Taiwo Emmanuel Adekánle, known as Emars, is a Nigerian-born, Glasgow-based composer and performer whose genre-defying sound fuses traditional genres, rhythms, ambient electronics, and jazz improvisations into a genuinely distinct appeal.
The promising artiste, who recently released his single Tomorrow, speaks volumes about the human condition.
Emars is known for his soulful voice, and a promising act titled his genre as Flow.
Tomorrow is unusually stripped down to a minimalistic rhythm — just the guitar and some sort of stomp.
Emars deploys an unorthodox approach, but his voice and sound definitely remain unique. There is also a raw, unedited audio that can be heard before the song begins, creating imagination about his raw and real craft.
In the current music space, where most songs are within the two-minute time mark, he has taken the lone road, returning to the traditional four-minute mark — Tomorrow is a 4:44 song. How far can a purely acoustic sound go in an era where a charade of instruments hides the true, authentic nature of sounds?
He began his music career as a young child in the choir, moving on to become a prodigy in songwriting, music storytelling, and improvisation.
However, the strangest thing is not being able to place a finger on the specific genre he is attuned to. Emars explores a wide variety of genres, always fused and never alone in their original identity; it’s like watching an evolution process in time.
Another unique scent is his musical themes. It is obvious that his songs are centred on faith, love, and hope. This is not in a way that the general music scene understands it — it feels like hearing a sage, man of faith, or monk sing with a soulful voice.
His live performances are something; maybe this is why he has never recorded any body of work until now. His proposed EP is for March 2026, and we look forward to it.
Could Emars be on to something? Could his style hold water in the Nigerian space? If so, for how long? There is potential for this style of music, but we would have to review more work from Emars to truly decide on the trajectory of his vision.
Now 30 years old, Emars officially produced his first work in 2016, and he has two official singles, with a forthcoming EP for March 2026.
On what inspires his style of music, he simply said, “In one word, God. The exploration of spiritual and philosophical topics and how it shapes the daily workings of our natural life.”
The guitar is his favourite instrument. He first chose it for its mobility and ability to play without needing any power source.
It was a practical instrument for him; however, he quickly realised it may have been beyond providence. It was a fitting instrument to fuel his personal exploration of sounds and to perform his songs acoustically without drowning their authenticity in a ballad of instruments.
Emars studied psychology, and his peak is a blend between music and psychology.
When asked why he chose music, he simply said, “That it functions with the fundamental laws of the universe.”
Artistes such as Majek Fashek, Bob Marley, and Don Moen inspire him due to their ethics, dedication, topical and philosophical relevance, and their reference to spiritual themes.
