Nigerian singer Tiwa Savage is known as the “Queen of Afrobeats” but now she’s momentarily hanging up her microphone to make her acting debut in the new film, Water & Garri.

The film now showing on Amazon Prime follows a young woman called Aisha, played by Tiwa Savage, an ambitious fashion designer who returns home to Nigeria after 10 years in the United States.

Although the Grammy-nominated singer has enchanted people with her buttery smooth voice, she told the BBC Focus on Africa podcast that acting was always a path she wanted to pursue.

“I have so much respect for actors now. It’s long hours and you’re becoming someone else for a long period of time,” she said.

She told the BBC it was not “easy”.

But Tiwa Savage brought the character to life by channelling parts of herself and her mother.

“She bottles up things a lot and she might just explode one day,” she said.

Aside from acting, she was also an executive producer on the film.

The songstress said she watched at least 200 edits before they decided on the final cut.

It “was a lot of work”, she added.

While the film may be new, inspiration comes from her 2021 EP of the same name.

The movie was initially meant to be the accompanying video on the project, but she said when they started filming “it was so good” they decided to make it into a feature-length film.

But the music from the EP doesn’t feature in the movie as Tiwa Savage said she was no longer in the same “headspace”.

So she began recording new songs for the movie while they were shooting and managed to finish the score for the film within a week.

Songs for the film’s soundtrack feature other Nigerian stars like Olamide and Grammy-nominated singer Ayra Starr.

While the stunning cinematography, the dynamic soundtrack and Tiwa Savage’s performance breathe life into the movie, the heart of the film is the theme of nostalgia.

“There is a nostalgic feeling when you think of water and garri. We used to eat that a lot growing up,” she said.

She added that garri, which is processed cassava, and water are unusual combinations, but when they are mixed together it makes something beautiful.

Listen to the Tiwa Savage interview on the BBC Focus on Africa podcast here (after 25 minutes)

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