Tekno Nearly Made It to The Championships; What Went Wrong?

Tekno had all the firepower to become a global pop star. He was on the verge of breaking into the American mainstream, and everything suddenly went downhill.

In 2012, after the Nigerian music industry had experienced a paradigm shift, a budding star came into view. That budding star had spent many years in incubation before he became a success. That budding star is none other than Tekno. Tekno is a one-in-a-million kind of talent. His reign in the Nigerian music industry is a story that would continue to be told many years from now.

When Ubi Franklin and Iyanya came across Tekno in Abuja, it was a dream come true. Both for Tekno and the TripleMG founders. The fledgling act was desperately looking to be noticed by an audience. Around that time, he had released a cover of Ice Prince’s monster hit single, Oleku, his own remix titled Onye Ne Kwu. It was the performance of this remix at an event that caught the attention of the likes of Julius Agwu. A friendship sprouted between Tekno and the MMMG (Made Men Music Group) from there.

Because Iyanya and Ubi Franklin had an eye for exceptional talent, it didn’t take long before they invited Tekno to Lagos. The young Miles Kelechi didn’t object. He unhesitatingly rushed down to link up with the two men in Lagos. And that was the inception of his success story. It was that move that facilitated a record deal with TripleMG.

Augustine Kelechi Miles, whose pseudonym is Tekno, was born in Bauchi State in 1992 but is originally from Ebonyi State. Since his father was part of the Nigerian army, they lived like nomads, relocating every now and then to different parts of the country, including Kaduna and Abuja. Tekno joined a music school when he was just 8 years old. It was at this music school that the precocious act learned to play the piano as well as the guitar. In no time, he became a music prodigy.

Before he was discovered by Ubi and Iyanya, Tekno was signed under a label imprint known as K-Money Entertainment. He released his official debut single, Holiday, which featured Davido, under the label. The song, Holiday, did Tekno’s bidding. It penetrated the Nigerian mainstream and immediately became a club banger. The song earned him a spot in the league. But the spot needed to be secured. The audience would be more receptive to you when you score a hit song. But that comes with a price. The stakes are higher and you have to give them something they can’t possibly refuse.

After signing a new deal with MMMG in October 2013, Tekno knew the responsibility he had to shoulder. Iyanya was already a flagship act for the label, with a string of hit songs, especially his gargantuan single, Kukere. The label also had other artists like Emma Nyra. It wasn’t going to be a walk in the park trying to compete in the same space with these other guys without leaving anyone unnerved. But the singer who moved to Lagos from Abuja had big dreams and wouldn’t succumb to any obstacle.

Tekno’s journey into the limelight really began in 2014 when he dropped his first single under MMMG, titled Dance. The instrumental was produced by E Kelly. The percussion of the instrumental leaned heavily on gong while Tekno infused his usual style of Lamba which consists of catchy lines and fascinating jargon. It was a simple song yet it was an apposite expression of Tekno’s personality. Even in the music video, Tekno couldn’t help but show his goofy side. This left an impression on the audience and they began to connect to his music as well as to his artistry.

Later that year, Tekno linked up with Sarz to another single titled Anything after dropping some singles that didn’t really do well. Anything was an uptempo song and Tekno continued with his Lamba style that remained recurrent all through the song. It was that same year that MMMG released a compilation album The Evolution that featured all of the label’s acts. His presence on the project bolstered his position as a new act in the industry.

Tekno went ahead to receive a nomination for Best New Act of the Year at the 2014 Nigerian Entertainment Awards, although he lost the award to Runtown. What followed next, however, was the turning point in Tekno’s career. It was around mid-2015 when Wizkid and Davido held the industry in their palms. The singer released a single, Duro, in June 2015. At first, the single was like every other song Tekno had previously released.

However, Duro heralded the legendary era of Tekno’s monosyllabic singles (which were all hits). It was produced by DJ Coublon, characterized by the producer’s significant use of guitar riffs and unusual drums. In the music video, Tekno danced as if someone paid him to do so. Duro earned a spot on the Capital XTRA’s Afrobeats Chart: Top 10, peaking at no. 5. It was a continental and global hit, catching the attention of A&Rs in international labels. The song continued to reach more audiences after Tekno made and released a remix with Flavour N’abania and Phyno.

He released another single Wash in November that same year. It was also produced by DJ Coublon. The single went viral after people began breaking Tekno’s lyrics down. Many listeners found the lyrics in the song amusing. The instrumental also had its own personality and Tekno spiced it up with his sauce, singing “No be wash. You like Versace.” There was a commendable performance by the guitarist towards the end of the song.

By 2016, Tekno was already a huge star, and was recognized all over Africa, and in many foreign markets. But the singer had only just begun. Little did we know that he had more tricks up his sleeve. It was in 2016 that Tekno got the biggest hit of his career, the single that single-handedly exported him to foreign markets. There’s a reason why Tekno is the king of Pangolo music. He released his first single of the year, Where, a Afro-highlife song that rode on melodic guitar strings in March 2016. The Selebobo-produced instrumental met its match in Tekno. He diced the beat layer by layer and conveniently ate. Where opened the year on an astounding note for Tekno, but when he released Pana, the world crowded at his feet, worshipping him for making such a wonderful song.

With Pana, Tekno built a reputation as an artist that could never miss. We all had blind faith in him and were rooting for him to take over the world. Pana went on a trajectory and flew Tekno’s name high in the sky, introducing him to the global market, especially the American mainstream. He began to get a lot of attention from fans in the US as they made videos of themselves dancing to Pana, including celebrities like Ludacris and Trey Songz.

