For many emerging artists, the early stages of creation are often fraught with uncertainty – a space where instinct, experimentation, and self-doubt collide. For Ruti, that tension became the spark for their latest EP, Maybe I Got It Wrong.
Written between London, Los Angeles, and Stockholm, the EP is a masterclass in eclecticism, blending folk, lo-fi textures, subtle electronic flourishes, and layered harmonies into a cohesive 7-track record. Described by Ruti as “the most me I’ve felt,” the EP explores belonging, identity, and a sense of place, carrying a warmth and intimacy that feels personal yet expansive.
Born in Essex to a Nigerian father and English mother and now based in London, Ruti grew up immersed in a wide spectrum of music, from gospel, Christian rock, and disco to Nigerian legends like Fela Kuti and Bobby Benson. Early lessons from the age of three laid the foundation for a voice that is emotionally rich, technically assured, and constantly evolving – a progression that became fully apparent on their 2024 EP Lungs, praised for its resonant vocals, string-laden showpieces, and spectral acoustics.
However, during the making of Maybe I Got It Wrong, their uncertainty resurfaced. “There was a point where my team had an idea in mind of what this project is going to be… and I think deep down I knew this was not how the final record was going to be.”
“I just had to give myself a kick up the ass and say, ‘this is the song that I want’,” they explain. The track in question, ‘Maybe I Got It Wrong’, became the first single and inspired the EP’s title: “I wrote it in March, and I knew it had to be the first single. That was the quickest turnaround I’ve ever had in my life, the most efficient I’ve ever worked.”
“To push myself and challenge myself was the only way through,” Ruti reflects. “It was a trial by fire.” That determination threads through the EP, with each track reflecting Ruti’s willingness to experiment, take risks, and trust their own instincts.
Below, Ruti shares how situationships, Lakeside Shopping Centre, and Labi Siffre inspired the creation of Maybe I Got It Wrong.
Last-minute living
Ruti admits punctuality has never been their strong suit. “I’m always running late, so I ran here to make this on time,” they say about our interview. “It’s usually only five or ten minutes, but it’s not ideal. Unless it’s something super important, then I’m there half an hour early.”
This tendency carries over into planning events and celebrations. On their EP launch, for example, they confess: “I actually have, well, I have no plans to celebrate. I always organise stuff at the last minute, so I’m sure I’ll organise something. Maybe I’ll do something next weekend to celebrate, if I can get around to it on time.” Last Thursday evening, as the EP was released, Ruti did end up hosting their friends for an intimate fireside first-listen to the new songs.
Their time management can also bleed into their creative process, especially when they set their own deadlines. “I can be lenient with myself, and then I have to push deadlines back further,” they admit. “I push it because I don’t want to finish. I want to be really happy with it, at least 98% sure, before I release it. But somehow, if you give me strict deadlines and a consequence to my team, then that helps me.”
Even when racing against time, Ruti finds the challenge pushes them creatively. On one of their most recent songs, they recall: “We DIY recorded it in two different cities, and then I recorded it in my room, really badly, but it sounds cute. I even played the drums, which is so silly because I’m not a drummer, so it sounds like a DIY bedroom production, but I think that’s the charm of it.”
Situationships and self doubt
When Ruti first wrote lead single ‘Maybe I Got It Wrong’, they were ruminating on the lack of clarity from a past situationship. “Maybe I didn’t understand, maybe I got it wrong, maybe it was my mistake for assuming this was something else,” they explain. “But then also, I felt like the way I’d been approaching my career up until this point was very much reliant on feeling like I needed permission and validation in order to release music.”
After writing their heartbreak-inspired lyrics, the song’s double meaning revealed itself to the musician. “I have the loveliest manager who is very supportive, and I do love everyone at my label, but I got to a point where I felt like they didn’t trust me,” they share. “I felt like maybe I was wrong, maybe I don’t know what I’m doing, and maybe I haven’t got the confidence in myself that I thought I had. Maybe I do need to please the algorithm and the charts and all of the other things that you have to think about as an artist that is recording and releasing music in the mainstream.”
I felt like maybe I was wrong, maybe I don’t know what I’m doing, and maybe I haven’t got the confidence in myself that I thought I had.
This self-doubt led Ruti to reconsider if music was the right career path, and the song inspired the EP’s title, which reflects this period of the songwriter’s career. Thankfully, some supportive friends and collaborators championed the song as the first single, regaining Ruti’s confidence. “The songs on this EP are not necessarily all cohesive or from the same period of my life, but I feel like they show how I’m powerful myself, and with the help of my collaborative team, how I’ve stepped closer to the artist I want to be,” they explain. “These songs are me discovering myself, and that’s exciting for me, because it feels like I’ve gained a lot of self assurance.”
