Hours before the release of her debut studio album, Qing Madi is all smiles, with a level of self-awareness and assurance that is rare for a teenager — but then again, Madi isn't your average 18-year-old.
Nigerian singer-songwriter and budding superstar Qing Madi, born Chimamanda Pearl Chukwuma, has been making waves globally and across the continent since her breakout single “See Finish” went viral in 2022. Madi is an acute talent who values precision and a timeless sound, which is to say that she wasted no time following up that viral success with another hit, “Ole” featuring BNXN, more critically acclaimed singles, and a self-titled 2023 EP; that same year, she hit more than a dozen U.S. cities while supporting BNXN on his North American tour. Madi spent 2024 showcasing her versatility as an artist, even co-directing the music video for the remix of her record “Vision” featuring Chlöe.
Now, Qing Madi is kicking off 2025 with her first full-length album via JTON Music, an ambitious, diaristic, genre-defying 13-track offering titled I Am the Blueprint. Madi had already been in the conversation — she was on nearly every Artist to Watch list of 2024, rubbing shoulders with megastars like Tyla and Bloody Civilian — but with the release of her debut album, she is poised and proven to be one of the biggest African acts of the 2020s.
“You've heard my music,” Qing Madi tells Teen Vogue when asked about what she believes sets her apart in the industry. “It's different. It's personal. It's nothing like you've ever heard.” On the eve of her album release, Teen Vogue caught up with Qing Madi to talk songwriting, navigating early fame and success, her status as a Kendrick Lamar superfan, and the potential impact of I Am the Blueprint.
Qing Madi: It was pretty good, I loved it. The best part was the fact that everyone had headphones [on], so the music wasn't really blasting out. You could hear the beat yourself, and I got to hear and see people's honest reactions to the album, and that was just amazing. That was phenomenal.
QM: For this particular project, I didn't think I had it in mind that I was making an “album.” I would say it's more like a compilation, because the first song on the project, I wrote and recorded it when I was 14, and the last song on the album is quite recent, I think I [recorded it when I] was 16 to 17. You get to see different perspectives of mine at certain ages, all compiled. The album is just a journal, really. We had to select the best 13 songs that could tell my story the way I wanted to tell my story, the best way I wanted to put myself forward. I think the process was more of choosing the right songs rather than creating an album, per se.
QM: What was important for me was just vulnerability. I made a lot of songs at 14, but the reason why I picked ["Bucket List" to open the album] was because it was kind of like a Dear Future Me letter. The song talks about things that I want acquire and achieve, and I've done most of the stuff on that list. So I'm like, "Oh, I was just prophesying."
It was really important for me to pick songs that had an important message with the journey of the album, because the album's name is I Am The Blueprint, so all the songs have to radiate confidence and another percentage of vulnerability so it feels like it's balanced. I wanted it to be authentic. I wanted it to be real. I wanted it to follow the storyline. There were so many amazing songs that didn't make it because I felt like they didn't match.
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QM: Weirdly enough, my mom used to tell me that growing up I always loved blue… they would make fun of me and tell me pink is for girls, blue is for boys. I don't even understand why I was obsessed with it at a younger age, but I [feel] like it [is] a representation of my childhood, and that's why I had to impute it in most of the things I do, so I could carry my younger self with me. There's a significance in why I have the color blue in my hair, even if it's just a little touch of it, because there's still a part of me that's innocent and hasn't really seen the world for what it is... It just reminds me of the me before all of this hit me.
QM: I think I was in L.A. Ironically, I remember I was in the studio. [My team] brought me a cake… I literally just walked in and they were like, "Surprise!" It was so cool. It was the coolest thing ever.
QM: It's different from what I thought. I really thought music was talking sh*t and having money, but no, no, it's not that. There's actually a lot of stuff, and one shock I wasn't prepared for was the fact that people have such strong opinions and you can't really do anything about it. So people could comment or say whatever they want. People could make videos saying stuff that's untrue, and you have to take it, because you're at the point where your response has way more gravity. So it's like, wow. Because I've always been introverted, so I'm never used to people having opinions or being opinionated.
