South London’s Master Peace barrels headfirst into love on ‘if i don’t love you, who will ?,’ a riotously fun sophomore album where punchy indie pop collides with silky R&B, and even heartbreak comes with a killer hook. Bursting with outrageous one-liners, lovestruck euphoria, and bruising confessions, the record begs to be sung at full volume – whether you’re falling head over heels or picking up the pieces.

Stream: “stay on me !” – Master Peace ft. Diamond Cafe

Please don’t get a boyfriend / that’s so embarrassing…

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Master Peace has a remarkable way of making a plea sound like a punchline.

On “save your love xx,” the opening track of his sophomore album, if i don’t love you, who will ?, the South London artist is away on tour, asking the person he wants to save their love until he comes home. It’s an outrageous little request, delivered with all the mischief and charisma that have made Peace Okezie such a magnetic presence in British alternative music. But beneath the grin lies a familiar fear: What happens when the person you’re missing starts moving on without you?

That question follows Master Peace throughout if i don’t love you, who will ?, a vibrant, genre-blurring record that pairs his irrepressible personality with a more emotionally exposed side of his songwriting. Across ten tracks of punchy indie pop, guitar-driven rock, and soulful R&B, Peace celebrates the exhilaration of falling in love while confronting the jealousy, regret, and lingering attachments that make falling out of it so difficult. His most revealing album to date is also his most romantic reckoning – a journey through the contradictions of young love that ultimately asks how we can give our hearts to anyone else before learning to love ourselves.

Released October 2, 2026 via Big Family Music, if i don’t love you, who will ? follows 2024’s acclaimed debut album, How To Make A Master Peace, and February’s Stupid Kids EP, extending an artistic journey defined by fearless experimentation and an increasingly personal approach to songwriting. For Okezie, whose music has always thrived on breaking down boundaries, the album represents another kind of liberation: The freedom to let his guard down and reveal more of the person behind his exuberant musical persona.

This willingness to defy expectations has been part of Master Peace’s identity from the very beginning. Raised between South East London and the suburbs of Surrey, Okezie grew up surrounded by different musical cultures, absorbing the sounds of Skepta and Giggs through his older brother while developing his own affinity for the likes of The Kooks, Bloc Party, and Vampire Weekend. The collision of grime, British guitar music, and boundary-pushing pop helped shape an artist whose creative imagination has never belonged to any single scene. Rather than choosing between those influences, he built his own musical identity out of their contrasts, embracing the freedom to be as eclectic, unpredictable, and unapologetically himself as he pleased.

That adventurous, freewheeling approach made How To Make A Master Peace a thrilling introduction to his world.

A restless fusion of indie rock, punk, dance, and pop, the 2024 album earned widespread acclaim and helped propel Okezie onto an international stage, including an Ivor Novello Rising Star Award, Glastonbury performances, and tours alongside artists like Franz Ferdinand and The Streets. By early 2026, Stupid Kids had pushed his storytelling into more personal territory, confronting a childhood marked by misunderstanding and the experience of being written off by the people and institutions around him. What began as a defiant celebration of his own unlikely path forward became another important step toward greater openness, even as his career continued gathering speed.

Success, however, brought its own creative questions. With an acclaimed debut behind him and an audience growing around the world, Peace faced the challenge of deciding what his next full-length statement should be.

“I was gonna rinse and repeat the debut because it had such a big reception and impact, and I wanted to level it up,” Master Peace tells Atwood Magazine.

But an unexpected experience changed the course of the entire project. Watching another band perform, Peace found himself drawn to the extraordinary connection between the music and the people experiencing it. The moment challenged his original plans, opening his imagination to a different kind of record.

“The album actually got scrapped after I went to see this band play and I was inspired by how the music was resonating with the audience in such a euphoric way,” he recalls. “That made me want to lean into the sweeter aspect of indie, so then I went in with a fresh mind and made this record instead.”

Rather than continuing down the path he’d already mapped out, Peace returned to his music with a fresh perspective, reshaping the album around a broader sense of possibility. That change reverberates through if i don’t love you, who will ?, whose musical personality stretches from bright, guitar-driven indie pop to smoother R&B and soulful alternative textures. It’s an evolution that feels natural for an artist raised on such disparate influences, yet the record’s greatest departure lies in how closely its songs examine the messy realities of his own romantic life.