According to Tekno, the instrumental, which was produced by Krizbeatz, reminded him of his continental hit, Duro. Although the beat was originally meant for someone else, Tekno immediately hijacked it, took it up to his room, and the result was Pana. He revealed in an interview that he fell in love with the song as though it wasn’t his. The music video for Pana has since accrued more than 160 million views on YouTube. An A&R from Columbia Records caught a whiff of Pana, signed a deal with Tekno, and redestributed it in the US. Where next for the superstar who had the world at his feet?

A billboard article mentioned Tekno’s success in the US with Pana, asking if he was going to be the next Afrobeats pop star to break into North America. Nobody was doing it like Tekno. His music remained original, retaining the foundational elements that had always defined it: the use of guitars, his goofy lyrics, the monosyllabic titles. Nothing could stop the greatness.

2017 came and he continued to soar. After a string of singles that continued to put Tekno’s name in conversations, the Holiday crooner featured Wizkid on a song titled Mama. Music listeners who had always hoped for the two acts to work together voraciously consumed the song. He also got a BET nomination for Best International Act: African Category alongside Wizkid and Mr. Eazi. Before he bagged a Wizkid feature, Tekno was already having a good year.

The singles that followed next after Pana including Yawa, Rara, Go, Samantha, were all certified hits. On some of the songs, Tekno proved to be politically-aware, taking shots at the messed-up government, singing about the deteriorating state of the country. Tekno shot expensive and quality music videos for his songs, mostly working with Patrick Ellis.He wrote and produced one of Davido’s biggest hits till date, If. It came at a time when Davido had just failed at his attempt to break into the US market. He simply returned the favor as Davido played a role in his entry into the limelight.

Tekno also holds a reputation as a gifted producer. He has produced hit records for the likes of Ice Prince, Victoria Kimani, Stonebwoy, Swae Lee, and Drake. He was highly recognized as the complete package. He started hanging out with eminent acts in studios in the US, even Drake posted a picture of him at some point and captioned it “Tek time.”

Although Tekno still continued his run of singles in 2018, he didn’t score a hit in them like his previous singles. People had begun to wonder when he was going to release his debut album. He released singles like Yur Luv, Jogodo, and nearly got a hit in Choko, but none of the songs could really sustain the high standards Tekno had set for himself. He was still a force to reckon with, and was even featured on a Ciara single titled Freak. He also signed a distribution deal with Universal Music Group Nigeria (UMGN) and Island Records.

However, towards the end of the year, the singer lost his voice due to damaged vocal chords. It was an unfortunate period in his life. Imagine losing the one thing that brings in all the money. He had to refund most of the money he had received for performances. He could hardly speak and went months without recording music. It was a tough spell in his life.

The way I see it, 2019 was a rough year for Tekno. Even though it was in that same year that he was featured on Beyonce’s The Lion King: The Gift soundtrack album alongside Wizkid, Burna Boy, Tiwa Savage, Yemi Alade, Tekno spent most of the year chasing his own tail. It appeared like many listeners had moved on and forgotten Tekno behind. It didn’t make sense to me that despite the fact that the songs revealed how much Tekno had grown as an artist from a thematic point of view, despite the fact that the music still had quality, people had stopped paying attention. One of the biggest pop stars in the world, Billie Eilish, mentioned that Tekno was her favorite artist in the world.

He would later feature Zlatan Ibile on a track, Agege. Honestly, I didn’t see the point of the song. And what worsened it for me was the drama that came with the production of the music video. Tekno was arrested by the police over ‘transporting’ naked girls in a glass-enclosed truck. It also led to heavy censure by social media users. It was overall a messy situation.

Music listeners who had been Tekno’s fans from his early days kept on pestering him on social media for an album. The singer’s debut album had been long overdue. More than seven years had passed and Tekno was still starving his fans. The most significant song Tekno released in 2020 was Puttin. Even at that, it barely lasted in the face of songs from contemporary Afrobeats act. He released other songs including Enjoy - all of which were extremely good songs - but they were incapable of making a mark on the audience. He was also featured on Adekunle Gold’s song, Firewood, from the latter’s album, Afro Pop Vol. 1.

Tekno started hinting the release of the album towards the second half of the year. And he did fulfill his promise. Enjoy was the album’s lead single. He released his debut album Old Romance on December 11th 2020. It elicited various reactions from fans who had awaited the release of the project. The album saw Tekno sing over typical Afropop percussion and symphonic chords, with most of the production credit going to Spax. The album’s theme is basically African romance; the sweetness of a romantic relationship, the numerous dreams lovers have when drowning in the intensity of the early days of infatuation, the days when infidelity jeopardizes the relationship. Tekno’s growth in his songwriting glints on the album while he remains true to the fundamentals of his artistry, infusing his pangolo style on RnB-esque songs.

It is quite unfortunate but Old Romance didn’t particularly find its footing on any music chart. It didn’t particularly put Tekno’s name in conversations neither was there a standout song. Once again, the music was criminally good, like is expected of Tekno. Yet if anything, there’s been a massive decline in the demand for Tekno’s music since he dropped his debut album. I want to speculate that the album didn’t come at the right time but is that really the problem? I find myself questioning what exactly went wrong in Tekno’s career. Did the Nigerian audience move on and leave Tekno behind?

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