‘R&B today is like Brazilian football – the creativity, the skill’: Odeal, the genre’s hottest UK star

After being dropped by his label, the British-Nigerian singer became huge as an independent artist. So why did the Brit awards snub him? Ahead of arena dates, he reflects on his journey so far “I’m not looking at a crowd tonight,” Odeal says hours before his first ever Brixton Academy performance in late March. “I’m looking at my people; aunties, uncles, friends, peers and supporters.” Dressed in loungewear and stretched across a leather sofa backstage at the south London venue, the British-N...

By Panashe Nyadundu