WEBVTT
00:00:00.560 --> 00:00:07.750
> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>Welcome to the Living the Dream podcast with Curveball. if you believe you can achieve.
00:00:13.910 --> 00:00:23.910
> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>Welcome to the Living the Dream with Curveball podcast, a show where I interview guests that teach, motivate and inspire.
00:00:25.120 --> 00:00:27.839
> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>Today I am joined by Zeg C.
00:00:28.800 --> 00:00:49.520
> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>An innovative, eclectic afrobeats artist. Blending his afrobeats roots with sounds from all around the world. He refuses to be boxed in by genre, so we're going to be talking to him about everything that he's up to and gonna be up to. So. Zexceed, thank you so much for joining me.
00:00:49.840 --> 00:00:50.399
> Zexy>Thank you.
00:00:50.399 --> 00:00:52.789
> Zexy>Curtis, why don't you start off by.
00:00:52.789 --> 00:00:54.590
> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>Telling everybody a little bit about yourself?
00:00:55.549 --> 00:00:58.299
> Zexy>Yes. like you rightly said, I'm Zek Z.
00:00:58.539 --> 00:01:00.759
> Zexy>I'm, from Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria.
00:01:01.859 --> 00:01:10.370
> Zexy>I'm an eclectic musician, like you rightly said. That's because I don't believe in, you know, defining yourself by genre.
00:01:10.370 --> 00:01:36.989
> Zexy>Because I think creativity is, something that in the music side of things, if you've been soaking in a lot of music, most times songs are going to come to you in different ways. They're going to come to you as rock songs, they'll come to you as rap songs, they'll come to you as country songs. You know, and for me, who appreciates all genres of music, these songs come to me in different ways.
00:01:38.000 --> 00:01:52.200
> Zexy>if I have something in my subconscious, if it's perfectly, if it's perfect to come out as a country song, I'm not going to try to change it into R B or Afrobeats. if it perfectly comes out as a rock song, I'm not gonna try to change it to a rap song.
00:01:53.099 --> 00:02:07.489
> Zexy>so that's, that's pretty much how I, how I express myself. If, if, if it comes, you know, as an afrobeat songs, that's how I'm gonna express it because, that's the way God wants me to present it to the world.
00:02:08.129 --> 00:02:16.229
> Zexy>So pretty much, I'm just this guy who likes to, who thinks if he doesn't sing that song the way it should be, another artist would.
00:02:16.789 --> 00:02:21.830
> Zexy>And I just, I just make myself as a conduit for these songs to come alive.
00:02:22.389 --> 00:02:47.479
> Zexy>And if you listen to my Every Sound album, it's all of our digital streaming platforms right now. And you know, people are saying, you know, what is this that you've done? You, you, you just went across 15 different genres of music. And that, that's, that's the kind of statement I want to make with my debut album. Every song.
00:02:49.639 --> 00:02:55.960
> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>Well, for Those who might not know, explain to the listeners what an Afrobeats artist is.
00:02:57.080 --> 00:03:03.009
> Zexy>Yeah, Afrobeats is, pretty much a style of music developed in m.
00:03:03.009 --> 00:03:34.449
> Zexy>West Africa, to be specific, Nigeria. But, it has a lot of roots in high life music, which has our, local percussions, you know, in Africa. Ghana. Ghana has, a very strong roots in high life, same with Nigeria. So when you mix those African percussions and sounds with some of your Caribbean sounds and some, you know, some hip hop, you have the Afrobeats. Because Afrobeats is.
00:03:34.449 --> 00:03:52.281
> Zexy>It's pretty much, a combination of African sounds and some Western sound. So it's not everything there is not just totally African. so it's a fusion of different sound. But the stronger roots, of Afrobeat comes from African sound and African music.
00:03:55.010 --> 00:04:03.811
> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>Okay, well, I know in your bio you were talking about the story of losing your voice. So talk about that story and explain how that shaped your music.
