Frankie Walter: Telling human stories through soulful sounds

The first thing you notice about Frankie Walter’s music is not volume or urgency, but feeling. His sound arrives gently, like a familiar voice humming in the background of a memory you did not know you were holding onto. It is music that breathes, pauses, and listens, inviting the listener into something intimate and unmistakably human.

Frankie Walter is a Nigerian singer, songwriter, and seasoned voice actor whose work lives at the intersection of music, film, and emotional storytelling. Known for his soulful tone, he creates soundtracks for love stories, music that captures connection, longing, tenderness, and the unspoken moments between people. His songs are reflective and heartfelt, often carrying the emotional weight of lived experiences. Whether through melody or silence, his work invites listeners into moments that feel familiar and deeply personal.

That sensitivity emerged early. “My journey in music began long before I ever thought of it as a career,” Frankie says. “I’m a preacher’s kid, and growing up, music was always present in my life. Singing early on helped me understand emotion and storytelling through sound.”

Some of his earliest influences came from home. He recalls watching his father sing, moved not just by the sound but by the emotion behind it. “Hearing my dad sing as a child was everything to me, the emotion, the soul, the way he told stories through sound. Till today, my dad is a storyteller. Music has always been his language.”

That storytelling tradition went further back. During festive visits home, Frankie’s late grandfather would gather the family at night, playing the ubo, a local thumb piano, while sharing stories about his life and experiences during the Biafra war. “Those moments stayed with me,” Frankie says.

Music also became a way to process loss. Frankie’s late sister, Miracle, expressed herself through music, and her passing 16 years ago marked a turning point. “I made a promise to myself that every time I sing, I do it for her as well,” he shares. Over time, listeners began to respond deeply to his voice. “They often said things like, ‘Your voice heals.’ That was when I realized music wasn’t just something I loved, it was something that made people feel better.”

Frankie is soul-driven. “If I don’t feel it, I won’t sing it,” he says. Inspired by artists like Tracy Chapman and Boyz II Men, he focuses on honesty and emotional depth. “I focus more on how a sound feels than how loud it is, letting the story lead the music rather than the other way around.”

His work as a voice actor has shaped his awareness of tone, pacing, and intention. His voice has featured in campaigns for Value Jet Airline, BetWinner Naija, and Jaiz Bank. “Voice acting has sharpened my awareness of tone, pacing, and emotional intention,” he says. “Both worlds rely on storytelling.”

Frankie has also composed soundtracks for films, most recently To Adaego With Love, set to release on February 6. The film marks the final movie appearance of veteran Onyeka Onwenu. “I approach the project with reverence,” he says. “My goal is always to support the story without overpowering it, to create sounds that linger quietly.”

In a music industry increasingly shaped by speed and spectacle, Frankie Walter has taken a slower, more reflective path. His songs unfold with care, letting listeners inhabit the spaces between notes. “I don’t try to dramatize experiences; I try to tell the truth gently,” he says. “Most of my songs come from real-life events…one man’s story is several other people’s story.”

Frankie does not speak often about legacy. For him, the work is simpler and harder than that, listening closely, telling the truth gently, and trusting that if a sound is honest enough, it will find the people who need it.

Ifeoma Okeke-Korieocha is the Aviation Correspondent at BusinessDay Media Limited, publishers of BusinessDay Newspapers.

She is also the Deputy Editor, BusinessDay Weekender Magazine, the Saturday Weekend edition of BusinessDay.

She holds a BSC in Mass Communication from the prestigious University of Nigeria, Nsukka and a Masters degree in Marketing at the University of Lagos.

As the lead writer on the aviation desk, Ifeoma is responsible and in charge of the three weekly aviation and travel pages in BusinessDay and BDSunday. She also overseas and edits all pages of BusinessDay Saturday Weekender.

She has written various investigative, features and news stories in aviation and business related issues and has been severally nominated for award in the category of Aviation Writer of the Year by the Nigeria Media Nite-Out awards; one of the Nigeria’s most prestigious media awards ceremonies.

Ifeoma is a one-time winner of the prestigious Nigeria Media Merit Award under the 'Aviation Writer of the Year' Category.

She is the 2025 Eloy Award winner under the Print Media Journalist category.

She has undergone several journalism trainings by various prestigious organisations.

Ifeoma is also a fellow of the Female Reporters Leadership Fellowship of the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism.

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