And just losing friends. No one really tells you when you're young and you prioritize success, you lose a lot of people because their intentions become different when you're at a different stage of your life. When I was in high school, there were a lot of very genuine friendships because it's just people growing up together, coming to school, but when you are more successful than the average teenager, people start to see you weird and they want certain things from you — and if you cannot give it to them, you're a "bad person." So it's really weird. I don't know, man. I like the financial part of it. I cannot lie. I love the fact that I get to meet my heroes, my idols. I love the fact that my family's happier. I love traveling.
QM: I want them to feel heard. As an African, as a Nigerian, as a woman just growing up... not everyone can relate to how I grew up, but a lot of African [and] Nigerian girls can. A lot of them had similar childhoods to mine and, obviously, the music is going to go global, but I just want to be able to relate to the girls that understand what it was like growing up [in] the places that I grew up. I wanted to be a voice... I want them to feel like it's okay. You're not going through an impossible thing.
There's a thing with Nigerians. We're very hardworking people. We just like to work and suppress our emotions. Even when we need to be open, we like to put it aside and keep working. As a teenager, you have so much emotions and people start to tell you things like, “You're overreacting, there's no need for you to act this way. You have food on your table.” I just wanted to be a voice [for] a teenage girl [thinking], “I have so much emotions and I'm being told to suppress them.” I just want them to feel heard and understood.
QM: That is so difficult! As of a couple minutes ago, I would say it's “Pressure,” but if you ask me on another day, I wouldn't be able to answer because I play it on a rotation. “Pressure” because it's semi-gospel and it also has a very beautiful blend to it. I'm obsessed with the record.
QM: If I were to think of a word, I would say “Afrosupernatural” because it is so above understanding. It is so intimate… it's very euphoric, and I genuinely feel like the music that I create is something that will live on for years and years, even when I am way, way older and maybe I retire or something. You don't just listen to my music to enjoy it. You listen to it to connect to it. It's very surreal. My fans call it “Afro-delusional” because I had this one song where I wrote about wanting someone's man in real life. My mom would beat my ass if I said that, but you know what I mean?
QM: I don't know about this year, but I definitely want to go into acting at some point. Everyone tells me I would be good at it. This is not even how I talk. I'm just talking this way because you're talking this way. [Laughs] I made this personality for you! I feel like a lot of people would want me to go into acting… it's the accent thing. Maybe. I feel like it'll be fun. Maybe as the bad person, I don't know how to be naïve. So maybe as the villain, that would be so dope.
QM: I feel like being acknowledged for my hard work is... It's amazing. It's a really great feeling, and I won't say it puts pressure on me because I've been working really hard with or without the acknowledgement. That's something I love so much about my team, our focus isn't really about the acknowledgement.
There's something that my [label exec] does, Ms. Joy Tongo, she's always saying: “We have a goal. We're not looking at awards. We're looking at making true music that's going to live on years after you finish.” I feel like that's very important for me. So when I get acknowledgements, I'm like, “Oh, that's great. What's next?” So for me, it's just about working, but I love the acknowledgement. It's great.
QM: I think I'm leaning more towards comfort… I want to be comfortable because I feel like I'm my most confident self when I'm comfortable. I could wear the most amazing outfit, and if I'm one bit uncomfortable, I won't be confident. So for me, [I like] things that kind of just spice up my aura, things that kind of go with my personality. I don't want to dress like [any] certain artist. There's this “richcore” I've been messing around with — [like what I wore at] the album listening party, with the fur and the sunglasses and the corset and the bag, it gave a very prim and proper look. So I like comfort and richcore.
QM: Oh my God, if this man does not use “Swimming Pools” to open the Super Bowl— no, he has to. I feel like “Swimming Pools” is just the perfect… OH. Oh, no, no, no. “DNA,” “DNA,” “DNA”! I feel like the piano at the beginning… Yeah, “DNA” would be so dope. Oh my God. Yes, “DNA” to open it and “Swimming Pools” to close it, for sure.