00:04:04.850 --> 00:04:13.721
> Zexy>Yeah, I lost my voice when I was in what Americans called high school, is what we call secondary school in Nigeria. I was in the.
00:04:14.360 --> 00:04:19.461
> Zexy>I, was in the, student choir. And then I woke up one morning, I had what we.
00:04:20.021 --> 00:04:22.911
> Zexy>What. What is known as Qatar.
00:04:22.990 --> 00:04:34.240
> Zexy>And then, I took the normal medication I would take for Qatar, thinking it would leave because my nostrils were blocked.
00:04:34.721 --> 00:04:40.721
> Zexy>I thought, you know, just taking the medication will make it live. But it didn't. And then became protracted.
00:04:41.521 --> 00:04:52.190
> Zexy>I took more medications, months went on, and this thing would not leave. So I want to see the doctor. And, he told me I had a condition called rhinitis.
00:04:52.511 --> 00:05:00.511
> Zexy>Rhinitis is a condition where one of your nostrils is blocked for like four hours. And then after like four hours, it moves to the next nostril.
00:05:01.151 --> 00:05:41.911
> Zexy>And, this went on for. It gave me, you know, heavy antibiotics, much heavier than the ones I was taking for the normal Qatar, but it still would not leave. And then after years of battling with taking a medication and this thing not going, I was scheduled for, a surgery, a nasal surgery. I went in for it. I was given a full body anesthesia, slept off and then woke up with some, clot, like stuff in my nose. And it was removed and actually came out of that operation. And, that problem was still there. But this time it was even worse because I had inflamed nostrils from the operation.
00:05:43.380 --> 00:05:55.141
> Zexy>About three years after that, I went to another hospital, did another nasal surgery. Because just to put it in perspective, all of this time my voice became so terrible I couldn't sing anymore.
00:05:55.540 --> 00:05:58.021
> Zexy>Because of course, my headspace was not clear.
00:05:58.821 --> 00:06:01.620
> Zexy>And then went for the next nasal surgery.
00:06:01.781 --> 00:06:33.891
> Zexy>It still did not work. And that was when I gave up singing. I just said, okay, I'm gonna let singing be by the sideways because, I mean, I learned how to rap. Even if I was a good singer, I learned how to rap. And then I just now honed more of my rapping skills. And I discovered that from the day I let go of the singing, the tension in me left. And I think I started healing from that day. It took. It took more than 12 to 15 years for me to start eventually being able to sing again.
00:06:34.451 --> 00:07:13.661
> Zexy>And then what happened was that all through those times, as my. My. My nostrils kept opening up little by little, I'll be able to sing some genres of music, like country music, which didn't require me to belt out very high notes like your normal pop songs. So I would do some country songs. I could rap, obviously. And then, you know, all of these. These sounds kept coming. I now understood how to use air to determine the texture and tone of myself, how I sounded musically. And even now that my voice has gotten better, that I, can actually do some pop songs, I can go. Go to my high notes.
00:07:13.661 --> 00:07:36.810
> Zexy>I now know how to close my m vocals, you know, constrict some parts of my voice to get, you know, if I. If I needed to do like a country song and if I needed to do a pop song, I know how to open my voice more and belt out high notes. So I would say in all this, that issue helped me to understand.
00:07:37.690 --> 00:07:59.141
> Zexy>Understand how to bend sounds, how to use sound. open and close my voice and get the kind of sound that I wanted. So I would say eventually it was a very. It was a very depressing time in my life. But coming out at the other end, it taught me a lot of lessons about humility and how to use my voice.
00:08:01.300 --> 00:08:07.461
> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>What inspired you to leave Nigeria and pursue success in North America?
00:08:08.740 --> 00:08:15.091
> Zexy>Yes, I actually wanted to explore, the world.
