No one can ever accuse Anambra-born rap star Jeriq of lacking ambition. His 2020 debut EP, Hood Boy Dreams, was an ambitiously hopeful release from the streets that set the stage for wilder success on his 2022 debut album, BILLION DOLLAR DREAM. In its aftermath, Jeriq (born Jeremiah Chukwuebuka Ani) became one of the most important Nigerian acts of his generation thanks to an innovative style of hip-hop that defiantly references his Eastern Nigerian heritage and has made him a go-to collaborator for new-gen stars like Zlatan, ODUMODUBLVCK and Blaqbonez. On his sophomore album, 2024’s King, Jeriq sounds as sated as he can sound while stepping into a new role as an ambassador of hope for the millions of youths who look up to him. “This is an album of inspirations,” he tells Apple Music. “I want people to feel motivated because where I’m from, I’m a hometown hero. I’m just like the voice of the street. I can never turn my back on the streets. So I want them to feel motivated and know they can do it and achieve their dreams. Regardless of where we’re coming from, even though we don’t have a lot to start with, we can still do great things.” From the celebratory titular opener to the self-confident “Fresh and Dope”, Jeriq uses his life as a map to fashion a path to self-actualisation for his audience while tweaking his patented hip-hop framework with influences from traditional ogene music and soul. There are full-throttle dispatches from his travel across the world (“Rands on Rands” and “Ogbe in London”) as well as deeply resonant anthems that capture the scope of the human condition (“Ije Nwoke” and “Take Risk and Prosper”) but these stories are all centred on life from Jeriq’s keen point of view. “King is a story of trials, tribulations and triumph,” he says. “I put all those stories together on one album because it talks about my wins, losses and everything in between.” Read on as Jeriq talks us through key tracks from King. “King” “I made this one with my producer theevandrillist. He’s based in Abuja. He’s a really dope guy. This track is all about fulfilment and triumph. I wanted to start the album by telling people, ‘Finally, I’m here. Finally, I made it.’ At the beginning of the song, I started off singing, ‘Mama, I made it.’ So it’s just a track of me telling people that, ‘Finally, after all the ups and downs, I emerged as a winner.’” “Jehovah” (with Bella Shmurda) “It’s no secret that Bella Shmurda is my OG, Bella Shmurda is my alobam [roughly translated as “day one”]. We did a track for his tape called ‘Oghene’. So while I was about to drop my album, I called him and told him, ‘Bella, I need you on my project. I need you on my P.’ He asked me to pull up to the studio. I came through and we did a track. The track is just thanking God for everything, like I’m a king now so I’m thanking God for that.” “Ije Nwoke” “‘Ije Nwoke’ is an amazing record. As the name implies, it’s a record that tells the story of the journey of a man. It touches on specific aspects of man’s journey through life. There’s the hustle, the grind, the things we see in the streets, the things we see in the course of hustling and trying to be better people. The journey is not easy at all and I wanted to talk about that. This song was produced by theevandrillist.” “Mulla on My Medulla” “‘Mulla on My Medulla’ is just money on my mind. So it’s talking about money and wanting more of it. That’s what the song talks about: being in a state where making is a priority. To be honest, I always have money at the back of my mind, and I think it’s the same with other people too.” “Fresh and Dope” (with Blaqbonez) “I was in a studio one time with my guy, Dawie—he produced ‘Jehovah’ too. Dawie played the beat for ‘Fresh and Dope’. I heard the beat and said to him, ‘Bro, something is missing on this beat.’ I told him to add a highlife guitar string to it and he did. Next thing, ‘Fresh and Dope’ starts coming out of my mouth. Blaqbonez is fresh and dope. This song is just about the lifestyle and having swag.” “Rands on Rands” (with Maglera Doe Boy) “This album tells the story of my triumphs and tribulations. Part of my triumph was travelling around the world and visiting different places. While going to these different places, I also recorded the emotions I was feeling on my journeys. I recorded ‘Rands on Rands’ in South Africa and I made it with Maglera Doe Boy. He is one of the hottest rappers out there in South Africa right now.” “Mama’s Prayer” “My mom is always praying for me. On my WhatsApp, I have a lot of [her] voice notes. My mom can just wake up early in the morning and send me voice notes praying for me. When I was putting this album together, I was like, ‘Let me just add one of these voice notes to the album.’ I know that my mom’s prayer always works so I felt like I needed to add one of them to my album so I have that spiritual touch and also make the album successful.” “Ogene” “I am a man of culture and a man of tradition. I love my culture, and I love where I come from. Ogene is our main sound in Eastern Nigeria. I had already finished the album but I was like, ‘This album is not complete without an ogene sound, without a gyration sound.’ So I called the best ogene producer we have in the East, named Kezyklef, and we did that.” “Way” (with Ajebo Hustlers) “Ajebo Hustlers is one hell of a talented duo. Shout out to Piego, shout out to Knowledge. This song is talking about making life work by any means possible.” “Update Ijikwa” (with Quincy) “‘Update Ijikwa’ is special to me because Quincy is one of my favourite rappers. ‘Update Ijikwa’ is just a popular slang in the East. It means, ‘You know the vibes.’ So that’s what the slang is about and that’s what we tried to do on the song. It’s talking about hustling, getting to a good place in life, and telling people about the grind that we all go through.” “Life I Chose” (with ODUMODUBLVCK) “This one is funny because I had already recorded the single and shot the video while I was in South Africa. I was with ODUMODU for his UK tour. After one of the shows in Birmingham, I was in my room playing the unreleased album. He came into my room and was freestyling. He heard the song and was like, ‘Bro, this stuff is crazy. Send me this.’ ODUMODU’s one of the realist n***as in this world. I’ll be honest, he’s one of the realest n***as I’ve ever seen. So he just told me, ‘Bro, send me this beat.’ I told him I would and got my producer to do an open space. I sent it to ODUMODU, he recorded it and sent it back asap and that was it.” “Daily Bread” (with Victony) “Victony is my namesake. We have the same native name, Chukwuebuka. We did a song called ‘Koro’ and I had already submitted that song. One day, he came back from one of his shows, he called me and told me, ‘Bro, I have this perfect song for you. “Koro” is sweet, but I think I have a more perfect song for you.’ So I answered him, ‘OK, bro.’ He told me to pull up to his studio and I did. When I got there, he played me this ‘Daily Bread’ hook, and I was like, ‘This is it.’ I already recorded a verse for the previous song but I had to record another verse for this one. It was beautiful to have that experience. Shout-out to Victony.”