Lagos-born singer-songwriter, JNino embodies the resilient spirit of Afro-fusion, weaving together the vibrant rhythms of his Nigerian heritage with the soulful depths of neo-soul. Navigating life with a visible disability, music became JNino’s sanctuary, fostering self-expression and empowerment. Inspired by iconic figures like Lauryn Hill and Erykah Badu, JNino’s sound blends Afrobeats, hip-hop, and R&B to create an immersive, boundary-pushing experience. With a growing skillset that encompasses piano, guitar, and music production, JNino’s artistry is marked by introspection and innovation.
His single Manifest Me – featured on Apple Music’s Alternative R&B playlist and BBC Introducing – showcases his lyrical depth, exploring themes of self-discovery and romantic allure. Collaborations with talents like Winny further cement JNino’s reputation as a rising force in Alternative R&B and Neo-Soul, poised to transcend conventional boundaries and inspire a global audience with his authentic, soul-stirring voice.
As artists, one thing that cultivates our experience is our inspiration and also musical influences. What would you say has been your inspiration and the musical influences behind creating neo soul music?
I would say I fell in love with the genre when I heard Erykah Badu. At the time when I heard Erykah Badu, I was studying music technology at A-level; I was learning about musical instruments and the connection between soul music and slavery and it really stuck with me. I learnt about ties between Afrobeats and Neo soul. Neo soul artists sometimes draw inspiration from African music as a means to connect back to their roots. That’s basically how my interest was born.
How has the journey into music production been like for you? What inspired you to learn to play the piano and guitar?
I’m still learning the guitar so I’m not quite good at it yet but I can play the piano to an extent. I feel like when you can play an instrument as a musician, I think it was Femi Kuti that said this, that it opens your mind if you can understand the language, music is a language and as a musician you should be able to understand the language of music and that really resonated with me and since then, I’ve been trying my hands at different aspects of music, I used to be a rapper at some point. I decided to try music production because the cost of getting producers was high so I just decided to learn it myself, I ended up falling in love with it and studying music tech in Uni. I’ve been producing for about five years now and playing piano for about the same time..
Do you think that learning a musical instrument has influenced your music production in any way?
Yes. Because when I’m thinking about something music related, I can articulate and execute it with musical notes as opposed to just playing around the piano till I figure out what I have in my head.
Let’s talk about your latest release, did you aim to evoke a specific feeling in this remix as opposed to the original. And if you did, what led you to make this shift?
Okay, so I wanted it to have some elements of “Africanness”. I first heard Winny on a playlist my friend recommended and then I connected with her management when we both performed at Neo Fest in December. I was really curious to know what she would do on the song and how different it would sound from the original.
Can you walk us through the process of creating this remix?
It was really simple. I reached out to her manager and sent them the track and I got feedback that she liked it and wanted to hop on it. After that, I sent them the open verse, they replied with their first verse and I loved it immediately in love.
Honestly, what motivated me to do the remix was a chance meeting with Sarz. I was on a flight back to Lagos from school in London and Sarz was on my flight. I spoke to him and asked if I could send him some music and he graciously gave me his WhatsApp number. I sent him “Manifest Me” and he told me he loves it and that just gave me the motivation to do a remix since I’ve been thinking about it for a while. I reached out to Winny’s team in November. It took a few months for us to get everything together, but I’m glad that it’s coming out now.
The beautiful feeling that comes with witnessing the manifestation of all the energy and hard work you put into a project cannot be overemphasized. How does the concept of “Manifest Me” play into your own sense of manifestation? What are you hoping to manifest with this release?
This song actually came about as a joke, my friend was teasing me about being into spirituality and mentioned that I should write a song about it. The lyrics are quite lighthearted on the surface but when you look deeper, there’s an element of seriousness and that’s one of the interesting things about music; how meaning can be derived from anything with a song having different layers for each person. So basically, I’m manifesting my future self while asking a woman to manifest me. It’s a mixture of different things and I love the fact that people can just pick what they want from the song and vibe with it; some people have told me that their favorite part of the song is guitar.
As for what I’m trying to manifest with the release, I’ll say more streams, just having people listen to my music and reach out to me, in general, seeing the impact of the work I’ve put in.
During the creation of this remix, what was the major challenge that you had and how did you overcome it?
One major challenge I had was that it sounded different from the original and it took me about 200 listens before I decided to let go and just go with the vibe. I was trying to make it almost sound like the original, but, you know, it’s a different song and should have a different vibe. Also when I and Chi worked on the original, we were both in the same space. We wrote it while we were in Uni, I wrote the first verse and chorus and she wrote her verse but for this remix, I and Winny worked separately, Winny wrote her verse and recorded in a separate space so that was a whole different creation process for me but the major challenge was just struggling to accept that the remix would sound different and it didn’t matter if it sounded different from the original since that’s the essence of a remix.
What are your post release plans for remix?
Well, there’s a video out already on YouTube and just a bunch of short form content as well. We are also planning some sort of link up with my audience, something based around spirituality plus yoga and meditation type thing slash game night. I can’t give a date yet but that should happen when the remaining songs for my EP drops.
What can you say has been a highlight of working on this project?
So I would say the beginning was when Sarz told me he liked the song, I remember looking at that message for a good two days and was like, yeah, I need to do something with this song. Recently, I performed the original at 234 RnB (Winny wasn’t performing so I couldn’t perform the remix) and I saw people vibing to the music, I could see people paying rapt attention to me and enjoying themselves till I finished the song, that was another validating moment for me.
What’s one thing you would like to tell your audience?
Hm, I would like to tell them to believe in the concept of Ubuntu.It’s an African philosophy that stems from the idea that I am, because you are; I wouldn’t be human if you weren’t human, you know. We exist because of each other, and we should all collaborate to improve the world.
What matters to you most and why?
Family and community because you are nothing without the people who believe in you and help you accomplish your goals. Even though I don’t have a manager, I have my videographer who doubles as my creative director. Shout out Vitalis! I have my music friends who come to help out during my video shoots and we all help each other during each other’s shows and all. I feel like without that life would be pretty boring, you know. It’s very difficult to exist without community.
