From healing to victory

In this candid conversation, Lady Zamar opens up about the making of Emperor Eclipse, her creative process and what life after healing means to her

- Kibo Ngowi

Paid her dues: Lady Zamar describes the album as a declaration of clarity and creative independence, a celebration of survival and triumph after missteps, misjudgements and misrepresentation. Photo: Supplied

(Supplied)

Lady Zamar's journey into Afrobeats began, as she puts it, with a bit of curiosity and a lot of listening.

"It wasn't even on my radar to make an Afrobeats project at first," she recalls with a laugh. "It was a suggestion from people I trust musically and I thought: 'Maybe I can try this.”

The experiment turned into something bigger. She brought in producers and writers who understood the language of Afrobeats, started crafting songs that could move bodies while telling stories and slowly built a project that felt as expansive as it was personal. The result is Emperor Eclipse: Realm I - Awakening, set for release on January 30th.

Zamar describes the album as a declaration of clarity and creative independence, a celebration of survival and triumph after missteps, misjudgements and misrepresentation. I caught up with her to talk about why Afrobeats became her language of choice, the moments during recording that felt transformative and the emotions that define life after healing.

I moved into Afrobeats because it's been a genre that I've been listening to a lot for the past five years. I've enjoyed really just getting to know the artists, getting to know the sound. I've really enjoyed the music that they make. I've explored some of the cultures in Nigeria, just really exploring them and trying to find the best way to approach it.

In the beginning, I wasn't even thinking about making an Afrobeats project. Honestly, it was actually a suggestion that two people made, people that I trust musically. They're like: 'You know, this is something that you could do'.