On the first weekend of April 2024, Dwin, The Stoic and Rhaffy had a big win. Their 2022-released song, Streets, grabbed the attention of Nigerian music legend, 2Baba, and gained a heavy rotation. As of April 8, Streets had climbed to 13 on the Viral Songs Nigeria chart on Spotify.
With Rhaffy’s reliable music production and sound engineering and the St. Claire team’s effective operations, Dwin, The Stoic, has established himself as an adept songwriter-singer and stage performer over the last decade. But just in case you’re unfamiliar with these guys and their music, we bring you a deep look into their music, work chemistry and viral single, Streets.
St. Claire Records, an indie record label based in Lagos, Nigeria, wants to make undeniable art — the soundtracks of human lives. Home to Rhaffy, Dwin, The Stoic and Ignis Brothers, the music company has dwelt on that philosophy since it launched officially in March 2023.
Before Dwin founded the record label and became a “dada” boy, he debuted with The Lonely featuring 3rty (also produced by the two of them) exactly ten years ago. SoundCloud aficionados will remember this. Then between 2014 and 2017, he disappeared into the 9-5 world.
But his 2018 series of releases like Stay the Night, Are You the One, Take Flight and Happy Song finally led to “Heavy Heart” — his first studio album. This 13-track project introduced Dwin’s emotional brand of music to Nigeria’s predominantly club music-heavy soundscape. Music for longing, love, loss, heartbreak and sonder, his sound warmly takes in listeners like a home does. His relatable lyricism and soft vocals are seeds he’s planted on the ploughed genres of soft rock, Afropop, alt-pop, chamber pop, folk, house, EDM and so much more.
His music style doesn’t fall among the popular ones, but still he stands out with it. Ask Adekunle Gold, Jessica Bongos and Ibejii who have credited him as a songwriter on their projects.
Adding Rhaffy, a music producer and singer-songwriter, into the mix has enriched Dwin’s sound. When he isn’t cooking for Dwin and other artists like Oxlade, Saucekid, Konga, DanDizzy and Otega, Rhaffy is banging out beats for rappers to “SHOW OFF” on AktivatedTV’s rap show on YouTube.
Since Rhaffy and Dwin bonded in a recording studio somewhere on Victoria Island in 2018, their duo has produced fan favourites like Ifunanyam, Gkw, Allez and the Streets that got a placement in DisneyPlus’ new docu-series, “Madu”.
Last week, 2Baba shared Dwin’s Streets performance video on his InstaStory. “That video is a specially documented moment and lived experience of the audience at Dwin’s Acoustic Christmas show in December 2023,” Timilehin Osinowo, PR and Comms Lead of St. Claire Records, stated.
Creating content is constant for them, as is finding new ways to push it out, whether old or fresh. It’s all part of the team’s intent to be undeniably excellent as artists and, in the present consumer term, content creators. Even more impressive is that Streets was made in 2019 and only released two years later. And it’s still in motion.
The now-viral track has all the charms of an Afropop love jam. But honestly, it’s still vulnerable at the core. It sings of a love that’ll never come to you unless you break the silence and state your intention: “Baby, see, won’t you please come cover me? / See, these streets don tire me / We get things to do.”
Dwin and Rhaffy’s drive to become undisputed musicians also means doing meaningful collaborations. Hopefully, we’ll soon hear Mr Innocent admonish guilty parties to go home and snuggle into their lovers’ loving arms instead of gleefully slamming different genitals in different area codes.
Their transcendental music chemistry has poured into WeTalkSound’s “Lofn 2” and “Lofn 3” albums in 2019 and 2020; and “The Cost of Our Lives” by Ignis Brothers (an indie group made up of Dwin and Ruth Zakari), an album released under St. Claire Records. It came out during the quiet COVID-19 period, a medley of legacy, ambition, uncertain relationships, loneliness and anxiety. For some listeners, “The Cost of Our Lives” gave them the thirst for more music by the collaborative singer and producer.
In 2023, Rhaffy and Dwin did their first joint project, “Love Lane”, a five-track EP, housing Streets and others like Without Your Love and Allez — their highest streamed songs.
For their next act, according to Timilehin Osinowo, Rhaffy is preparing to put out his debut solo single on April 25, 2024. It’s called Serenade. There’s also an intimate show in the works — you heard it first. But catch him at Zikoko’s Strings Attached event on May 11, 2024.
Dwin and Rhaffy aren’t the most popular duo, but their joint quest as flagship artists of an indie St. Claire Records is leading them to the forefront of Nigeria’s bubbling music renaissance. Respect their grind.
Our Combo is Like Messi, Suarez and Neymar in 2015 — Rhaffy and Dwin, The Stoic
