Long-term fans and listeners of Johnny Drille have witnessed the evolution of the multi-dimensional singer and producer from a music reality TV star to a well-regarded musician in his rights. Another micro-evolution that has occurred in relation to Drille is a move to synthesize his Alternative Pop and R&B leaning with Afropop elements in recent years. His sophomore album, ‘Before the Morning Light,’ represents the richest fusion of all those influences into a coherent statement while decidedly moving away from the melancholia of his debut, ‘Before We Fall Asleep.’

“There’s a lot more confidence in what I’m doing and the music I’m making and just embracing this new hybrid of the sound that I’ve come to create,” he pointed out in a conversation about his new album with Apple Music’s Africa Now Radio. “It’s a lot happier than the previous album. It’s a lot more hopeful, and for me the title itself just represents knowing that hope is on the horizon. It’s about to be daylight.” Topping out at 14 songs, the singer runs through familiar topics like redemption, romance, and faithfulness with a reflective poise that has long been a Johnny Drille standard.

This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.    

What does ‘Before the Morning Light’ represent?

So, the very first album, which was ‘Before We Fall Asleep’ was a bit darker. There was a lot of uncertainty and I wasn’t exactly sure. You could tell from just listening to the album, it almost felt like I was divided and trying to figure out what the next direction for me [was]. Some sounds represented a part of me that a lot of my existing fans were already used to at the time and they loved, and then there was this new sound that I was exploring which I wasn’t so sure of. So, there was all that division internally. The thing with ‘Before the Morning Light,’ which is my new album, is that it’s a lot more certain. There’s a lot more confidence in what I’m doing and the music I’m making and just embracing this new hybrid of the sound that I’ve come to create. It’s a lot happier than the previous album. It’s a lot more hopeful, and for me the title itself just represents knowing that hope is on the horizon. It’s about to be daylight. The light’s about to come and it’s about to be after the darkest part of the night, after the hardest things you go through in life, the next thing that comes is joy in the morning. 

What emotions did you channel for the album?

For a lot of people, when they go through really hard times, it’s hard to see beyond that. You’re just stuck in that moment and you almost feel like you can’t get out of it and you kind of settle into it and that becomes your new reality. So, I guess this for me was to remind people that pain only lasts for a while and joy comes in the morning. It’s just temporary. As long as you keep pushing and you keep fighting, eventually the sun’s gonna shine for everyone.

Do you write from real life experiences?

Back then, almost 100% of what I wrote was from my personal experiences. But, over the years, I’ve started to collaborate more with a lot of people. At least 30% of the album, I collaborated on the songwriting with a bunch of amazing artists. At the same time, the songs that I chose from these artists, I only chose because I could hear myself in them, I could see myself in them. So, at the end of the day, it’s still very representative of me as a musician and where I’m at right now as a creative. A lot of the songs that I’ve worked on that people tend to connect the most with are the ones that I’ve written from experience. Songs like “Wait For Me,” songs like “How Are You My Friend,” songs like “Believe Me” and “Papa” and “Sister.”These songs come from a very personal place and I think people can tell sometimes when it’s very personal to you and somehow they seem to connect a lot more with those songs.

What was it like working with Angélique Kidjo?

Look, I have to pinch myself every time just to remind myself like I have a song with Angélique Kidjo. Interestingly, this is not the first time I’ve worked with her. This is the third time. The first time was on a song with Kizz Daniel but we didn’t really get to really talk or interact like that because I was just a featured artist. This one was very special to me because I’ve listened to Angélique Kidjo all my life. It’s crazy because I feel like I was like a kid, like a baby the first time I heard Angélique Kidjo. To be able to make music with such a legend, it just feels amazing, and I think it was just right for it to be the first song on the project because why not just start strong? She is amazing. She’s incredible. It’s such a privilege to be able to work with someone like that, and she was very kind. People that haven’t met Angélique Kidjo probably don’t know this about her, but she’s the most amazing person ever. The whole process of getting her to record and send back and feedback, she made it very easy for me and not to throw shade at anyone, but I’ve met famous people and I know how some of them can be. Just meeting someone like Angélique Kidjo and seeing how she’s been through it all, she’s seen it all, but she’s still so kind and so thoughtful and just such an amazing person. It just makes me want to be that regardless of how much success I attain.

How did your collaboration with Young Jonn and Ayra Starr come about?

I could have had both Ayra Starr and Young Jonn on different songs but I was like, you know what, let’s just overdo it. Let’s just put everybody on this one song. I’m grateful for that. Grateful for being able to work with people like this. Ayra Starr, I’ve collaborated with for so long. You know, I’ve literally been with her right from the beginning. I’ve mixed and mastered a lot of the songs she’s put out from “Rush” to “Commas.” Ayra is my family, and Young Jonn, talented producer first and then became such an incredible artist. I like to think that song is just perfection because it just has all the right people in there.

What song do you think you put the most into?

It’s definitely “Second Chance,” which is the last song on the project. That song I first wrote in 2022. I just couldn’t get it right for like three years. Then I was gonna put it out last year, during Valentine’s, but that didn’t happen. So, that song has had so many different versions because I was trying to represent something. If you listen to a lot of my music, you know a lot of the songs are very faith-based. Trying to juxtapose Christ dying on the cross, giving us a second chance and someone getting a second chance at love to do something right, to be kinder, to be more loving to your partner or to your child or to your friend or whatever that is. So, I was trying to make that song represent that idea, and it took forever. I think at some point I was gonna dump it, scrap it, and just start over. I’m grateful it finally came together, and it’s great to see the reception from the fans. But it was definitely the song that took the most from me. We are all human. I think in a world where some of social media is like trash, cancel this, do this. It’s okay to give that second chance, and I think that’s so important to give people a little grace as well.

How would you describe ‘Before the Morning Light’?

If ‘Before the Morning Light’ was a place, it would be home, and home for me would be where family is. That’s the best way I can describe it. It would be home.