![](./media_188dcc59372937d3febc632bceb8ae402084de569.jpeg?width=750&format=jpeg&optimize=medium)
The odds of breaking out in the music business are slim, but it’s even more rare to be a multihyphenate that’s equally successful across the board. For Young Jonn, it’s clear that the odds — and his talent — worked in his favor.
Growing up in the church, music has always surrounded the Ibadan, Nigeria native. After learning to play the drums and keyboard at a young age, Young Jonn found himself in a rap group. Wanting to help the aspiring group on the production end, he started out with FruityLoops (FL) and began learning how to make beats.
In this exclusive interview with REVOLT, the star recalled making his first-ever beat during his teenage years. “I was in secondary school,” Young Jonn shared. “I think I was about 14.”
Becoming a self-taught producer ultimately changed the course of his life at rapid speed. Around 2011, he met Olamide, which was the start of them becoming a dynamic music duo. By 2014, Olamide’s “Story for the Gods,” produced by Young Jonn, was released and became a hit.
In addition to making beats for Olamide’s label, Yahoo Boy No Laptop Nation — or YBNL Nation — as a teen, “The Wicked Producer” went on to work with more Nigerian music stars, including Davido, Tiwa Savage, and Kizz Daniel.
For nearly a decade, Young Jonn was known for creating heat for other musicians, but then he pivoted into doing so for himself and became a solo artist. In 2022, after signing to Chocolate City Music, he released his debut EP, Love is Not Enough, which included his breakout single, “Dada.”
Young Jonn quickly returned in the same year with Love is Not Enough, Vol. 2. The follow-up project further solidified him as not just a force as a producer, but also an overall musician. The EP’s lead single, “Xtra Cool,” went No. 1 on Nigeria’s TurnTable Charts Top 100.
“It was never a plan,” said Young Jonn when asked whether releasing his own music was always a vision of his. “I never really planned to be an artist, but life played out.”
While the turn of events happened organically, he emphasized that the road has been far from easy. With making the transition from producer to artist, he’s had to navigate uncharted waters, like ensuring he has a strong stage presence while performing live as well as recording his vocals rather than solely recording beats.
“It was a learning process,” Jonn admitted. “It’s a whole different ball game. It’s a whole different hustle, grind, and business. It took me time, but I think I’m getting a hold of it.”
While finding his footing as an artist, he said Olamide, Kizz Daniel, and Lil Kesh were some of the music comrades he was able to learn from and who kept him inspired. As mentioned, Young Jonn worked closely with the YBNL family early on in his career. As for Kizz, the two have had multiple collaborations on songs such as “Ello Baby” featuring Tiwa Savage and “Big Big Things” featuring Seyi Vibez.
What’s more, Young Jonn produced “Mama,” one of Kizz’s hit breakout singles.
Following the EPs, Jonn dropped Jiggy Forever in April of this year. The debut album featured Kizz, Don Jazzy, Sean Paul, Seyi Vibez, Blaqbonez, Zlatan, and Ya Levis. In addition to the artists, Jiggy Forever featured production from Magicsticks, BigRagee, Yung Willis, and more. As a renowned producer himself, Jonn said that working with the popular song-crafters was a fun experience.
“All of the producers on this album are producers that I really appreciate their work,” he expressed. “And I feel like they do a really great job.”
As for creating Jiggy Forever, the artist explained that narrowing down the tracklist to 16 songs was the biggest challenge of the album process. “I’m always recording, so I just had a lot of songs and I put all of them together,” he said. “The stressful part was selecting songs rather than making the songs.”
Despite the initial stress of creating his debut LP, the aftermath has been highly rewarding.
“[The album process] compared to right now, it makes me feel good that all of the hard work has been appreciated because the feedback from the album so far has been amazing and makes all of the work worth it,” the star acknowledged.
Although he’s focused on career expansion, Young Jonn shared with REVOLT that he still finds time to do what he loves, which is producing. He doesn’t believe he’ll ever stop making beats.
“I still make beats, but I barely have time to make beats like I used to because I’m always on the road,” the musician admitted.
With only two years down as an artist, Jonn has been booked and busy. One of his anticipated performances was at the 2024 Tribeville Music Festival. Hosted in Houston, TX and produced by Duke Concept — a New York-based event production and promotion company — on July 5, alongside Young Jonn, the lineup included Davido, Wande Coal, Chike, The Compozers, and more.
“Tribeville Festival was lit,” said Young Jonn about the second annual event. “I had fun. The fans had fun. The energy was high.”
He is also set to hit more major U.S. cities. In June, he announced his “Jiggy Forever Tour,” marking his first time headlining a North American trek. Kicking off in Montreal, the tour will make stops in New York, LA, Atlanta and more.
The touring milestone is a big affirmation for Young Jonn and serves as fuel for him to stay on course.
“It just makes me know that maybe I’m doing something right,” he told REVOLT. “I may not be getting it 100 over 100, but I’m a step in the right direction. It’s a major milestone for me and it just reminds me that I should keep going.”