Nigerian gospel-fusion artist AnEndlessOcean blends soul, spirituality, and symmetry in his sound. From his Berklee College roots to his genre-defying albums like Decagon and Octagon, the singer-producer speaks with Guardian Music about his creative evolution, his Igbo-inspired track Za, and the heartfelt mission that drives his music.

His voice glides gently over hollowed piano chords. “Oh, You’re without an end/ Or should we count it/ Many many reasons to call you/Yah Yah Yah Yah nagaza,” AnEndlessOcean roars heartily over his new song, Za.

Born Ayobami Emmanuel Alli-Hakeem, the 28-year-old singer and music producer has made a name for himself through emotive, genre-blending records. A graduate of the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston, United States, AnEndlessOcean was nominated at the 2024 Headies Awards in the Best Inspirational Single and Best Vocal Performance categories, both nods to his soaring voice and stirring storytelling.

Since stepping into the scene in 2018, AnEndlessOcean has become known for the geometric theme of his discography which houses 2021’s Apeirogon, 2023’s Decagon, 2024’s Octagon, and now a teased Nonagon.

In this conversation with Guardian Music, AnEndlessOcean talks about shaping his sonic identity, the surprising inspiration behind his album titles, the muses behind his latest track Za, and why he believes gospel music in Nigeria is only just beginning to bloom.

I believe that whatever God is, He is the source of the infinite. So I decided to use “endless” because it represents that. Why did I choose “ocean”? I don’t fully remember, but I think it was because the ocean is vast and deep. That combination just felt right.

My family—number one. My dad loves music, my mom as well, and their siblings. I grew up listening to a lot of music: Michael Jackson, Daniel Beddingfield, Women of Faith, Hillsong, just music far and wide, both Christian and non-Christian. That’s how I grew up; almost everybody I know, from my dad to my mom, are lovers of music.

Everything started in the church. I got my first guitar from church, then I started writing. I practised because the church built a studio for development. That was years ago, but here I am now. It was a church, pretty much, and then it just grew from there.

To be honest, [when] I was in school, I didn’t fully focus on making music. I got into school at a Federal University around 2014 or 2015, when I was 14 or 15, and then rounded up in 2019, just before the lockdown. I picked up my first guitar in 2011, started writing, and put out my first professionally recorded song in February 2016. Between that time and 2020, I was just writing and developing myself. I wasn’t releasing music much until 2020—put out maybe a track or two, then in 2021 an EP, in 2022 three singles, in 2023 an album, in 2024 an album, and in 2025 another album.

I wrote the song in the middle of the night, sometime in March, I think. I was awake, picked up my guitar, and started writing. That Igbo word “Za” was so powerful. It could be two letters, sometimes three. In Igbo, it can be “Nza,” like the God that answers.

That was in my subconscious. I started putting words together using my personal story and life. There’s also the fact that sometimes you can be in a place where you’re a bit confused as to whether God is listening, you know, that type of stuff. It was all of these experiences that I put together.

It’s a new experience for me, but I’m very curious to know a lot of things that apply to our everyday experiences. I know I have listeners that are Igbo. This is my first time singing in Igbo as well.

I genuinely think that music is art. It’s communication, it’s a feeling, it’s motion as well. When I think about my music, I’m thinking about connection and people having shared experiences. I just want that to reach as many people as I’ll be privileged to touch, you know—the whole world. People being able to connect to it, share the same experiences, or even those who don’t have any language or expression for it. That’s just it for me—as many people as I can touch with the song.

I listen to a lot of music, and I like to learn. I try to develop my songwriting, and music production as well. I’m curious as to how I can better portray music and make it reach people in a way that they can find themselves in. So those things—I’m really passionate about songwriting and music creation.

Next should be Nonagon.

I don’t have any deeper reason as to what number I’m using at the moment. Sometimes it’s just the feeling and what numbers can go with it. For example, I know from some things I’ve researched that the number of love is six or something, so I used Hexagon, which is six, to portray an album that was a project about love and everything.

Sometimes it’s just what the number feels like to me that I go with. The first song themed around geometry was Apeirogon because an apeirogon is a polygon with endless sides. I started with that idea; because the shape literally has endless sides.

I feel amazing because putting together a project is so tricky—it can be all over the place or cohesive. For me, I feel everything I’ve put out so far, to the best of my ability, has been very cohesive.

Octagon was another part of my journey, another part to establish my identity as to who this guy is. It’s a step I’m trying to take to move to another step. That was the most important thing for me. I’m glad that I’m wiser, I’ve grown from that project, and I can build myself, make another one, and make many more.

I’m starting with Abuja, then Ibadan, then Accra, then Manchester, then London across July, and further down the year, we’ll wrap it up in Lagos, most likely in November. For me, it’s about developing, making sure that number one, I’m healthy, and number two, the energy is there to convey the music live, better than what people experience on streaming platforms.

I didn’t put out my project this year. I am just doing a tour. Then next year, I would put out more music and tour as many countries as possible.

It’s fluid, but I just know the music is going to be very fluid—an elevation from what I’ve done before. Better music, more heartfelt music, and also distinct from the last one. Really honest and vulnerable music. I’m intentional about that, so that’s what the album is going to convey.

I think there’s still a lot of growing. I just know this guy, Dunsin Oyekan, is delivering. What could improve the scene is more artists who are very passionate and intentional about skills and craftsmanship. When there’s that, it begins to grow beyond anyone and everyone. It’s about bringing together more diversification in the type of sound that people can connect with and eventually accept. I’m looking forward to that.

Finally, what would you say is a vision for AnEndlessOcean?
I love writing music, producing music, and performing music. As long as I’m still in this line and doing this for many years, that’s my vision, because I feel very fulfilled with it.