00:08:15.651 --> 00:09:11.931
> Zexy>I wanted to see life from a different perspective, try new challenges, because Nigeria is more just Afrobeats. There are R B singers, ah, there are rappers, but those genres are not as big as Afrobeats. And I wanted to explore all genres. I wanted to. To play in the league where, you know, all of these other players are in. And. And that's why I wanted to, you know, come to America, work, with different artists, work with different producers, and then really, like, explore the other frontiers of music, like country music, hip hop, R B, pop, all of those different genres of music that are very big here. I wanted to tap into them and, you know, even be inspired by just. Just being, in a place where people like Michael Jackson did their thing and Elvis Presley, Brian Adams, m.
00:09:13.321 --> 00:09:39.270
> Zexy>Tupac Shakur, Big, you know, all of those names. I wanted to be where they did their music and also, explore the. The resources they used to get to where, what got them to that global, dominance. So that's pretty much why I came to America, so to explore the resources here to get me to a wider audience.
00:09:41.431 --> 00:09:55.350
> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>Well, speaking of that, you've also collaborated with Lil Wayne and Quavo, so talk about, you know, how those. What those collaborations were like and, you know, anything that you want to say about those collaborations.
00:09:56.390 --> 00:10:07.681
> Zexy>Yeah, being the music chameleon that I am, I. I. I just. I kind of know how to, become any music that I want to do.
00:10:08.780 --> 00:10:17.341
> Zexy>for the Quavo song, it was Status Quo's anthem. It was a song that I just wrote out of the blues. It just. This song just came to me and it sounded so good.
00:10:17.341 --> 00:11:10.280
> Zexy>I couldn't scrap it because obviously somebody's name. I couldn't scrap it. I wanted to, I wanted to write this song and then obviously, maybe get my label to send it over to him as, okay, would you buy this song? Or whatever you want to do with it. But, as at that time, he had already finished working on his album, and he said, you can feature on the song rather than, you know, just taking it and putting on example. I was like, why not? I mean, I know my name is not Quiver, but, yeah, if it's something that would m. That, he would want to jump on, it's a good, It's a good look for me, you know, working with someone of his caliber. So, he did his thing, sent it to me, my label. And then I remember being in Florida for a show, and, my m. Manager came. I was like, we just heard about. From Quavo's team. He.
00:11:10.841 --> 00:11:27.801
> Zexy>He sent his. He sent back the song with his verse on it, and then we went to the car, play the song. It was. It was ecstatic. I was so happy to. To hear his, his voice on the song. And that was how we made that happen.
00:11:29.520 --> 00:11:48.171
> Zexy>so, ah, I just. I actually did this song, and I wanted him to have it, but he wanted to just do a verse on it and allow us have it at Maple Grove Entertainment. And we were willing to have it either ways. And that was how that collaboration happened.
00:11:49.370 --> 00:11:52.250
> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>What's the name of the song so the listeners can check it out?
00:11:53.291 --> 00:11:54.890
> Zexy>It's called Quiver Zanton.
00:11:55.530 --> 00:11:56.650
> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>Okay, gotcha.
00:11:58.091 --> 00:12:03.130
> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>So what lessons have you learned navigating the music industry as an international artist?
00:12:05.461 --> 00:12:07.941
> Zexy>Well, the lessons I've learned is to be flexible.
00:12:08.341 --> 00:12:13.941
> Zexy>So to not be stuck on just doing one thing.
00:12:14.341 --> 00:12:39.010
> Zexy>To be open minded to different ideas, different cultures, different different people. I mean I have a song on my, on my album titled I already added that song totally in Spanish. I was actually trying to get Daddy Yankee on the song but then you know, we reached out to his team and they said he wasn't, you know, actively doing music anymore.
00:12:40.860 --> 00:13:12.760
> Zexy>but then I, I still wrapped on the song in Spanish regardless. And I, I mean I still did it just the way that the Yankee would have done it, if not better. But that's because I'm open minded to different cultures. I'm not very rigid on, you know, it has to be this way or that way. So I think, I think flexibility for me is the key to great ah, artistic expression, great artistic range.