The result is a collection that’s as comfortable cracking jokes as it is admitting defeat, with Peace’s wit and self-assurance repeatedly giving way to uncertainty and longing.

He describes the album as funny, introspective, and warm – a fitting combination for music that can make you laugh at the absurdities of young love one minute and confront their emotional consequences the next.

This balance also reflects a meaningful shift in how Okezie presents himself. Master Peace has always been a larger-than-life character, a performer whose outsized charisma and mischievous sense of humor are inseparable from his appeal. Yet as his songwriting becomes more revealing, the distinction between his public persona and private emotions begins to narrow. For Peace, the album represents a chance to bring those sides of himself closer together.

“It’s more personality and way more realness and not hiding behind the character I portray sometimes,” he says. This openness gives the album’s title a significance beyond its immediate romantic implications. if i don’t love you, who will ? sounds almost like a challenge issued to another person, an insistence on the importance of one’s own affection. But Peace has a different understanding of the question, one that places responsibility for love much closer to home.

“What it really means is you gotta love yourself and that’s what matters,” he explains. “You can’t really love someone or a partner to your best ability if you don’t love yourself.”

It’s a deceptively simple philosophy for an album whose relationships are anything but straightforward. Peace knows the importance of putting himself first, yet his songs reveal how easily desire can cloud judgment, how stubbornly old feelings can persist, and how difficult it can be to accept that a relationship has run its course. The distance between understanding what is best for yourself and actually following through becomes a defining tension throughout if i don’t love you, who will ?, lending greater emotional weight to the humor and romantic bluster that make its music so irresistible.

Master Peace’s gift for turning romantic disaster into captivating entertainment is everywhere on this album.

He delights in the absurdity of his own predicament, finding humor in moments that might otherwise leave him heartbroken. The opening line of “save your love xx,” he says, is “definitely up there with my favourite lyrics I’ve ever written,” inspired by online discourse about whether having a boyfriend is embarrassing. “I thought I want people to know I agree on first listen,” he adds with a laugh.

Please don’t get a boyfriend
That’s so embarrassing
I’ll just end up trolling
making you mad again
I’ll be off this tour bus in 17 days
Let me get this line off
say what I wanna say

Lie on me
You don’t have to lie
Try for me, I love when you try
I’ll be back, back in your life
Step by step
Just a matter of time

Save your love for me
Don’t you let it go to waste

– “save your love xx,” Master Peace

The track itself is a riotous, tongue-in-cheek declaration of devotion, with Peace counting down the days until he’s home while dreaming up increasingly outrageous ways to ward off the competition. Its playful indie pop bounce and chant-ready refrain make his lovesick desperation sound like an invitation to party, even as the repeated plea to save that affection for him betrays just how much he has riding on the relationship. Beneath all the teasing and theatrical bravado is a genuinely endearing promise to make up for lost time – the perfect opening statement from an artist whose heart is every bit as big as his personality.

The same cheeky irreverence drives “new boyfriend,” a mischievous burst of indie pop that makes jealousy sound almost celebratory. “I think it would be sweeter if you cheat on him with me,” Peace declares, wrapping a spectacularly petty sentiment in a melody made for singing at the top of your lungs. His writing thrives on that delicious tension between what we know we should feel and what we actually want.

And when love is going well, few artists sound as gloriously excited about it as Master Peace. “stay on me !” (featuring Diamond Cafe) revels in the breathless anticipation of a budding relationship, its buoyant pop spirit giving way to a promise of devotion: “And I will be better when I get home.” It’s an undeniable moment of lovestruck euphoria, its bright melodies and bold, singalong chorus capturing the thrill of physical attraction alongside the growing desire for a deeper connection. Beneath the flirtation lies a heartfelt appreciation for a partner who stands by him through life’s difficulties, and an earnest determination to give that affection back tenfold. Peace makes young love sound like the greatest adventure imaginable – an openhearted invitation to throw yourself headfirst into the possibilities of a shared future.

She wanna f*** me in the backseat
It’s in her eyes it can’t be make believe
Her friends are hating cause she’s dating me
I’d rather you lie then ever leave

Short white tee with an arch in her back
Talking real wet dream but she’s more than just that
She’s the one by my side
when I’m stressing and I’m strapped

I’m screaming woah, woah
Stay on me, stay on me
And I will be better when I get home
Stay on me, stay on me
And I will be better when I get, better
when I get home
Stay on me, stay on me

Meanwhile, “ONE of ONE” bursts through the speakers grinning, its cheerful claps, pulsing drums, radiant guitars, and glistening bass propelling an ecstatic celebration of newfound attraction. Peace is all swagger and enthusiasm here, brushing off outside opinions with a wink as he sings, “Cause her friends don’t like me and I don’t mind.” It’s high-energy indie rock at its most vivacious, capturing the dizzying rush of meeting a person who makes everything else seem a little less important.

