Young John: I had no contract with YBNL

Young John, the Nigerian producer and artiste, says his dealings with the music label YBNL weren’t contractual.

The Chocolate City signee, in a chat with TV host Ebuka Obi-Uchendu, spoke about his years as a music producer.

He made his first major stride into production in 2014, with his credits in the rapper Olamide’s ‘YBNL’ album.

This was while working with Hit Factory Studio, an affiliate of YBNL, a record label owned by Olamide, in 2014.

Young John, who spoke of the hurdles producers face while seeking placement, said he had no contract with YBNL.

“I was playing football but used to rap in secondary school. We had a group; I made beats for everyone while still doing my football and unconsciously producing. Getting to [university], I stopped training for football,” he said.

“I came to Lagos in 2011/2102. Getting to Lagos, I found myself in the studio and the switch away from football happened. My first mainstream production was with ‘Story For The Gods’ by Olamide way back in 2014.

“There’s this studio I used to work with, Hit Factory Studios. I basically used to live, sleep, and eat there. We were a lot there, just working. Olamide and Pheelz used to come there to record. We were recording the ‘YBNL’ project.

“I was there when they recorded ‘Baddest Guy Ever Liveth’. I was always relating with everybody because Pheelz was my guy. He frequented the studio. We never really did anything major until ‘Story For The Gods’.

“YBNL is family to me. I was always in the studio. Then we started working. Then it became a family thing. We never really put a pen to paper. There was nothing contractual. I was so into YBNL and they did a lot for me.

“I produced so many songs. Because of that, I’m who I am today. It just clicked and we took it from there.”

Asked about complaints regarding producers not getting monetary value for their work, Young John said, “it’s life.”

“I tell everyone it’s not a producer thing. It’s life. How you carry yourself determines. I understand it’s not easy for producers trying to find placement. But the value you put on yourself is what people put on you,” the singer added.

“A couple of producers make good money but many others don’t get recognition yet. As a producer when I was so into it, I used to put so much value into my work. I knew how much I put in, so I’m like, I should get value for this.

“It still happens but it’s a journey. When you want something, you do anything to have it. When you have it, you realise you need to level up. Everyone has to go through their own journey. It happens even in writing.”

Young John, in March, rebranded to become an artiste and signed a deal with the record label Chocolate City.