Victony on New Album ‘Starlife’ and How Breakout Hit ‘Soweto’ Encouraged Him ‘To Keep Experimenting’

Victony did not begin 2026 expecting to make his sophomore album.

When the process behind Starlife started in February, the initial plan was to produce a four-song EP.

Then came “FRE$H,” which sparked a creative surge that quickly expanded the project into a mixtape and, ultimately, a full 15-track album, out today (Aug.

21).

“It’s just been such an interesting process,” Victony tells Billboard U.K. , reflecting on the organic growth of the LP.

“But it always felt like it was meant to be this way.” By then, cutting anything was out of the question: “If I left out any song from this, it would feel incomplete.” When we speak, Victony – whose sound melds afropop, R&B, soul and beyond – is in London, where another listening party is being planned after one in Lagos the previous week.

“I can’t feel any better right now.

I’m just very excited,” he says.

The excitement around Starlife also feels different from his first album, Stubborn , released in 2024.

Back then, Victony was concerned with proving himself musically.

“With Stubborn being my very first album at the time, you know, what I cared about the most is just like musical excellence,” he explains.

“I wanted to put out the best records that I have and just show people that I can do this.” This time, there is less proving and more revealing.

“I’m at a point in my life where my personality is really just shining through the music,” he says.

“This is me telling people this is how I feel right now.” It explains why a project that started with four songs kept growing.