Labi Siffre and live performance
Having first heard ‘Bless The Telephone’ and ‘Something Inside So Strong’ without realising the artist, Ruti first uncovered their love for Siffre while listening to Kanye’s Graduation as a teenager. “The Kanye song ‘I Wonder’ uses a sample from ‘My Song’ by Labi Siffre, and I immediately had to look it up – this voice is so pure, the piano is so lovely. It just feels so warm.”
During lockdown, while scouring through online playlists for new music, they discovered more Siffre songs, and quickly became hooked, realising they were all by the same artist. “He’s an icon. He’s also queer, and was openly gay during the 60s and 70s. He’s also from West London, he’s Nigerian-Jamacian, and I just felt like there was so much about this man that I really connected to,” they share. “There’s something about him that evokes so much emotion in me, just thinking about him, just hearing him talk and obviously hearing him sing, as well as his songwriting. He’s become a big inspiration for me, musically, but also in life.”
Having played guitar since the age of 13 – albeit “not very well for how long I’ve been playing” – Ruti wanted to ensure the songs on this EP would showcase their skills when played live, and was inspired by Siffre’s minimal guitar accompaniments. “I love singing and performing live, and so I wanted to make sure these songs could transition to live performance easily,” they explain. “I was worried it might be limiting to think this way, but it actually helped me creatively, because I’m building from the foundation I already have. Exploring on top of that, it’s helpful for me.”
There’s something about Labi Siffre that evokes so much emotion in me, just thinking about him, just hearing him talk and obviously hearing him sing, as well as his songwriting. He’s become a big inspiration for me, musically, but also in life.
Shopping malls and shooting lakeside
For the EP artwork, Ruti enlisted the help of director and videographer Freddie Cattaneo. Together, alongside DOP Cassius Kane, the pair headed to the Lake District. Despite growing up in suburban Essex, between Chadwell and Basildon, Ruti says they feel most at-home in nature. “I feel like being around mountains and lakes, and the big vast countryside, I feel like that is where my music should be set,” they assert.
The photoshoot took inspiration from a track on the EP called ‘Lakeside’, but also the Lakeside Shopping Centre that they used to aimlessly walk around in their youth. “I think when you come from somewhere that has literally nothing going on, it feels like the only place to go,” Ruti muses. “It was the first place I ever went on the train on my own, or hung out with friends for the day without supervision, spending our own money. It was where our independence began.”
In the Lake District, Ruti and Cattaneo found a serene lake equipped with a jetty to shoot the artwork, alongside visualisers for the track. “The actual shopping centre is beside a grim lake, but the one we found was so quiet and peaceful,” they joke. “It was actually hell to get to, but once we got down there, it was gorgeous.”
Lakeside shopping centre was the first place I ever went on the train on my own, or hung out with friends for the day without supervision, spending our own money. It was where our independence began.
Holidays and hometown friends
Above all else, Ruti takes inspiration from the people around them. Over the past few years, they’ve worked to carefully curate a collective of collaborators who have helped form a safe creative space. “I feel very loved by them,” they share. “We’re coming from a place of real togetherness, which makes exploration feel safe. We’re all in it together, figuring it out.”
But they’ve also found inspiration in non-creative friendships. “The song ‘Lakeside’ is dedicated to some of my really close friends from my hometown,” they explain. “We don’t work together, most of them don’t even work in the same industry, but they’ve been with me since the beginning, always supporting me.”
The last year has taken the Essex-born musician away from the comforts of home, broadening their horizons and introducing new friendships “I’ve never travelled as much as I have in the last year,” they say. “I didn’t really go on holidays abroad when I was younger, and now I’m solo travelling, and I spent all of last year in LA.” The travel has encouraged them to get comfortable more quickly with new collaborators, resulting in the track ‘If I Could Choose’. “Even though I didn’t necessarily love being in LA, I was staying nearby the few friends I had out there, and we became very close. I was in this place that I’d been staying for a few weeks so I felt comfortable, and so I invited them round for tea and we wrote a song, and then I made dinner, and we wrote another.”
Other songs, meanwhile, were finished remotely. While solo travelling in Stockholm, Ruti was writing in a studio with some new friends when they were introduced to songwriter and producer AbyiO: “We kept bumping into each other, we were drawn to one another, and now they’re one of my closest friends. Some people you meet and you just know.”
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