Q&A: meet IJALE, Melbourne artist drops track that melts like refined gold

Melbourne based hip-hop artist and producer IJALE has just dropped his latest single XXL and it has more than smoothly landed. The new single embraces the feels of confidence, talking to IJALE’s life, his choices and the people around him. Good vibes only please. 

XXL’s journey is a unique one, it was in the pipeline for 3 years and reared its head on stage a few times to become a crowd favourite before its official release. His flow throughout the track melts like refined gold, it is straight up butter. 

Being able to experience the gifts of more than one culture generally enables people with the ability to see a fuller picture. In IJALE’s case, he is able to draw on his Nigerian heritage, Australian upbringing and the influences of the internet to create a blend of Afrocentric sounds mixed with modern western influences. 

We caught up with IJALE to chat about his new track, continuing the conversation around important social issues and the convenience of being able to cry rice. 

Check out all the feels below:

Heya IJALE, tell us a bit about how and why you decided to get into making music?

I was always into music since I was young, but I got into making music when I was in high school playing in bands with my homies. After high school, I got into producing on Fruity Loops and then just fell in love with the process.

Let’s talk about your new track, tell us all there is to know about XXL. 

Well, the instrumental was produced by two Sydney natives, Scruffs and The Dieyoungs. They play drums and keys, as well as produce and are just super talented. They sent me the beat around 3 years ago, and I wrote the track the day that I got it. I produce my own music predominantly, but there’s just something about their production that brings out a part of me that I can't replicate on my own.

It stayed in the vault for ages, but then I started throwing it into my sets during live shows and just seeing the way people moved to it and sang the hook back to me made me fall into the track more. It started off just being about baggy shirts because oversized clothing is my sh*t on most days, but it evolved into being about feeling comfortable in your own lane and your own style and being bigger than the world, or the internet sometimes makes you feel.

When creating music, where do you tend to draw influence from?

I find inspiration everywhere, to be honest, from conversations with friends, from books, film and TV that grabs me, memes on the gram, from my blackness, to the political climate we’re living in right now. I try and sponge up as much as I can and make sense of it in whatever way works.

Widely Disparate Sounds was a killer debut EP, how does it feel to have you first suite of tracks out and into the world?

It feels so good to have those songs out. Artists know the feels when you release a project that you’ve been done with weeks or months before, the anticipation builds up plenty. Also, I was already making new music that was shades different from that project, so putting it out felt like the closing of a chapter.

Now that Melbourne is backing out of restrictions, how does it feel to know that live performance is just around the corner?

I'm beyond keen to get back on stage! I feel like I've learnt so much about how I'm gonna move and what I'm gonna bring to it just from plotting on it during lockdown. But I am sceptical about how the crowd will respond and get into things after this whole deluge. Times are weird. I'm hopeful though.

With the world so quick to shift focus, how important is it to continue having conversations around important social issues like BLM?

It’s paramount. Regular returns to the topics of race help to develop a shift for this type of thinking becoming more than just a hashtag or a moment in time. The sting of the subject is counteracted by constant interaction and integration, to the point where talking about it becomes regular and impossible to ignore for those who are wilfully ignorant. It makes it clear that racial issues are everybody's issue, meaning we all must look it in the face. Exposure therapy and all that.

In your opinion, who are 5 underrated Aus and NZ artists?

To be honest, there are so many, but for me its Godriguez, Noah Slee, Elle Shimada, Wallace and Maina Doe. They’re all at differing stages in their careers but should all be closing out festivals in my opinion.

What song do you love to listen to but would never put on when passed the AUX cord?

I'm not often ashamed to put on any song to be honest, but if it’d have to choose it would probably be a song by Justin Bieber. His voice is amazing, and it’s nice to see him happy and married and sh*t.

What are three things you could never live without?

My music, friends and family.

Would you rather sweat glue or cry rice?

I’d much rather cry rice. I’m Nigerian so it’s a staple in the diet. Can you imagine? I'd make myself cry thrice daily for that kind of savings.

What’s on the horizon music wise for you?

XXL was my last release for the year, but I'm planning a few special things to share by the end of the year. I'm hoping to play a lot more live shows, and I've been making a tonne of new music that should come in the form of a mixtape next year sometime. 

IJALE is not wrong on the crying rice front, imagine all the different types of food you could make at a lower cost! Hello free sushi.

Hopefully in the next month or so live performance takes huge strides to getting some normality back. I for one know i’ll be up front at IJALE’s next gig dancing like my legs won’t work tomorrow and supplying all the vibes.

Check out  his new track below or head to our Sunday's R 4 the Soul  🎷 playlist to hear more buttery songs like this one.

By Samuel Seedsman.