As soon as she walks into London’s local Shoreditch cafe, Flying Horse, you know in an instant, you’re in the presence of a superstar. Politely greeting, I sit in front of her, immediately complimenting her style. The person I am talking about is Salle, Nigeria’s newest viral star and one of the most promising talents to emerge from Africa. The only 22-year-old Salle arrives carrying an aura of global names worthy of selling arenas. Hoping to connect with her confronting and poetic songwriting, Salle makes a mark with her debut EP, ‘Only Sad People Smile.’
Wearing baggy jeans and an off-shoulder, bright yellow graphic tee, I break the ice with small talk niceties, asking an obvious question, “Where is your outfit from?” Salle laughs and replies, “Most of it is from SHEIN,” in disbelief, I look her up and down. No one made SHEIN look so stylish before. Wondering how she puts together an outfit, she says: “It’s not a feeling, because I feel fly all the time. It’s more about how I want people to see me today. And then, I put the outfits according to that thought.”
Traveled all the way from her hometown of Lagos, Salle settles in London for a week of ‘Only Sad People Smile’ promos. In between exploring new areas, she is excited to attend her first show of London Fashion Week. “I feel like my wardrobe is ready even before I am,” Salle responds when I ask if she has any idea what she will wear. Being in London for the first time, I was curious how she would compare the two cities. She starts explaining: “So far, it’s so different because there’s so much pressure in Lagos, and I think it’s way more chaotic, but recording in London is peaceful. I can take my time. It’s relaxing.”
Dissecting her style and fashion sense a bit further, Salle lists the essentials for a Salle style starter pack: “I always have my accessories, that’s the priority. Then, I always have to have my hair done. I love baggy jeans a lot. I like to have colors of everything, and for some reason, I like caps. I like hair accessories. I like to play around with things I wear on my head.” Speaking of hair, there is a striking detail that affirms Salle’s flair—a front blonde strand. “I just did it myself one day, “she smirks, “people got so used to it that when I stopped doing it, they started complaining. So I thought to myself, let me just stick to this.”
Within the few minutes of our conversation, Salle proves her expression to be very instinctual and confident. Despite her undeniable musical talents, there is an incredibly strong ardour for styling. As beautifully as she blends her music career with showcasing her style, she reveals, “Fashion was always there before music. I’m exploring ways to integrate fashion and music. I’m trying to find a meeting ground, and I’m happy I’m getting there. When you see my music, you also see my style. It’s a yin-yang thing. They’re interlocked.”
Being the self-starter she is, Salle began learning how to sew at the age of 14. With practice, she gradually improved over the years and began styling herself properly at 18. “The first thing I made was my mom’s dress, before I started understanding my style and started making things that suit me more. I would say I’ve really grown, but I used to slay still regardless. I don’t just put anything on; I understand the occasion, I understand the kind of people I’m going to meet. I understand fashion more now,” she details how her style developed over the years.
Salle also debates her take on the blend between masculine and feminine cuts and styles, evaluating it at a 50/50 in her day-to-day wardrobe, “Whatever I wear, I feel powerful, to be honest.” She credits her ability to how putting clothes together works, “it makes me feel confident. And it makes me feel even more confident that I put it together myself.”
Back in 2022, her musicality became much more than ‘a side thing’ and something Salle would get compliments for. She shares how things changed: “After my video went viral, people started believing in me. I started believing in myself, too. This may be my thing now. I started recording and making music, and then I realized how quickly I was able to write. I could write a song in 10 minutes. I was such a good writer. And all I needed was the right people around me to make it into something amazing.”
The release of this video was a subtle nudge from the universe, as Salle reveals. Growing up, music wasn’t a subject of conversation, as her mom wanted her to be a lawyer. As a result, Salle was forced to learn to play guitar in secret. The rise of Salle’s star was meant to be, as she elaborates, she had nothing to do with the posting of the video: “I wasn’t the one who posted the video. I wasn’t even aware of the video happening because I didn’t have a phone; then, my phone broke a week before the video was released. So when it came out, someone had to call my mom to tell me. I was as surprised as everybody else. So I had to navigate the whole thing through my mom, and that’s when things started changing.”
A year later, Salle released ‘Icon,’ a song that ultimately changed her life. Conquering self-imposed pressures and external doubt, ‘Icon’ represents Salle’s desire to reclaim control, she notes: “Ion is my story. I was able to express myself in a way that people would understand without judging me. Music is something people relate to, regardless of whether they know you or not. So I was happy when I realized that people loved Icon, people could relate.”
