As a child growing up in Ikorodu, a sprawling city in the northeast of Lagos, Zlatan used to visualise everything he has right now, even though his immediate reality at the time suggested it was a pipe dream. Possessing an uncommon mix of grit and discipline, the rapper born Omoniyi Temidayo Raphae worked his way to the pinnacle of Afropop by introducing a raw, guttural dance-led sound that reset the scene in 2017, and has established himself as one of the scene’s premier tastemakers and collaborators.
Eight years later, the rapper is still enthused by the idea of making music that speaks to people. “It’s been eight years now, or nine years, but it still feels like yesterday,” Zlatan tells Billboard Africa. “The main reason why I started this journey is still why I want to connect with people with my songs. I started making music by rapping about my situation and the things that are happening around me. So, I just still like to carry my people from back then along and make them feel like I still remember what it feels like.”
It’s been one week since he released his third studio album, Symbol Of Hope, when Zlatan dials in for our call from a hotel room in London. He’s in town for a series of performances and promotional campaigns, but he’s really keen to talk about the work that went into getting this album ready after teasing it for months. “Some of the songs on here have been ready for months, and I’ve just been listening to them for months by myself,” he says. “When you put so much work into something like this, and you’ve been the only one enjoying it for months, you’re eager to let people into your world. So, I really wanted it to be out so I could see what the reception would be like. It feels so great that everyone can listen to the songs now, and it’s not just me anymore.”
To quote Zlatan, creating the album was a “wild ride” that exposed him to the pulse of Lagos, the city he still calls home, and the big gap between the lives of its citizens. All-night recording sessions would end with Zlatan trying to make his way home at dawn, where he’d encounter day workers and regular folks navigating traffic logjams on their way to make a living. “Seeing people by the roadside just gives me a different way of thinking,” he explains. “Sometimes I get in a discussion with my producer, and I’m telling him, ‘Can you imagine, we’re just going to bed, and then people are just by the roadside?’ I can see people struggling, waiting for the bus so they can get on it.”
It’s precisely for those people in Lagos striving for better lives and others across the world seeking motivation that Zlatan made Symbol Of Hope. Having once experienced the rough realities of life, Zlatan is throwing a hand out for these folks and urging them to find motivation to keep going. “It feels good to be in a great position right now, but I still always want to connect with people and let the people who are not in this position know that things can actually get better for them,” he says. “I’m their symbol of hope, but anyone can actually be. Across the world, there are middle-class people, average people, people who are really struggling, and people who can’t have three square meals, but they just need to keep believing.”
That sense of belief and unyielding hustle reverberates through Symbol Of Hope, whether Zlatan is reeling off the highlights of his life on “Pay Day,” hoping for things to become easier on “Get Better,” or reflecting on the cost of the journey that has seen him rise to an enviable position on the Bhadboi OML-assisted “Alpha & Omega.” Across the 15 songs of the album, Zlatan enjoys the view from the top, swapping verses with frontline stars like Olamide, Davido, and Shallipopi while inviting listeners into the inner workings of his life on certain tracks like the soulful “Demons,” where he’s frank about the demands of being a present father and a thriving entrepreneur.
On How Fatherhood Gave Him a New Focus
The responsibilities of being a father specifically have necessitated a shift in his life. “I never knew what fatherhood was,” he admits. “As soon as that happened, my son changed my whole mentality. I realised that I couldn’t be like my other friends who didn’t have kids right at that time. I had someone looking up to me, and it made me start getting so serious.” For an artist who broke through with a jocular and wisecracking persona, the demands of being a father required Zlatan to evolve, and he was initially worried about what the reaction to a rebrand would be. “People loved me for being that playful Zlatan, but I managed to find the balance,” he says. “I realised it was just growth and everything still got balanced. I could manage being a father, doing my music, and still getting into other stuff done.”
These days, Zlatan is more concerned about providing a decent upbringing for his son, but he still tries to let him know about his privilege. “I just feel like I want to give him time, although he sees it in the morning when I’m driving him to school,” Zlatan says. “When he is in the car, he can just see other kids trekking, and I’m trying to let him know that, ‘You need to thank God that you’re in the car. These kids are trekking because they can’t afford to be in a car.’ I still let him know stuff like that. I tell him about my experiences when I was younger and not being able to eat granola and milk and s**t, but at the same time, he’s pretty young. So, I don’t want to bother him. I want to introduce him as he’s growing up, but I am grateful that he does not have to go through what we went through.”
On Expanding His Empire
When Zlatan speaks about what he went through as a child, one of the reference points is a lack of access to luxury fashion items. It’s something that he has corrected with the establishment of ZTTW (Zanku To The World), his streetwear brand that evolved from a partnership to a well-respected brand catering to a global audience. References to ZTTW are peppered across Symbol Of Hope, revealing how close to Zlatan’s heart the brand is. “When I broke through, I realised that people were following me up and they loved my songs, so I introduced my merch, and people just loved it,” he says.
In May 2024 , Zlatan decided to launch a walk-in store in Lagos as a central nexus for ZTTW’s operations. It’s the fulfilment of a blueprint that he has seen acts like Jay Z, Drake, and Young Thug execute over the years. “I realised that international artists like Jay-Z and the likes always have some other investment, and one of the investments that some artists venture into is having a clothing line, which has a hub for people to gather at,” he explains. “I felt like Nigerians deserve to have a walk-in store where they can just walk in and buy stuff, and they can still shop online here. For me, it is no longer just about making music; it’s about making a name and being able to leverage the influence. It’s about ensuring that people are getting the worth of their money for good quality, and they’re happy about it.”
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As he goes further in the music industry, Zlatan is experiencing full-circle moments that reinforce his conviction to keep striving for greatness. Eight years after Olamide introduced the rapper to a national audience with “My Body,” Zlatan is now the one tasked with introducing up-and-coming acts to a mainstream audience, with his feature appearances seen as a seal of definitive breakthrough. “Whenever any rising artist kind of has a good song, they just think of Zlatan,” he says, laughing. Sometimes, he tries to back out of collabs, confident that the songs are good without his presence, but too often, the artists insist. His track record so far with BNXN, ODUMODUBLVCK, Shallipopi and Mavo suggests that Zlatan is a living symbol of hope for acts looking to ascend to another level.
As our time together comes to an end, I tell Zlatan that the expectation as a pathway to success ties into his reputation as a symbol of hope for these acts, and his response is philosophical. “Anyone can actually be a symbol of hope,” he starts, “You can be a symbol of hope. I can be a symbol of hope and still see someone else as a symbol of hope. I really don’t think about what I want people to remember me for. I am just minding my business.”
