Welcome Ayola!
Crissi Cochrane
The Soul City Music Co-op, a record label co-founded by myself and my husband at the beginning of 2020, has a new member! Welcome Ayola, an incredibly gifted Afrosoul singer/songwriter, born in Nigeria, but living in Windsor since 2016.
Mike first showed me Ayola’s music last winter, and I remember driving around listening to “1974” on a cloudy day. The song is so emotional and cinematic that it immediately elevated an ordinary moment and made it memorable in a way that only great music can do.
Throughout 2020, Mike has been keeping an eye on Ayola’s career. This summer, he performed in a CBC interview at Jackson Park, where he spoke about the power of music during uncertain times. He was such a natural on-camera. I think it was after that that we began investigating the possibility of adding him to the co-op.
It became official after a socially-distanced meeting on our front porch a few weeks back, and since then, we’ve been busy creating his website on the Soul City platform, crafting promotional materials and writing his bio (which was my task!).
Up until now, everyone on the label has been a friend of ours first, and a label-mate second. This is the first time we’ve reached out to someone we didn’t personally know. Even though this label is really small, and grass-roots, and based on us making no profit whatsoever off one another, it still feels like we should be making conscious decisions about the way that we grow, and doing our best to look outside of our own bubbles. So, I’m really excited that we are able to expand our roster in this way, and include someone who is so immensely talented and professional and hard-working.
Before I leave you with the bio that we wrote, I just want to share my favourite track of his - Akoto. I feel like, in this song, he’s Windsor’s own Daniel Caesar, but from Nigeria. I love this vibe SO much.
ABOUT AYOLA
Cinematic, genuine, and bold – Afrosoul singer-songwriter Ayola effortlessly blends his Nigerian roots with a Western pop sensibility, traversing genres to create powerful and immaculately-produced recordings. From folk, to R&B, to string-laden ballads and soul, Ayola's catalogue of singles is small but mighty, with a deep emotional wisdom in his lyrical storytelling and frank approach to modern relationships.
Born in Osun State and raised in Kwara State, Ayola grew up singing at home, competing with his mother over who had the better voice, and listening to the nostalgic Afro-juju songs of King Sunny Ade on road trips with his father. “I think that kinda taught me what good music sounded like,” reflects Ayola.
One of ten children in his family, his education was his primary focus in his young adult years, eventually leading him to London, UK for his first masters degree at UCL. It was there that his long-held love for music finally bubbled to the surface - singing with his bassist flatmate and being around music created a deeper need to write his own songs and discover what makes a good song, spending hours deconstructing hits from Coldplay, Passenger, and Fun!. The encouragement of local musicians led to his first record deal, which he turned down in order to focus on his studies. “I was always scared of not meeting the standards I'd set for myself in my head.”
Ayola moved to Windsor in 2016 for his second masters degree at the University of Windsor. Relaxing the pace of his non-stop education, Ayola finally had time to explore his love for music again, taking the plunge and recording his first three singles – the deeply sensual R&B jam "Akoto", the uptempo Afropop song "Bola", and the cinematic folk soul ballad "1974" – experimenting with new creative territory in English and Yoruba. Ayola continues to explore the intersection of beloved genres in his authentic Naija voice and effortlessly melodic style, with a new five-song EP entitled “Scum” to be released on October 23, 2020.