The unprecedented events that followed laid the canvas for Salle’s debut EP, ‘Only Sad People Smile.’ Met with more than one hardship, as a true artist, Salle poured it all into her craft, which inevitably helped to redefine her sound. She opens up about her journey after ‘Icon’: “I’ve had tribulations, I’ve had many setbacks. Since Icon, I couldn’t come out to speak about it. Things even got worse for me in my career after Icon and Countdown. But I think that’s what truly inspired the EP. I’ve really grown from Icon until now. I feel more confident in my sound. I feel more powerful. I trust my message and I trust my audience as well. I think I’ve really, really grown since then.”
She adds, “It was heartbreak, betrayal, lack of self-confidence, and self-doubt. All these things are happening simultaneously. It was so overwhelming. I had to figure out how to express myself at the same time while going through these things, and music is the only way.” It feels like Salle has opened a dark vault, as her voice sounds heavy, recollecting that period of her life.
Time has passed, and even after the release of ‘Only Sad People Smile,’ a daunting aftermath lingers, now immortalized in songs and Salle’s lyricism. She talks about her current headspace: “I’m in the process of getting better. I’m always one song closer to healing, but I still feel the damage. It’s going to take a whole lot for me to heal, especially since these experiences have stuck with me forever because I have songs talking about them. It’s definitely going to be a hard thing for me to move on from.”
Acknowledging her vulnerability, Salle seeks comfort in the unifying power of music and her new EP. “I’m finding joy in the little things, like people who relate to it, people who are healing from it as well. I think it’s the most exciting aspect of the EP, generally. There was nothing exciting about the process. I was crying most of the time in the studio, so I’m counting on the joy in the people who are really accepting it, and the EP is really doing so much for them right now. That’s my joy.”
As the title suggests, ‘Only Sad People Smile,’ was also unfortunately Salle’s reality. Whether you want to call it ‘fake it until you make it’ or putting on a mask, it is universally the go-to mechanism of our age: pretending. Salle confirms: “I didn’t want to go back home because when I go back home, it’s just me and my mind. So I would always want to go out. I always want to be the happiest person in the room, so nobody knows exactly what’s going on. During that period, I just realized that the more I pretended to be happy, the more I was stuck in my sadness.”
When it progressed into 3 a.m. walks around her estate and talking to a dog, to anyone willing to listen, Salle hit a breaking point: “I did so many things to help myself, but it wasn’t working. So I felt like maybe if I sing about this or if I say something about it, maybe I’ll feel much better. And that’s what I did, and I’m happy I did it.”
Salle’s debut EP, ‘Only Sad People Smile,’ does not hold back; it is a brave body of work with coming-of-age themes and topics relevant to an increasing number of young adults. At only 22 years old, Salle inserts a mature level of empowerment into her anthem, ‘Underskirt.’ Curious about her female role models, Salle starts talking about her mother and the lessons she taught her: “My mom has been the biggest figure in my life. She hustles so much. She was selling rice until two years ago, and she didn’t have much, but she was able to hold the family down. I feel like I did not give her enough credit, because obviously I didn’t know what she was going through, but now I’m beginning to realise that women are so discredited. We should be worshiped. I feel like we deserve so much more than what society’s given. Then I thought singing about it, maybe it’ll be more empowering, especially for the girl child, the young ones who are trying to navigate their way through a society that is neglecting them and abusing them.”
With only a few years on the scene, Salle appears to have her morals in check, focusing on what she knows best. Looking ahead, she speaks about her hopes and dreams for her one-to-watch career: “I believe in consistency. As long as I’m consistent, I’m growing. I’m not going backwards. I don’t mind failing and trying again as long as I continue to grow. Because where I am right now, it’s not where I was,” Salle’s perspective on failure is once again confirming her wisdom beyond years.
As I got to know Salle and her outlook on life, success, pain, and healing, I am intrigued to know how she perceives the current state of the music industry. Her response not only floors me but also swiftly summarises Salle’s star factor and means for a global takeover. She answers: “To be honest, I used to care about the algorithm, but right now I don’t really care much. I feel like I am the algorithm,” Salle’s talent-backed mic-drop.
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Words: Karolina Kramplova