Love Itoya is a Greek Nigerian singer, songwriter, dancer, performer and vocal producer.

Born in Greece, Thessaloniki to Nigerian parents, her choreography and her powerful soulful voice capture the crowd whenever she steps on the stage.

She has worked with numerous local artists and has performed in various festivals and venues in both Balkan & Europe. She released at the starting of 2021 her first debut single 'Pepper Dem,' which is about empowering black women and women in general. Besides that, she also released her second single "Party". On the 24th of September 2021, she released her debut EP called "Introduction." 

Read on as she takes us through the journey.

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My debut EP Introduction was mostly self-written and some other songs were written in collaboration with my brother, who is also a singer/songwriter, as well as my parents.

The process to create Introduction started In 2018, in which I was in another phase of my life where I needed to just pour my heart out, express my fears and needs, and try to figure out who I was at that time. That’s when “Ups & Downs”, “Consideration”, “Real Love” and “Party” were created.

In 2019, I wrote “Reminiscing You”, and then in 2020, “Pepper Dem” was created – that was when I was more sure of what I wanted as an artist.

I’m a multi-genre artist inspired by a lot of different types of music and my melodies are one of my strongest talents. Creating this EP, I had to be sure that firstly, my melodies would be something that will be catchy and interesting, secondly my songwriting, I wanted it to be raw and my own true story.

I like mixing different kinds of genres, and when it comes to my Nigerian roots, people haven’t seen me singing more Afropop songs, nor have they heard me do something more R&B or pop/rock. They knew me more as a soul/funk singer, which I love but I love to experiment with more genres too. That’s something I wanted to showcase in my EP and for people to get familiar with my sound.

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Each song has its own story and place, and every time I listen to it, I remember every occasion of the story, which makes it more emotional for me but as time goes by, it’s a healing and empowering process, which I had to go through to overcome a lot of things.‍

'Introduction' is filled with representation and different emotions, and it has conclusive advice at the end of each story.

In October 2020, I finally decided to travel to Paris (France) with my brother to record my EP. We were searching for suitable producers that could bring my vision to life, and luckily we found the French producer Shawondasee.

The studio time was a whole new journey for me, from recording to my brother and I vocal producing to Shawondasee and I working on the production – it was something so exciting, but at the same time nerve-racking to see how it was gonna sound at the end.

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I already had my melodies and sound ideas in the picture but we had to find the right instrumentation especially when it comes to guitars, horns, brass sections and percussion, which are more of my Nigerian influences.

During the last days of recording, I had a hoarse voice and I had to sing a high key song with vibratos and whistle notes etc. I was crying because I thought I couldn’t get it out, but after a lot of hot cups of tea, thank God, I made it.

My producers really gave me the opportunity and the freedom to tap into every possibility in terms of the production of my songs and they came up with different ideas, sound effects that would make my songs ten times better. They understood exactly what my direction was for this EP and gave me the rightful advice about how to go with it.

I’m more than ready for the world to hear my sound and hopefully inspire a lot of people and make a difference as a female Greek Nigerian Artist.

Listen to my Introduction EP and stream it everywhere else.

- Love Itoya

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