00:13:13.321 --> 00:13:52.951
> Zexy>Because if your mind is opened then you, your body will be able to do what your mind is telling you. But if your mind is not open then your mind can't totally encapsulate what you need to do and bring it to bear. So I've been, I've been able to, to kind of put my, my ego behind and let the creativity speak more than you know, the ego and what you think m it must be. I just, I just let the music flow and, and let everything everything else take shape as it may.
00:13:55.191 --> 00:14:00.750
> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>Well talk about the creative process of your upcoming album. Every sound and what listeners can expect.
00:14:00.750 --> 00:14:06.311
> Zexy>When they listen to has actually dropped. Every Sound is already on DSP.
00:14:06.471 --> 00:14:10.240
> Zexy>It was released 8-29-2025.
00:14:10.880 --> 00:14:31.831
> Zexy>And so the whole idea behind Every Sound is you know, bringing different cultures on that one roof. So you have more than 15 genres in that album. Rock, rap, R B, jazz, classical music, Afrobeats, Afro Pop, High life, merengue, reggaeton.
00:14:36.041 --> 00:14:38.360
> Zexy>there ah, are more than 15 genres in one album.
00:14:39.630 --> 00:15:30.240
> Zexy>so if you, if you search for Zexy across all streaming platforms, Spotify, Apple Music, Teaser, Tidal Audio, Mark, Boomplay, SoundCloud, whatever your streaming platform of choice is. Every Sound is available. It's a celebration of music. It's a celebration of sounds. It's a borderless album. It's is an album that has no boundaries and, and the personality changed from Song to song. So the cool guy you meet on Beach Waves doing his jazz music. It's not the aggressive guy you're gonna meet on Beasts, who is, who is a hardcore rapper. And then the lover boy you meet on Aurea. It's not the same guy you're gonna meet on a song like oh, Africa or a song like Higher, you know.
00:15:30.640 --> 00:16:32.890
> Zexy>So it's just different personalities on different song, different tones, different textures, just me being me, exploring different creative range, different genres of music. So it's the most eclectic album ever made. I mean you can check all the eclectic albums that have been made and put that side by side, every sound. And every sound will trounce them any day, anytime as the most eclectic album and the most diverse album ever made. So if you're going to check out every song, be ready for an experience because it's a world tour of sounds starting from the motherland, Africa. And then we head into the Caribbean with all of the reggae songs, and the dance or tracks and the merengue. And then we take it to South America where you find Aurora. And then from Maoria we move into North America where you have songs like Air Hostess Beast, Buffalo Vibes.
00:16:32.890 --> 00:16:45.120
> Zexy>And then we take it to Europe with songs like so much, Soccer, Stockholm. So it's, it's an album that, that is guaranteed to take you on a musical journey.
00:16:47.591 --> 00:16:54.471
> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>How do you see the future of Afrobeat involving evolving globally and what role would you like to play in that?
00:16:55.750 --> 00:18:06.480
> Zexy>Yes, Afrobeats has been, has been growing and I know in the next couple of years we are still going to expand more. I mean we have folks like Bona Boy who have been doing stadium tours, 80,000, 35,000, 50,000 stadiums around the world. And for me I want to see Afrobeats, ah, get to the level where every city we go to, we can do it city by city tour and each of those city will be closing down every stadium, not, not just arenas, or stadium. And then we can, we go from city to city because the songs are popping everywhere. and that, that's actually why I did. Every sound, Every sound is an album that can have like a number one rap song and a number one pop song, a number one rock song, a number one ah, Afrobeat song, a number one country song, a number one folk song, a number one jazz song, a number one classical song, a number one reggae song, a number one dancehall song and number one meringue. Song.
00:18:06.891 --> 00:18:44.881
> Zexy>that's. And then if you have all of these different cultures coming together, ah, you have the Caribbean coming, you have the black Americans coming, you have the Africans coming and you have the Europeans coming all under one roof celebrating music. I mean it's going to make for a cosmopolitan audience where different minds, different backgrounds, different cultures, just mixing and having a great time. And then you know, you have, you're going to definitely have every stadium feel because you have different, different people from different walks of life. So that's, that's the future I see for Afrobeats and for music in general.
