How I failed maths, went from church drummer to Zanku creator — Zlatan shares life journey

In a recent Apple Music interview, Omoniyi “Zlatan” Raphael took listeners back to the unexpected beginnings of his music career, a journey kicked off not by ambition but by failure.

Before he became known worldwide as the creator of the viral Zanku dance, he was simply a pastor’s son who played drums in church and a teenager who couldn’t get into university because of his poor grades.

The 30-year-old said: “I was supposed to go to university in 2011/12, but I didn’t have my complete papers. I failed mathematics and accounting, so that I couldn’t attend school that year. But like you said, I used to be a church boy. I used to be in the choir in church. My dad is a pastor, so I played drums in church. I know a little about music from church, but I never knew that I would have or ever become an artist, never struck into my head, never for once.

“So when I failed my examination and couldn’t attend school, I started attending the studio. One of my friends just came back home from housing one day, and he played this song. And I knew him very well. I knew him from church. I knew that he had never made music before. And I was like, ‘Well, if he can make music, then everyone can.’ We went to the studio, and then I went on the microphone for the first time. It was so funny.”

Family’s praise

The “Bolanle” crooner also recounted that after a first studio session with his friend, he went home thinking the song they recorded was “rubbish.”

He explained that it didn’t make sense to him at the time since it was his first attempt, but his family had a different opinion and praised the song.

“When I went back home, I played it for all my siblings, and they started making me feel like Jay-Z that day. They told me, ‘Oh, you’re an artist now. How did you record the song?’ Because they didn’t know what the recording process was. And that was how everyone gassed me up. And then, I just started following my friend to the studio from there because I had to sit out one year before returning to school.

“And I didn’t have up to three songs. I was taking it like it was a joke, where I was, at the same time, because they were gassing me up in the hood. I was liking it. I loved how people were carrying me, who is now an artist. So I went back to school one year later, and then in my first semester in school, the rap competition came up, just cutting a long story short. And then, I didn’t believe that anybody could win a car from the kind of music I make.”

Airtel One Mic Talent

Furthermore, Zlatan disclosed how he won the Airtel One Mic Talent Show in 2014 with a pre-recorded song that had not been mixed or mastered.

He noted that he achieved this feat while studying for a National Diploma in Business Administration at Moshood Abiola Polytechnic, Abeokuta, Ogun State.

“I didn’t even have up to five tracks. The songs were not mixed and mastered. They were just pre-recorded songs. I don’t know, but that was the moment I started enjoying the rap. I started enjoying the rap then. So I was writing every day, every night. I was getting into it. I was getting into it. So, the competition just came up when I was trying to get into this rap game.

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“And then, to cut a long story short, out of 140 candidates, I won the car. I won the car when I was 19 years old. Yeah, I was so amazed. This was my first semester in school. I’ve not even attended the first examination at school. This was just three weeks into the school year”, said the singer.

Zanku

Moreover, the Lagos-born singer shared how his signature dance, “Zanku,” became a viral sensation.

Zlatan released the “Zanku” album in 2019, which included the hit track “Zanku (Legwork)”—the song that inspired the popular dance.

He revealed that it had long been his ambition and desire to create a dance move that would gain widespread acceptance.

Zlatan said, “The most interesting thing for me was when I was about to create that dance, something just struck into my head, so I attached my name. The Zanku means Zlatan. I beg no killers. That’s the full meaning, yeah. There’s no way you want to mention Zanku worldwide that you wish to take you away from. It has my name attached to it, so seeing so many dances that emerged from Nigeria, Africa, and the world is so good.

“So when I was growing up, I always wanted to have my own dance moves for which I’m going to have a song. It was just in my head, and it happened. And it happened globally. Zanku went viral. The legwork danced across the world was … everyone’s face is there until now in Nigeria, right now, this is still the legwork. It’s still from the legwork.”