With his latest EP, Wish We Had More Time, out now and a headline show coming up, Osas is entering a new chapter — one centred on connection, growth and carving out his own lane.
For Osas, Wish We Had More Time is about more than love. At the heart of his latest EP is a simple reminder: don’t let time slip away.
“Be with the person you love, be present in that space, make that time,” he says.
The idea came from reflecting on life after University. Having studied in Birmingham before returning to London, Osas found himself caught up in the pressure to get his life together and keep up with his peers.
“I was there, but I wasn’t really there,” he recalls.
That feeling became the foundation for the EP, which he spent more than a year creating. Across the project, love, relationships, family and friendship all feed into a wider idea of being present with the people around you.
That same emotional focus runs through Osas’ approach to music. His writing often starts with a note on his phone; it could be a word, a feeling or a theme, before he takes it into the studio. From there, melodies and production help shape the final song.
“Everything is feeling,” he explains. “Some of my listeners aren’t from English-speaking countries, so they have to go by emotion, by how it feels.” It’s a philosophy that makes sense for an artist who describes his sound as “the bridge between R&B and Afro.”
Raised in Lewisham, southeast London, Osas’ sound is shaped by both his London upbringing and his Nigerian heritage. He describes his home life as “mini-Nigeria”, while London exposes him to a mix of cultures, sounds and artists. His connection to his Edo roots is particularly meaningful, with artists like Rema showing him the importance of seeing people from his background succeed.
Musically, his influences span Wizkid, Bryson Tiller, Tems, Rema and Odeal; emphasis on Wizkid though and we can’t say we blame him. Made in Lagos was particularly transformative for him, helping him recognise that R&B, Afro and soul were the sounds he wanted to explore.
His music hasn’t always sounded this way. Earlier in his career, he was making more Afro-street music, influenced by what was popular around him. As his taste developed, so did his own identity as an artist. “That’s the foundation, and from there I’ve just been carving my own lane,” he says.
That journey hasn’t happened alone. Many of the people around Osas are friends and collaborators he has known for years; from visual collaborator Hard Fine, who went to school with him, to producer Tyrell, whom he met at University. “We’re all growing together,” he says. “What we’re building now, I know tomorrow we’re going to reap, and it’ll be the same people.”
That sense of community has even extended to his fanbase, ‘the O-Investors’. The fun name began as a joke among his secondary school friends, who would say they were “investing” in his journey. Today, it represents anyone who listens, shares his music or introduces someone else to it.
And soon, that community will have the chance to experience Osas beyond the screen.
He recently announced his headline show at Colours, Hoxton in November. Now, with more music behind him and a growing audience in front of him, he’s preparing to perform with a live band, which he believes transforms the songs into something that feels new.
The setlist is still being worked out, partly because he wants to honour listeners who have been with him from the beginning as well as those who have discovered him more recently.
“I just want it to be the best show it can possibly be.”
And while the immediate focus might be the EP and the headline show, Osas is already looking much further ahead. In five years, he hopes to have released an album, completed a world tour and established a label to help new artists coming through.
Ultimately, though, his ambition is simple. “I just want to become the star that I think I am.”
For an artist still carving his lane, Wish We Had More Time feels like a snapshot of where Osas is right now: learning to slow down, appreciate the people around him and trust the sound he’s building.
The future is clearly the goal. But for Osas, it seems just as important to be present while he gets there.
Written by Eniolu Lawale
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