Yinoluu is one of the producers at the forefront of the Alte Movement in Nigeria. With numerous hit songs in his bag including Odunsi’s Alte Cruise, he has continued to improve his craft with each release. We sat down with Yinoluu to discuss his career, implications of COVID-19 and being a jack-of-all-trades. Enjoy.
49th Street: When did you start producing beats?
Yinoluu: I started making beats all the way back in 2009-2010. I was in SS2 and that was when DRB and LOS had everyone and their guys in secondary school wanting to rap. At the time, I had a band in my school (DaRe who produces for Mojo was also in this band) and so people who wanted to try their hand at making music started coming to us to put beats together for them. I was introduced to FL Studio and that was the beginning of the whole thing, haha.
49th Street: How did Alte Cruise happen?
Yinoluu: Man, it was actually a stroke of luck in a way. Near the end of like 2016 or so, I had a bunch of beats I wasn’t sure what to do with. So, I started sending them out to different guys to get their opinions and stuff. That beat in particular, Odunsi was the only one I could hear on it so I DM’ed him on Twitter and he told me to send it for him to hear. Later that week, he sent back his verse and asked for me to add one more verse to it. I didn’t even know what it was going to become until the final song was practically ready in 2018 or so.
49th Street: After Alte Cruise was released, how did you feel considering it is one of the biggest songs of the Alte Movement?
Yinoluu: I was so flattered to be honest. Big ups to Odunsi, Zamir & Santi for what they did because the beat was actually so simple and they really took it to another level. I’m just happy that people ended up loving it the way they did and that it seemed to pave a way for a certain sound or ideal for the movement. I think it’s just a song that resonated with a lot of people and I like to believe that that’s all you want when you make music.
49th Street: Do you see yourself as an “Alte producer” or a producer that can’t be boxed?
Yinoluu: Hmm, it depends, I guess. Because, if you think about it, in some way the whole idea behind Alte is that it can’t be boxed right? I guess it’s ironic that there’s a box for things that can’t be boxed haha. But yeah, I don’t think I can be boxed ‘cuz I tend to do so many different kinds of things in so many different areas and fields, not even just across music genres. So I think it would be fair to myself to say I don’t really fit into a particular box. Hopefully time will tell as I’ve been doing a lot of diverse work lately so when it’s out it’ll count I guess.
49th Street: Did you make new music or beats during your stay in quarantine?
Yinoluu: Oh definitely! I think most creatives definitely created something during that time. We got a lot of isolation projects haha. I dropped an instrumental EP called Evening around then and it was all made during one day during lockdown. A lot of the stuff I have coming out around now actually stemmed from that time.
49th Street: You have released two projects this year, what has been the reception so far?
Yinoluu: I’m super thankful to everyone who listens and supports what I put out, honestly. The reception has actually surprised me. It feels amazing to know that there are people that enjoy what I make and no matter how few they may be, it’s incredibly heartwarming. I got a lot of messages and comments from different people about which songs were their favorites and what they loved about each one and how someone put them on to it and it all just makes you feel really appreciated you know.
49th Street: What was it like making Petal Scents with Riverays?
Yinoluu: Petal Scent was an absolute blast to put together. The funny thing about it is, we actually didn’t set out to make a project. At first, the idea was just to make one song; combine our sounds together and see what came of it. So, I sent them one beat, and then another, and another after that. And they were feeling them all so then the idea evolved into “Why not make a whole EP?”. The whole project was just fun and collaborative with a lot of back and forth, sharing ideas, and trying new things for both of us and we were just so excited with the outcome.
49th Street: What was the idea behind Treehouse?
Yinoluu: The idea of a treehouse in general is like a place to chill and relax, escape from the stress and hassles of everyday life and so I was trying to create a song that could be kinda the same thing for people; something to listen to and relax and feel the anxieties of the day just fade away. Making it gave me this freedom/release that I hope people experience when they listen to it as well.
49th Street: It is rare for producers to make instrumental only projects, what inspired you to make them?
Yinoluu: For me, that’s actually what made me want to produce in the first place. While I do enjoy producing for artists, what initially drew me to production was just how layered, intricate, emotive and expressive instrumentals can be. Like if you listen to movie soundtracks and stuff like that, the composer can tell a story with the music alone; can make you feel and imagine things and that power of the instrumentals was what drew me to them so much. I love telling stories and I love being able to instill different moods and emotions into my work and seeing those emotions connect with people when they listen is a feeling that’s really hard to top.
49th Street: How tasking is it to sell listeners the idea of listening to instruments without vocals?
Yinoluu: It’s one of those things that you already know going in to it. Instrumentals will never be mainstream or pop music. The thing with niche sounds is that it’s for the people it’s for if that makes sense, haha. There’s a specific audience for instrumentals so the hope is to hit success within that audience and understand that it’s unlikely to cross over outside of that. So, while it can be difficult and disappointing, it’s easier to deal with because you already know what it is.
49th Street: How do you balance school and music production?
Yinoluu: It takes a lot of organisation and time management to be honest. Especially considering that architecture is extremely time-consuming and stressful. So that also means that sometimes, especially when there’s a lot of schoolwork happening, music production is relegated to when I can find free time… almost like back to being purely like a hobby. Thankfully, a lot of the people I work with also understand that I can’t be as available as I’d like to be just yet and while it can limit opportunities for me, I think for now it’s just a matter of priorities and self-discipline.
49th Street: You’re a man of many talents, you are also a photographer?
Yinoluu: Haha yeah. The goal is to end up as some jack-of-all trades type of creative. I’m a photographer, a writer, and a number of other things that I’m perfecting to where I can do them at a competitive level. Time will tell haha.
49th Street: What excites you about photography?
Yinoluu: So many things. I think the main thing is its ability to capture moments in time and then create fictional moments as well. It’s such a gripping visual medium that allows so much control over the final image and message yet it can also be this extremely wild and natural thing and blurring the lines of that dichotomy has always been super interesting to me. It’s almost like how we dream; you are creating, discovering, experiencing, and documenting all at once.
49th Street: What inspires your art generally?
Yinoluu: Emotion and Storytelling in general. I think across all the arts I partake in, I just want to connect emotionally with people. I want to communicate a story or an idea to them and elicit some sort of emotional response. I want to give them a window into my own headspace in a way and use my art to let them feel and perceive the way I do, you get? So I take inspiration from my own experiences and understanding of life and the human condition and try to boil it down into the mediums I’m working with.
49th Street: If you were not producing beats or snapping breathtaking pictures, which career path do you see yourself in?
Yinoluu: Anything creative, to be honest. I think I was born to create. So whichever creative field I find myself in, I think I can make something of it. Be it as professional as architecture, interior design, (anything design really) or as liberating as film, music, photography, theater, I think I can dabble in anything because fundamentally all I really want to do is create experiences and tell stories.
49th Street: Are we to expect some songs you’ve produced anytime soon?
Yinoluu: Haha hopefully, hopefully. I have some things produced for a number of our fave artistes but I’m not in control of when those will come out. Makaveli recently came out on Kida Kudz’s project. I have my own instrumental project that is almost complete so that could be coming soon. And then another project with featured artistes that is currently in the final stages of engineering so that could and should also be out before the end of this year God-willing and if everything goes according to plan haha. So yeah, I can say there’s quite a bit of Yinoluu music coming soon. But it’ll most likely all be well spaced out, you get?