Singer Essosa Talks New Music, Dream Collabs & Stage Anxiousness

Essosa’s artistic journey started in East London, her childhood spent writing tales, drawing photos, and by the age of seven, songwriting. Born Pleasure Aiseosa Bakare to Nigerian dad and mom, she was raised in Toronto, Canada, earlier than later transferring again to Essex. The British-Canadian-Nigerian singer started releasing music independently at age 17, releasing her first single, “The Retreat,” as a protest to Brexit and the mistreatment of minorities within the U.Okay.

By way of social media, the 24-year-old has garnered an viewers, viral hits, and platforms to attach with followers. Her debut EP, Dreamworld, was launched in 2021, adopted by her single, “Lemonade.” In 2023, she launched “Waste My Time,” which has grow to be a staple, incomes over 48 million streams on Spotify, leading to a document cope with Atlantic Information and Soundcloud’s ‘Ascending Star’ recognition. The 12 months 2024 noticed the discharge of her EP, Essies’s World. 

Essosa was impressed by artists like Nelly Furtado and Michael Jackson, in addition to ’80s, ’90s, and ’00s music. Now, she’s pushing her pen and honing her abilities to make a lane for herself. 

Music and friendship with Kaytranada

The R&B and Various Pop singer revealed to MadameNoire that she has labored with Haitian-Canadian producer and DJ, Kaytranada, and is eager for a launch this 12 months, stating, “It’s not come out but, so that you’re not late, however we’ve got truly labored collectively behind the scenes, so I’m hoping that this 12 months one thing will come out.” 

Kaytranada reached out to the songstress after listening to her viral music “Waste My Time,” and the 2 started collaborating. “We’ve been working collectively for some time now. He actually liked ‘Waste My Time,’ and reached out to do a remix of the music, and we simply began working collectively. He’s been a very good good friend to me,” she shared.

Essosa named Kaytranada and Tyler, The Creator as her dream collaborations, so she’s already midway there.

New Music

A brand new six-track EP is on the horizon with plans for a 2026 launch—fingers crossed for a Kaytranada monitor. Essosa described the EP as “Very pink, very girly – girly-pop, upbeat but in addition has you in your feels slightly bit… I’m excited for everybody to listen to—I’ve been sitting on this music for nearly a 12 months now.” 

Life on the Highway

Essosa wrapped up 2025 on tour with London artist Rochelle Jordan, and kicked off 2026 touring with rapper Kanii. The songstress opened up about overcoming anxiousness whereas touring as Jordan’s opening act, explaining that by means of perseverance and connecting with audiences, she was capable of win them over.

“It was my first time performing for individuals who weren’t there for me and having to heat up a crowd. That was my preliminary concern—that was my preliminary anxiousness,” Essosa recalled, including, “Me and Rochelle Jordan lowkey make the identical music, so I knew they might heat as much as me… it took about perhaps one or two songs, however once they favored me, they favored me.” 

Acting on tour has bolstered Essosa’s ardour for creating dance music that audiences can join with, stating, “It’s made me have a shift in the direction of making upbeat-sounding music and having a extra upbeat sound… It’s simply reinforcing that—like that is actually what the viewers desires.’

“The spotlight about tour life was simply assembly new followers, getting new followers, seeing new faces, seeing individuals who already knew ‘Waste My Time’ or already knew ‘Lemonade.’ … It’s been a blessing, truthfully.’

Take a look at the official video for Essosa’s viral hit, “Waste My Time” under: