Growing up, Kirani Ayat had always been surrounded by music and art. He is one whose fate dictated his path to be a rather musical one. One faced several challenges and stumbling blocks, yet was unfazed by the limitations before him. He is a Ghanaian musician, rapper, singer, and producer who has a very strong intuition that he has a calling in music and would stop at nothing to fulfill it.
In 2017, he released his widely anticipated debut EP, “ZAMANI” to critical acclaim. The Afro trap-influenced EP had Kirani Ayat touching on the themes of hope, dreams, success, and love. And within a year, the 26-year-old has been featured in some of the biggest songs in the country. He worked with popular Ghanaian rappers: Sarkodie on “Dodo“, Medikal on “4get Everybody“, Edem on “The Egboame” Remix, and EL. on “Bars“. Ayat recently had a chat with Lambo Xtra where he discussed his history, muse, musical achievements, and prospects for the future.
Talking about his debut album “Aisha’s Sun“, Ayat believes it’s a rhapsody of the experiences that had happened to him in the past four years. “Aisha is my mum’s name and it’s very symbolic for me,” says the Ghanaian singer.
Kirani Ayat started music officially in late 2013. According to the singer, he hadn’t taken it so seriously at then but started his music career professionally in 2015. His big break was when he featured Kezo in “I Don’t Know You” in 2016, the song went viral and it posed as a sign to the singer why he needed to take his career more seriously. Kirani’s musical style is not one that can easily be defined as he has re-emerged and metamorphosed his style and delivery over the years. Starting off with more trap songs than he accounts for, later transitioning into other genres like afrobeats, house, and pop. He calls his current sound a solid fusion of most of the genres he has had to work on over the years.
Born and raised in Accra Ghana, Ayat was predominantly raised and trained by his grandmother and has an Islamic background based on the schools he attended at the time. Growing up, he took a special liking to computers and tech, fashion, music, and football.
Kirani is confident that Salif Keita and Fela Kuti have major parts to play in his cognitive makeup and his kind of music. His uniqueness and a strong desire to stand out as a strong African man are the major reasons why he is drawn to Keita and Fela.
When asked about the most memorable moment in his career, he spoke skeptically, saying “I don’t think I’ll ever have that moment, to be honest,” He expressed how he has been too overwhelmed by the several opportunities he has been exposed to lately. He believes there would be several other moments and so he is expectant to see what the future truly holds for him. Ayat also expressed his desire to embark on a comprehensive tour, for him, that would be a very fulfilling and defining moment in his career.
Ayat is a strong believer in embracing one’s struggles. He has expressed that struggles and challenges are more like the needed springboards for the next level in one’s life. “The industry will always be the industry,” says the singer while explaining how it is unavoidable and inevitable for an artiste to go through certain kinds of struggles.
“I have never been at a point where I wanted to give up on my career,” stated Ayat while addressing if he ever felt like giving up at some point. He currently has notable collaborations with Nigerian artistes like Morelle, BOC, etc. He looks forward to future collaborations with heavyweights like Burna Boy, Tems, Bloody Babe, Rema, Fireboy, Olamide, Show Dem Camp, and the like.
The singer is currently promoting his debut album and is also working on a deluxe version of the same project.
