundscape that provide afrobeats foundations pacing the duo's way. “It’s about trading the private for being able to tell your friends and loved ones about those flowers, that date night, that movie,” Tiwa says.
Tiwa Savage’s greatest reference vocally is Brandy. Having collaborated with the ‘vocal bible’ previously (‘Somebody’s Son’), songs such as ‘Holding It Down’ across this album, tribute this influence further. Filled with runs that salute Brandy Norwood, Tiwa Savage doubles down on a might of her own here, the diversity of her voice and vocal production laid bare for listeners' consumption. “New Jack Swing, 90s classic mid-tempos, that’s the era of music here. Of course Brandy is a reference, but so are bands like Jagged Edge,” she says.
Further afield, Tiwa faces herself firmly in the mirror, both in the face of love, and in fear of it. Across ‘Scared of Love’ and ‘Pray No More’ she articulates her inner thoughts surrounding the surrender to her prospective partner head on. Rap-singing on the former, she begins her fall into the emotion. “Accept my invitation and let me be your inspiration, ‘cause it’s now or never if we want a forever, we can’t be scared of love,” she pleads, almost floating across the guitar-heavy soundscape. Bleeding into ‘Scared of Love’ is ‘Pray No More’ Tiwa’s plea now a demand. “We’re going all the way, and I’m just tryna catch up,” she sings. Here, Tiwa Savage’s maturation comes to the fore, her experience, informing the beauty in her articulation around love. Tiwa concludes THIS ONE IS PERSONAL with an old friend. Starting her songwriting career alongside the now prolific James Fauntleroy, both remain a constant in one another’s life. At this milestone, Savage courted Fauntleroy initially to aid in ‘Change’’s production and songwriting. “When I heard his voice on the reference track, I couldn’t remove him, replicating his voice was near impossible,” Tiwa reveals. A hauntingly magnetic brand of ghoul lies in Fauntleroy’s riffs as he helps — alongside a meld of the oregon, electric guitar, and piano — in crafting a manifesto of change, committing to oneself for a higher power. “This is changing for God, for a bigger purpose,” she continues.
Ending here feels poignant and right. When the dust settles, when the lessons are learned and experienced, one can move forward — more informed and urgent than ever in the ever evolving quest for more.
Tiwa Savage, is at her most actualised at the other side of recording this album. Her accolades — consisting of EMA and Headie wins, pioneering status, and longevity — pale in comparison to her sense of awareness, the illumination of her personal life, and ultimately her overcoming. “I needed to do this for me, I had something to prove to myself,” she summarises. With over two million monthly listeners at her feet, the world awaits the return of afrobeats and Nigerian pop dynasty.