There’s a wonderful contradiction in his insistence that he doesn’t want to get attached, even as the chorus finds him completely smitten, repeating “she’s one of one” like he can’t quite believe his luck. Every beat seems to egg him on, and by the time the hook comes swinging back around, his attempts at playing it cool have gone straight out the window. It’s an absolute blast – a song that makes the early days of infatuation feel like an occasion worth shouting from the rooftops.

‘Cause her friends don’t like me and I don’t mind
She got a face card on her that I’ll never decline
Because I want her, I want her, want her
I want her, want her
She’s one of one, a one of one, a one of one

I don’t want to get attached when girl I’m high
Not a one to follow fashion cause I’m fly
Don’t focus too hard on what I do baby
Never clean, super mean, nothing new baby

Of course, the honeymoon never lasts forever. The emotional complications that creep into “falling in love with your friends” become harder to ignore as the album unfolds, with Peace reckoning with wandering eyes and the consequences of his own behavior. On the intoxicatingly alluring “act like you know ?” (featuring Muni Long), the music slips into a silkier R&B groove, trading guitar-fueled effervescence for a more restrained, soulful atmosphere. Beneath that inviting sound lies the sting of betrayal, as former lovers become strangers and shared history is suddenly treated as though it never mattered. “I paid all your debts and I gave you a bed,” Peace sings, his frustration revealing how painful it can be to watch affection curdle into resentment.

The collaboration also represents a personal milestone for Okezie, whose admiration for Muni Long made the experience especially meaningful. “I’m such a fan of her and her writing so I was so stoked to even get a chance to meet her and connect with her musically,” he says. “For me, that was a massive highlight.”

Peace’s endless openness to different musical worlds gives if i don’t love you, who will ? much of its appeal.

He moves between the fizzing immediacy of British guitar pop and the seductive pull of contemporary R&B with a confidence that makes each stylistic shift feel like another facet of his personality. But even as the arrangements change, his lyrics remain wonderfully direct. “Love Hate” (featuring Thomas Day) wrestles with the exhaustion of a relationship caught in an endless cycle of affection and frustration, its central question cutting straight to the heart of that confusion: “How do you make me feel like I hate you so bad?” It’s a painfully recognizable predicament, and Peace understands how to make even the most exasperating romantic contradictions feel worth singing about.

For all the flirtation and bravado, Master Peace is equally compelling when he confronts the damage love leaves behind. On “back at me,” the blame begins to fall inward, with Peace recognizing the heartache he’s caused and the limits of what he can repair. “My bad, I’m bad for you girl” is a devastating admission from an artist so often armed with humor and confidence. “sucker punch !” takes that exposure further, stripping back the musical fireworks in favor of a more delicate, melodic approach that leaves his disappointment hanging in the air. Having learned through a mutual friend that an ex has moved on, Peace finds himself wishing he’d never heard the news at all. “Was happier when I didn’t know,” he confesses, capturing the peculiar cruelty of discovering that someone else’s life has continued without you.

And then comes “never moved on ?,” a closing confession that leaves the album’s central question unresolved. All the posturing falls away, leaving Peace with a truth he can barely escape: “Because I never moved on.” It’s a striking destination for a record whose title encourages self-love, and one that gives its earlier moments of romantic abandon an added poignancy. The heart doesn’t always follow the lessons the mind has learned. Closure can be an aspiration rather than an achievement, and sometimes the most difficult part of loving yourself is accepting that the person you want may no longer be part of your life.

And therein lies the magic of if i don’t love you, who will ?: Master Peace understands that love can make us feel invincible one minute and utterly ridiculous the next, and he embraces every beautiful, bewildering contradiction along the way.

His songs are built for life’s highest highs and lowest lows – the kind of music that can send you flying into the weekend, keep you company through a sleepless night, or remind you that even the worst heartbreak won’t last forever. Between the guitar-pop fireworks and soulful R&B grooves, there’s room to flirt, sulk, celebrate, and find your footing again. And through it all, Peace never loses sight of the sheer joy of making music. These songs are wildly entertaining, endlessly charismatic, and above all, so much fun.

