Victony Makes the STARLIFE Look “SLICK”
“He has been quietly turning into one of the best melodic technicians in Afrobeats…”—POP MATTERS
As one of the artists helping lead a new wave of Afrobeats, Victony has made experimentation part of his identity—and STARLIFE (OUTLAWVILLE/Encore Recordings) may be his clearest statement yet. The Nigerian artist’s sophomore album stretches beyond any single definition of the genre, moving through R&B, hip-hop, Afro-Rage and Afrohouse without losing the melodic ease that made him stand out in the first place. If his debut Stubborn introduced a young artist determined to follow his own path, STARLIFE feels like the next chapter: a reflection on how far he has come and the increasingly global life he is building. Across 15 tracks, Victony explores ambition, desire, intimacy, success and self-discovery, bringing BNXN, Blaqbonez, YKB, Babyboy AV, Young Jonn and FOLA along for the ride. That creative range extends beyond the music into a visual world that is equally adventurous, with the videos and visuals surrounding the project showing another side of an artist who seems increasingly comfortable moving between sounds, styles and ideas without being defined by any one of them.
At the center of STARLIFE is “SLICK,” one of Victony’s biggest solo records to date. The track slides between R&B, Afrobeats and hip-hop with an effortlessness that makes genre labels feel beside the point, surpassing 40 million global streams while reaching No. 1 on both Nigeria’s Top 100 and the UK Official Afrobeats Chart and No. 2 on Billboard’s U.S. Afrobeats Songs chart. It also helped lead an impressive showing for STARLIFE, with eight songs from the album debuting on Billboard’s U.S. Afrobeats Songs chart. Elsewhere, “FRE$H” introduced the project’s sleek, confident energy, “FYNE” turns up the sensuality, “TWIN” featuring FOLA explores intimacy and connection, and “ARMED & DANGEROUS” with Young Jonn takes an unexpected turn into Afrohouse. Together, the songs make STARLIFE feel less like an artist settling into a successful formula than one intent on expanding it. Victony isn’t simply participating in Afrobeats’ global moment—he’s among the new generation of artists actively exploring what the genre can become next.
Born Anthony Ebuka Victor, Victony emerged from Nigeria’s new generation of genre-defying artists before breaking internationally with 2022’s “Soweto,” a global phenomenon that has surpassed 1.2 billion streams. A remix featuring Rema and Don Toliver pushed the song even further, and “Soweto” earned Victony the 2023 Headies Award for Best Recording of the Year. He followed that breakthrough with 2024’s Stubborn, collaborating with artists including Asake, Saint JHN, Shallipopi and Teezo Touchdown, and continued expanding his musical world with 2025’s Very Stubborn. Along the way, he has earned recognition from the Billboard Music Awards, The Headies and other major music organizations while bringing his music to an increasingly global audience. From “Soweto” to Stubborn and now STARLIFE, Victony’s rise has been defined as much by curiosity as momentum—and his willingness to keep pushing his sound forward suggests there’s still plenty more territory for him to explore.
Catch Starlife here.
REVIEWS
“...STARLIFE is firmly focused on victoriously prophesying Victony’s future…”
—FADER
“...sexy and smooth sophomore album [STARLIFE]...”
—FADER
“Victony scores the strongest week of his young career on the Billboard U.S. Afrobeats Songs chart as the first-week activity of his STARLIFE album impacts the list.”
—BILLBOARD
“With the eight STARLIFE debuts, Victony brings his career count to a milestone 25 entries on U.S. Afrobeats Songs.”
—BILLBOARD
“Victony…is one of the more distinctive voices to come out of Lagos this decade.”
—POP MATTERS
“Victony has fully arrived & the album [STARLIFE] proves it”
—DEEDS
“STARLIFE represents a critical evolution in modern Afropop, a project where the Nigerian superstar takes full artistic control, writing and producing across a genre-bending landscape that blends Afrobeats, R&B, rock, techno, and retro nostalgia.”
—DEEDS
“Starlife is a document of Victony’s evolution”
—NATIVE
“The experimental collision of R&B, Afrobeats and hip-hop has since become one of his biggest solo records [STARLIFE], surpassing 40 million global streams and…gave Victony his first solo No. 1 on Nigeria’s Official Charts, while reaching No. 1 on the U.K. Official Afrobeats Chart and No. 2 on Billboard’s U.S. Afrobeats Songs chart.”
—BILLBOARD
“STARLIFE finds him [Victony] embracing the glamour, confidence and freedom that come with his position…to fully inhabit the world he has spent years working towards.”
—CLASH
