Strei Has Turned His Honest Emotions Into the Afromood Movement

Every artist has a moment when music stops being just sound and becomes something deeper, something that carries the weight of real emotions.

For Strei, that moment came when he was much younger, trying to figure out life and dealing with feelings he didn’t yet have the words for.

He remembers turning to artists like Juice WRLD, XXXTentacion, and Shiloh Dynasty for comfort.

“Their music made me feel something… it helped me deal with loneliness I didn’t know how to express,” he says.

That was the first time he realized music could hold emotions, and that one day, he wanted to create songs that gave others the same kind of safe space.

His journey didn’t begin in a fancy studio. It started in a choir, where he learned the power of the human voice, and then later on BandLab, where he recorded on his phone with nothing but raw emotion and layered background vocals to mask imperfections. Autotune rarely worked, so he worked around it. “Whenever I made mistakes, I used background vocals to cover them up,” he explains.

What began as a workaround became a signature, those layered, emotional harmonies that now define the Afromood sound.

When his TikTok covers started going viral, Strei expected a young audience, but the reality surprised him. He began receiving messages from older listeners, parents, and even younger kids. “What shocked me the most was how wide the range of people was,” he says, still amazed at how his sound connects ages and personalities. It was proof that honest emotion speaks a universal language.

Signing to KTIZO WRLD marked his growth from been a “phone artist” to “studio artist,” but it wasn’t a smooth transition. It demanded a complete change in how he created.

“I had to unlearn working alone,” he admits. For years, his room was his studio and solitude was his process. But entering the professional world meant collaboration with producers, engineers, other artists, and business minds. Learning to trust others with his sound was a new kind of growth.

Then came I.T.A.M., and everything changed. Every track passed a million streams within months. But for Strei, the moment that made Afromood feel truly real didn’t happen online. It happened on stage.

“Seeing people sing every word… seeing the emotion on their faces… that was when I knew this sound wasn’t just streams, it was real connection,” he says. In that moment, Afromood transformed from an idea into a movement.

Vulnerability sits at the heart of his music, but he doesn’t hide from it. “Honestly, I don’t think I really protect my emotions,” he admits, with a quiet confidence.

For him, honesty is the link between his heart and the listener’s. Not everyone will understand him, and he accepts that, but someone somewhere will and that’s enough. “Sometimes it doesn’t work, but at least I’m able to express myself. It’s worth it.”

His latest single, “Crazily” with Babyboy AV, came from a deeply personal place too. “It came from thinking about my past relationship,” he says. He let himself feel everything he felt back then, and that rawness shaped the entire mood of the song, catchy on the surface, emotional underneath.

And then there’s the Streitrib, his growing community of listeners. One moment in particular made him pause and reflect, that was a video from a TikTok creator in Warri who built a fan page just to celebrate him. “Seeing that kind of love, from someone who relates to where I come from, made me realize this movement is deeper than I imagined,” Strei says. It was more than support; it was a form of belonging.

Strei is still rising, still discovering, still building. But one thing is already clear; he’s creating music that sinks deep, stays with you, and makes room for honesty. And for more people than he ever expected, that is exactly the kind of music they’ve been waiting for.