That exuberance is part of what makes Master Peace such a singular artist. His refusal to be confined by genre mirrors his willingness to embrace the full spectrum of human feeling, inviting listeners to meet him wherever they happen to be in their own lives. A first date, a final goodbye, the intoxicating promise of a fresh start – if i don’t love you, who will ? has a place for all of it. There’s genuine generosity in the way Peace shares his imperfections so openly, transforming personal experiences into irresistible pop songs that make our own struggles feel a little less isolating. It’s music to lose yourself in and find yourself through, a reminder that even when love gets complicated, life is still worth embracing with your whole heart.

Peace hopes listeners will recognize themselves in that journey, and perhaps find the encouragement to leave their own painful chapters behind.

“I hope they can relate from a closure aspect and understand that moving forward is better than being stuck in the past,” he says.

And while the album offers listeners plenty to discover about themselves, making it has brought Peace face to face with a revelation of his own.

“I’m more emotional and definitely more of a lover boy than I thought,” he admits.

It’s an endearing realization from an artist whose music has always radiated confidence, and perhaps the most fitting expression of what makes this record so special. Master Peace can still make you dance, laugh, and lose yourself in the rush of a great pop hook – but now, he’s letting us see just how much feeling goes into every one. For an artist who opens the album begging someone to save their love, he’s given us a remarkable amount of his own.

Experience the full record via our stream below, and get to know the lover boy behind the punchlines as Master Peace takes Atwood Magazine track-by-track through the music and lyrics of his irreverent and irresistible sophomore album, if i don’t love you, who will ?!

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:: stream/purchase if i don’t love you, who will ? here ::

:: connect with Master Peace here ::

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Stream: ‘if i don’t love you, who will ?’ – Master Peace

:: Inside if i don’t love you, who will ? ::

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save your love xx

“save your love” is a bit tongue-in-cheek and is about a long distance relationship while on tour. It’s about giving your partner reassurance that when you’re back, you’re gonna give them all your time and make up for the lost time that you guys have missed getting to know each other. It’s the first song on the album so it’s a light, fun one.

new boyfriend

The track’s about feeling envy that your ex has moved on with someone new. It also has a lighthearted feeling that they are probably still not over you and they are just afraid to admit it.

falling in love with your friends

It’s quite metaphorical and based around wandering eyes in a relationship from both ends and admitting that within yourself instead of trying to pretend that you feel a way for someone else.

back at me

It’s about the penny finally dropping and realising you’ve lost the person you truly cared about. Sometimes you never know how much they mean to you till they are gone. It’s also about making peace with the fact that it was for the best and you weren’t meant for each other, but you can love them from afar.

act like you know? ft. Muni Long

This song is about being ex partners with someone and then as soon as the relationship ends you see the side of them, you’d never thought you’d see, and they start pretending that you never had their best interest at heart. I think it’s easy to feel hard done by when something ends but when the person behaves differently after everything you built together it feels like a betrayal in some sort of way.

Love Hate ft. Thomas Day

This is a really personal song to me. It’s about that frustration of not being able to move on from the past, and feeling like you’re going round in circles in a relationship instead of moving forward. You love that person so much, but you hate the situation you’re both in at the time.

stay on me ! ft. Diamond Cafe

It’s a feel-good love song about looking forward to seeing the new person you’ve met and it’s the early stages of a relationship and you feel nothing but excitement to be around them!

ONE of ONE

This one is about that feeling when you get butterflies after a first date and everything with someone new just feels exciting and refreshing. You’re in that honeymoon phase where everything feels right, you feel brand new and you just wanna tell the world about them.

sucker punch !

It’s about finding out that someone you were dating has moved on with someone new, but having to hear it from their best friend instead of them. Hearing how happy they are, how they’ve moved to a whole new country and just wishing you never knew in the first place. I think there’s something in “ignorance is bliss” because when I was going through it, it genuinely felt like the biggest sucker punch ever.

never moved on ?

It’s about the feeling that hits everyone at the end of a relationship and no matter who you date next or what connection you feel with someone else the person you will always yearn for is the one that you went through everything with and you truly never really moved on.

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:: stream/purchase if i don’t love you, who will ? here ::

:: connect with Master Peace here ::

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 © Miranda May

if i don’t love you, who will ?

an album by Master Peace