interview:LLOYISO
Lloyiso debut album Never Thought I Could, Pt. 1 arrived as a declaration from an artist who had been told, more than once, that the music he wanted to make was not the music he was supposed to. Seven songs. No features. No noise. Just a voice that has always known exactly what it needed to say, finally saying it.
We spoke with Lloyiso about building an album entirely on his own terms, the emotional weight behind tracks like Scary and Seasons, what it felt like to perform to sold out crowds across Europe, and why Part Two is already finished and already different. This is the full conversation.
Interview BY Zacarias charles
Never Thought I Could, Pt. 1 feels like a very deliberate statement. Where did it begin for you?
It began with a version of himself that the industry tried to talk out of existence. Lloyiso describes the album as a confirmation, not just to listeners, but to the Lloyiso who was told his dreams were too big, that his voice did not fit the right box, that the music he wanted to make was not the music he was supposed to make. Part One is the answer to all of that.
You produced and wrote the whole thing yourself. Was that always the plan?
It was not. But what became clear as the project took shape was that this album needed to sound a specific way. I designed every corner of it, chose every collaborator carefully.
The album is only seven songs. A lot of people have had thoughts about that.
Seven songs was what the story needed. No filler, no padding, no compromise with length for the sake of appearing complete. Never Thought I Could, Pt. 1 is complete because he decided it was.
Scary is one of the most talked about tracks. What made you lead with it?
Scary is a song to himself as much as it is about anyone else. It begins in vulnerability, with tenderness, before the switch happens and the harder truth comes through. The song is about recognising that you love someone but cannot give them what they need, and choosing not to take them down with you. It is a theme that has followed him across relationships and across his life, the difficulty of committing fully to things when you already know you cannot.
"This album is for me. It's for the Lloyiso that was denied a place in this music industry because I dreamed too big."
The tour ended 2025 on a high. What was that like?
Sold out crowds in Berlin, London, Amsterdam. Every night, every song landing. He was surprised by how much Scary connected live, given how recently it had been released. Higher kept pushing him to places he did not expect. And Seasons, LLOYISO says, is just that song. The one the crowd already knows before the chorus arrives.
"I wanted to show how aggressive a soft soul can be, and how passionate I can be. The other part of me wants to rage, and my voice gives me that ability to tap into the softness and the little bit of hardness."
"I'm choosing you to be not hurt by me, and I'm choosing myself. This is what this album is about."
Part Two is already done. What can you tell us?
Everything and nothing. What he will say is that Part Two is a completely different approach. Where Part One was his alone, Part Two was built in rooms with other people. Some of the biggest names in the producer world. Songs that came from other people that he walked into, heard, and knew immediately. The controlled architecture of Part One gives way to something more alive, more collaborative, more open. He is excited. That much is obvious.
"I wasn't scared to go wherever the song took me. I didn't play it safe." - lloyiso