His name is Babatunde but they call him Tunde or #TUNDE. He was born in San Bernardino, CA and raised in Long Beach, CA but he presently resides in Columbia, SC.
He describes his association with #BrownSOUL as a feeling. It’s Love. It’s going to church with your grandmother with dress shoes when you were a whipper snapper. It’s the smell of fried chicken and collard greens on the stove on Sunday after church. It’s a thumbnail cut brown blunt waiting to be filled. BrownSOUL is funk, blues, gospel, and rock music with a tambourine on the Afrobeat.
Since he was born he grew up in the church. People say that his music is "church music" without God in it. He tried running away from the sound but then realized that the sound of his art and music is something that he cannot run from. He is who he is. He started creating his own music three years ago but he has been singing music in church since the age of five.
He had his first live performance in a church at the age of 5 in Germany. It was in front of a large crowd that consisted of military men and women in the U.S. Air Force. They were a military family at the time. The name of the song he sang was called, “Two Wings” by The Mighty Clouds of Joy.
He produces his own music. He was kind of forced into producing because it was hard to convey to musicians what he was hearing and that took up a lot of time in the studio that he could not afford at the time.
The first instrument that helped him to produce music was the bass guitar. On his first music project, “For The People,” He wrote all of the songs from the bass-line. It took six months of lessons at “Freeway Music School” around the corner from his house before he was well on his way to writing the songs you hear today!
He has only produced music for other artists that have done collaborations with him. He has produced music for Saraph Sunman, Sunshyne Pollard, Prince Mazani, Jesse Davis, King Amin, Black Page Micah Knight, and Sheem One MC.
One of the Artists that he had a memorable experience with was Saraph Sunman. He had a great experience during that session because he learned how to trust the process of collaboration and how to stay in his lane. He shares that "collaboration is about letting the Artist be his or herself on your project." He goes on to share that he learned from Sunshyne how to really be a professional when you are asked to be featured on someone’s project. He reflects that Sunshyne had such a spirit of excellence in the studio that she will record multiple takes until it is right as opposed to him where he will keep on doing it until it feels good. That’s what makes collaboration so awesome.
He has his own home studio so he is in the studio every day. He is in the studio engineering at least 3 times a month to mix, master, or to support an artist that he is collaborating with. His ritual before recording or producing is smoking a blunt!!!!
His mother and father always inspired him to pursue music. They exposed him to music at a young age but, his passion for singing laid dormant while he played football in college at Florida State University. After his college football career was over it was the church and being a worship leader that really encouraged him to pursue his passion for singing. There where many people in the church that were inspired by his talent. He wouldn’t say a certain person gave him advice but the reaction of his singing in church by the people who heard him was a sign that he was doing the right thing.
He has performed over 50 plus times live. This number he contributes to the church because he was a worship leader. His most memorable moment was his listening party for his first recording project two years ago. He realized at that event while being interviewed how hard it was for him to really articulate or explain his art because he is growing into his art. "It’s way bigger than me" he adds.
If he could work with any Top Artist in the industry today he would like to work with Anderson Paak because he is the top Artist on the SOUL music chain. He is taking SOUL music to new dimensions right now.
The trends in music he notices are changing. He relates that the music frequency is changing just like technology is changing. He explains that music has to evolve because people are evolving. He would not change anything about the music industry because we are living in a time in our nation where some of the best music could be produced that will speak to our time. There are musical voices today that have an opportunity to make history.
When asked what advice he would you give to an up and coming Artist his reply is this:
"The advice I give to an up and coming artist would be to “Be Yourself” Every artist has a story and a picture to paint. Aspiring artists are tempted to create what’s popular instead of creating what is more valuable through who they are. The question is, once the artist has a popular run after being what was Popular, will that artist continue to be an artist or will he or she have to catch up with his or herself?
This was a very informative interview.
It was filled with so much wisdom and reflection.
Anyone interested in hearing his music can find it on: iTunes, SoundCloud, GooglePlay, and Spoitfy.
His music video’s can be found on Vevo under @Babatunde, “For The People and Funky Revolution.” And you may also contact him at:
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