Although the keyboard is not the main instrument in Afrobeats music, it is perhaps the most important aspect of Ghanaian singer/songwriter KiDi’s approach.
“My creative process has always started with the keyboard,” KiDi adds. “It allows me to turn any song into a soul song before putting on the rhythm.”
KiDi shows off his M-Audio keyboard in this episode of It Goes To 11 and talks about the difficulties he had getting it to function at first. But once it did, it seemed like a musical pairing made in heaven. “I learned how to use the keyboard.” He quipped, “I was like, ‘Hi keyboard, great to meet you, I’m going to call you Chloe.” “All night long, myself and the piano enjoyed a little date.”
KiDi’s 2021 album The Golden Boy, which recently won Album Of The Year at the 2022 Ghana Music Awards, is influenced by the piano. KiDi also won Artiste Of The Year, Reggae/Dancehall Song Of The Year, and Vodafone Most Popular Song for The Golden Boy song “Touch It” during the program.
Part of what makes KiDi’s technique unique is the “trance” he’s in when making music, as he discusses in the video above. “I simply want to believe that a lady is standing in front of me if I’m talking about a woman,” he adds. “When it comes to love, I prefer to picture myself in love… That’s how I’m able to express myself via music.”