Bukola is Broadcasting Confidence

The rising R&B artist weaves her own experiences into a radio-style concept album, finally giving herself the air-time she deserves.

by Leslie Ken Chu

Photos by Brandon William Fletcher

Published on January 29, 2025

Bukola remembers the exact moment she wanted to make music. While scrolling YouTube at age nine, the Coquitlam singer-songwriter came upon Willow Smith’s music video for “Whip My Hair.” “I thought what she was doing looked like so much fun. Her confidence was very enticing to me,” she says. “I was like, ‘Wow, I don’t know what this is, but I want to do this for the rest of my life.’”

Though Bukola has never considered herself confident, she’s undeniably driven. Still only in her early 20s, she has already released her debut EP, 2021’s The Chronicles of a Teenage Mind, worked with Grammy-winning Vancouver producer Chin Injeti, landed soundtrack spots on Ginny & Georgia and The Princess, and more.

Bukola’s latest move is the release of her sophomore EP, The Confessions of an Antisocial Butterfly. Like Chronicles, Confessions is a diaristic showcase of her svelte vocals and jazz and R&B arrangements, a musical potion that conjures her influences india.arie and Corinne Bailey Rae.

Written at a time when Bukola was “a little bit down,” Confessions reflects the highs and lows of coming of age. “That’s part of life. I wanted to be really honest with what I was going through, and that means revealing a lot of my insecurities,” she says. Wary of saddening listeners, Bukola formatted Confessions like a radio show airing on the fictitious 101.6 Hogan’s Alley FM. “People can call in and talk about what they’re going through,” she explains.

In the role of DJ 604, CBC Radio personality Angeline Tetteh-Wayoe brings light and inclusive energy to Confessions. “I really wanted her to feel like a big sister who’s been through it before and who’s like, ‘Don’t worry, guys. It’s okay. It’s all good.’ She encapsulates that perfectly,” she says. “She has a very warm, inviting voice that makes you feel like everything’s okay, and you can tell her anything. Her voice is so iconic, and I was so honoured when she said she would be a part of it.”

Being a big sister herself, “I never want my siblings to be afraid to tell me anything,” Bukola says. “I know what it feels like to be scared to talk to people, so I always have this mindset of, ‘I’m not gonna judge you. Tell me anything. I’m here for you.’”

Noting that most coming-of-age movies, books, songs, and albums don’t usually centre on characters like herself—Black, introverted, and isolated in the suburbs— Bukola says “I want to also have a space for the awkward Black girl.”

Bukola also promotes representation through the name DJ 604 and the name of the EP’s fictitious station, which refer to Vancouver’s area code and the city’s most historic Black neighbourhood, respectively. “It was really important for me to not only centre my experiences as a young Black woman, but also to rep Vancouver super hard,” she says. “Naming the radio station something that has to do with Vancouver, specifically in relation to being Black, I think is going to be super meaningful.”

Elsewhere, Confessions contains many more self-referential Easter eggs. For example, DJ 604’s show shares a name with Bukola’s first EP. “It was a really big goal of mine for people to get to know me. I really wanted to have parts of my personality in there,” she says. “On ‘Taste of Freedom,’ I talk about eating cake for breakfast. Cake is my favourite food. Not to be funny; I genuinely love cake. I have it for breakfast a lot! All the easter eggs are little fun tidbits about who I am.”

If Bukola has one comforting message she wants to broadcast, it’s this: “Maybe you’ve never been in love before, or you’re struggling to make your dreams work. Wherever you’re at, it’s all good. Everyone’s journey looks different, but you will find where you’re meant to be, and you will get to where you need to be in time.”