Talented songstress Lucianne dazzles audiences across the globe. Her exceptional vocals deliver a soul-stirring story every time while her undeniable charm simply captivates the heart. Actress, singer-songwriter, performer, and a boss lady, Lucianne recently came out with a single called “More” that has been the talk of the town. With a unique twist of Afro-soul and contemporary r&b, she is out there shining like the star that she is. We’ve had the pleasure to interview Lucianne!

Congratulations on releasing “More”! It’s a lovely track and has a stunning music video. Can you tell us about the production and the concept behind the clip?

Thank you so much. ‘More’ talks about an experience that I had during the pandemic and lockdown where we could only communicate with our loved ones online and had a yearning to have More of each other. This was a particularly hard time for me as I had just come off my honeymoon and my husband travelled abroad and then got stuck abroad for about 7 months. Those feelings were what birthed the song ‘More’; I needed a way to express what I had gone through and what I believe the whole world probably experienced to some degree too. I had the opportunity to work with Director Doyin from Simplicity Studios on the video who has also worked with Davido and I had such an incredible journey with him bringing this to life. I really wanted the story to represent the concept of lockdown so we filmed the whole shoot indoors of the beautiful home and the only form of communication is via the VR glasses. We had a brilliant time on set and I am super proud of the finished product.

The past couple of years have been rough for so many people, especially in terms of creativity. Would you say the pandemic prevented you from being really active in your music and acting career?

Errrm yes and no, yes because I could not travel for any acting opportunities that popped up or even travel to get into the studio, but no because I was pregnant with my son at the time so I wasn’t really in a place where I even wanted to travel. I was really just trying to rest and spend time writing music as opposed to recording it. I had experienced probably the biggest change in my life physically, mentally and emotionally and in turn have had so much more to give musically so I would say it was a blessing in disguise in hindsight

Throughout your journey, who has been the most supportive of you? 

My husband. He has been my absolute rock, he is my strategist and also my business partner and he is right there by my side with every decision I make. There were times when I had felt like giving up but he has always been there to support me, he is literally my biggest fan and I feel so blessed to have him.

Can you tell us about how you started acting? At what age did you start?

I have always loved to act and always wanted to get into it but never really knew how until I moved back to Nigeria in 2017 where I actually fell into acting. I flew out for music but the label that wanted to sign me presented me with some bad clauses that I really wasn’t happy to accept so I was stranded for a little bit in Nigeria. My cousin knew someone who ran an acting school so I started attending and then after a few weeks I ended up auditioning for a TV series and got the lead role. On set of the series, the director was really impressed and invited me for another audition that I then got supporting lead role in and that film was released in Nigerian Cinemas, during filming the makeup artist invited me for another audition that I got lead role in again and from then on every set that I was on was literally an open door for another filming opportunity. It was such a surreal and amazing experience. I have starred in a leading role in a number of Nollywood movies like Three Thieves which is currently available on Netflix and Amazon Prime and I am also part of Ashley Walter’s acting Academy; Kingdom Drama School and hope to soon be appearing on UK screens.

How would you say your style in songwriting and performing has evolved over the years?

My music tells a story of my journey, especially the rebranding from Luci Monet to Lucianne and finding myself during my time in Nigeria. For example ‘More’ talks about an experience that I had during the pandemic and lockdown where we could only communicate with our loved ones online and had a yearning to have More of each other, similarly my songwriting and performing has evolved and developed with every life lesson learnt and every change or growth I experience has a direct impact on how I perform or what I write about and the words I choose to use. My background is heavily RnB influenced but my move to Nigeria enabled an evolution of my music into the realm of afrofusion. However even within this Afrofusion sound it lends ears to elements of house and deep house which my listeners will start to hear in some of my later releases. I love experimenting with sounds and trying new things with my voice so just like music itself has evolved over the years so has my interpretation of it and my representation of it.

Your recently announced football challenge sounds super exciting! What does it entail and what is the goal?

So the concept is to use my music as a platform to showcase Nigerian football talents, I believe Nigeria has world star players and the world needs to see them, I just wanted to give back to my passion as I co own a Nigeria division 2 league side team as well, so being a stakeholder in the Nigerian football community it was something lead in my spirit to do. Normally artists do easy challenges that everybody can jump on so they can have the numbers, I could have easily done that, I just wanted to give back to my passion with my first release. I want to get young footballers to show off their talents with the aim of shedding light on Nigerian football, creating a platform for talented footballers who may not otherwise have the opportunity. 

Lucianne can be found: Instagram – YouTube – Website – Twitter – Spotify