00:18:46.560 --> 00:18:52.721
> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>Who are some of your biggest influences and what artists do you turn to today when you need inspiration?
00:18:53.280 --> 00:19:08.151
> Zexy>No, it's always going to be the old school musicians. Michael Jackson, Prince, Tupac Presley in terms of how he dressed and you know, his style of, you know, packaging himself as, you know, a musician.
00:19:12.040 --> 00:19:22.921
> Zexy>let me see, which other musician. Big, Brian Adams in terms of my rock side, for Countryside, you know, Kenny Rogers, Don Williams.
00:19:26.681 --> 00:19:31.881
> Zexy>Okay, yeah, of course, one of the greatest artists that ever did Bob Marley.
00:19:32.361 --> 00:19:50.221
> Zexy>When it comes to my, my reggae side, I mean being in touch with my humanity. Yes, I think those artists really have. And then fella Nicola Bokoti from Nigeria or like give me that Afrobeat base himself. And Two Faced Deviation, we popularly know him as Tubaba in Nigeria.
00:19:52.780 --> 00:19:57.980
> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>Well, tell us about any other upcoming projects that you're working on that listeners need to be aware of.
00:19:58.780 --> 00:20:05.980
> Zexy>Oh, we're working on a deluxe version of every sound. We're going to have a couple of remixes with some greats out there.
00:20:07.691 --> 00:20:27.060
> Zexy>yeah, of course. And every sound toys in the offing. a couple of singles are definitely going to come out after the deluxe album for ahead of my next album, titled the Second Coming. so yes, those are the things we have in our as our immediate plans for now.
00:20:30.260 --> 00:20:33.861
> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>At your contact tempo so people can keep up with everything that you're up to.
00:20:34.601 --> 00:20:37.320
> Zexy>Yes, you can find me across all social media platforms.
00:20:38.361 --> 00:20:56.050
> Zexy>for Instagram @MrZegz M R O Z A Z Y on Twitter x @ Mr. ZM R Z E X Z Y at on Tick Tock at King Z K I N G Z E X Z Y on Facebook Z E X Z Y Sex Z.
00:20:58.461 --> 00:21:07.820
> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>Okay, final question. What advice would you give aspiring artists who are facing challenges and obstacles in their personal and professional lives?
00:21:08.701 --> 00:21:13.770
> Zexy>Yeah, it's Challenges will always be there. In fact, without challenges you can become champions.
00:21:14.441 --> 00:21:16.800
> Zexy>I've had to fight every step of the way.
00:21:18.441 --> 00:21:20.280
> Zexy>it was torturous at some point.
00:21:22.201 --> 00:21:30.711
> Zexy>but I think all of that torture has made, me a better person. And, I think I'm better equipped to handle whatever comes with success.
00:21:31.351 --> 00:21:56.211
> Zexy>So don't run away from the challenges. Run, run towards the challenge. and I believe that you would, you'll be a better artist for it. Don't, don't think it's over with just one or two challenges. There will always be challenges in life, and, what going through them helps you to do is understand that it's a. It's a constant in life, and the more you surmount them, the bigger of a champion you become.
00:21:58.611 --> 00:22:24.270
> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>It's definitely a hard knock life, y'. All. Be sure to check out Zexy, check out his music, check out the new album that just dropped and everything that he's got upcoming. Follow us on your favorite podcast platform. And for more information or to leave suggestions and feedback for the Living the Dream with Curveball podcast, please visit www.craveball337.com.
00:22:24.911 --> 00:22:30.830
> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>Thank you for listening and supporting the show. And sexy, thank you for all that you do, and thank you for joining me.
00:22:30.990 --> 00:22:33.550
> Zexy>Thank you, Mr. Curtis. Thank you so much.
00:22:34.111 --> 00:22:55.800
> Curtis Jackson (also known as DJ Curveball)>For more information on the Living the Dream with Curveball podcasts, visit www.craveballuh337.com until next time, keep living the dream.