In 2013, I was watching MTN Project Fame with my mother when I first saw
@johnnydrille . I was entranced by his presence, his choice of music and singing approach.
I didn’t hear of him again until I was obsessed with Hello by Adele and found his cover and realized it was the same guy from Project Fame. Then I heard his cover of Awww by Di’ja. I remember thinking “I didn’t know you could do that. I didn’t know you’re allowed to change a song that much and make it your own.”
I was amazed. Inspired. Curious.
I remember how I jumped around my apartment in college when he and
@ladipoe got signed to Mavin. I celebrated like sey na my own brothers dem sign.
I watched every Johnny’s Room Live from every apartment I lived in and every couch I slept on, damn near crying during the proposals.
When I worked at
@mavinrecords as an A&R, I yearned to just see him work. That was all. Too shy to make that happen, and scared of being a try-hard, I never asked or tried to orchestrate that. The rest of this story would take a longer essay or video or something but just…I learned he had heard my music. On one of my funniest, weirdest days in Lagos, I learned he was interested in working with me as a writer. This happened 3 years ago so I don’t remember all the details of that moment when I was told. I think my spirit left my body for a second. No—I know it did.
Johnny made me feel encouraged, empowered, respected, trusted and seen during those hours in his studio. I didn’t fangirl because I wanted to focus and do good work, but every moment felt surreal. There are NO words. NONE.
Some songs never leave artiste’s hard-drives—especially when operating on this level.
I will forever cherish the shot I got to work with one of my favorite musicians in the entire Milky Way Galaxy.
And to
@aqyila whose project ‘Falling Into Place’ is one of my favorite albums of all time, you floated and swayed all over this song. It is surreal to see worlds merge in the way they have. As I said before, I hope more musicians find your music.
‘Before The Morning Light” IS OUT NOW.
✍🏾 Track 5 — “Chokehold”
The last slide is my note from the day.