Stories from “Mandy & The Jungle“

That happened in GMK’s house (in Magodo, Lagos). I feel like that song holds a special place in my heart because there are two ways I record.

There’s one where I just freestyle, but it always makes sense–like I just sing from my heart. “Monte Claire” was kind of special because there’s a

time when I’m singing where it feels like I’ve already written it, but it just keeps going on. The first part of the song just came out of nowhere

and I was like, “Oh shit.” Then I sat on it for a few months till I did the second verse. “Monte Claire” is just like a hip-hop-Mande core song that

just feels good. There’s really no lore behind it, but it’s just a special song because when I recorded the hook, there was a part where it just

comes out of my brain like on “FINAL CHAMPION” where I said, “Werey touch me.”

I feel like “Sparky” is a special record because it was produced by Odunsi (The Engine), who has produced a lot of gems for me. When he first made

the beat, I didn’t know what to do with it; I was singing so many things on it. When I first heard the beat, it reminded me of an old song, and I

was singing something like that at the beginning and from there, I just went into my own realm and “Sparky” just came out. I made “Sparky” in 2017

at GMK’s house. We all make our songs at GMK’s house, including Odunsi and even (Lady) Donli. I did half of my project at GMK’s house and then did

the rest in Dubai.

That song is an ode to my childhood because there was this cartoon called Mike, Lu, & Og. I started the song with the melody from the cartoon’s

theme song. Some people heard it and asked me if I saw the cartoon, and I'm like, “Yeah, I did see Mike, Lu, & Og.” I found Krisirie on SoundCloud,

she’s insane. I asked her to jump on the song; she did, and the rest was history. She did an insane verse. This is probably one of my best-written

nostalgic songs. It just has a feel to it, and it’s largely how I feel about Mandy. It just came from a time of purity.

It’s crazy “DSM” was the first song I recorded after Suzie’s Funeral, which was my first SoundCloud project. I wasn’t really recording. When I

released Suzie’s, I just dropped it on the internet and went back to school. I was schoolin,g and things were kinda hard. It was just me in school,

I didn’t know what to do. I just had little funds from the little work I was doing. I also had to study so I prayed to God and turned off my phone

for two weeks. I just prayed to God for a sign that it was all going to work out. Two weeks later, I turned on my phone, and I was checking my

messages, and I saw one from a verified account. I go to his page and I see that he’s the president of Drake’s label (Oliver El-Khatib). I was like,

“Wow,” and I texted him back. I turned off my phone again because I had to get back to studying, and then, one night, I was gaming because my girl

was with me then. People started reaching out, saying that they are playing my stuff on OVO Radio. They played “Jungle Fever” and “Gangster Fear,”

and that just gave me some insane motivation to start recording again. The first song I recorded properly, coming back in 2017, was “DSM.” We

dropped “Jungle Fever” around late 2016 or early 2017, and I went back to uni. I was like, “Fuck, we’re back here.”

“Freaky” was made in 2016. People like Naeto C, Killz, and D’Prince are the key to the future of music. People don’t understand the core of swag

rap, and it’s because we didn’t have as much coverage as we have now. That shit was what we were grooving and eating. When D’Prince dropped “Jonzing

World” and Jesse Jagz dropped “Wetin Dey,” those songs were… If you just take the drums and make them new and mix some of this shit, it will blow up

everywhere. “Shobeedoo” is one of my best Killz songs. It’s a crazy song, and it’s just different, and that beat was incredible. There’s a part in

the song where nothing plays, and I just told Genio to let us sample it. Genio is really good at R&B. He’s like the god of R&B when it comes to

producing, and I recorded it. We did this in Adeniyi Jones (Lagos) my guy’s house. Luciano, a rapper, was on the song before, but everything changed

when I met Phi (manager at the time). She said we should put Nonso Amadi on it, and the rest is history. Shoutout Nonso too.

You know how my music has so many pockets. I can rap, I can do patois, and any style. So, this is a pocket that GMK (credited producer) entered.

Producers have seasons. There is a time when GMK can make a certain type of beat that he’ll never make again because that’s the season he’s in. So,

why “Morocco” and “Maria” are special is because he made both of them in one week, and he never made beats like that again. Once he made “Morocco,”

I just knew that this was my p. It was in his house. I turned on the mic and just sang about “Morocco” in Magodo (Lagos).

That one was in Dubai. I was just chilling in the house. I wanted to make a very mainstream pop song because I’m very deeply rooted in pop music.

Like, I love pop music, but the weird type of pop. The type of pop where they just come out and sing about their life. “Murvlana” is very much in

that realm, and then I mixed it a little because Santigold taught me how to sing like that. It’s a mixture of R&B and indie but at the same time,

the whole of Mandy came from a very pure place. Every song I was making then came from my heart. (At that time) Tay and I hadn’t made a song in

three years, so I knew that I needed to tap in. When I made “Murvlana,” I was just like, “This is Tay” because every song Tay and I have made is

incredible. I sent it to Tay, he sent it back, and history.

The crazy thing about “Rapid Fire” is that Genio didn’t make the beat for me; it was for Tomi Thomas. I just came inside, heard the beat, and was

like, “Guy!…” The thing about these sorts of songs is that they’re really easy for me to make. I’ve probably made like nine of those types of songs,

but this one was sweet to make… there was something about it. I just did one verse and the hook and was just playing it. I didn’t necessarily have

much plans for the song, I just knew the song was made. My friend, Tomi Agape, was on the song, but we cut her part short and then Phi (manager at

the time) was like, “Let’s put Shane, this rapper from South Africa and this girl from Ghana, her name is Amaarae.” I was like, “Yeah, I know her,

cool.” When it all came together, it was like, “Oh shit.” Shane’s verse was even cut short because he rapped on the whole thing. Amaa killed the

song, too. The thing with “Rapid Fire” is that it was made with a purity that was intentional. The way the songs were made, the way we shot the

video, the way we called all the guys, the way we all stayed there till the video was done–it was a pure era. People were just watching us live our

lives, but we didn’t even know. We’d just record music and go about. It was just me, Ashley (Okoli), Odunsi (The Engine), and everybody. That’s how

“Rapid Fire” came about. With the video, I’m very inspired by crime and Nollywood, so that’s where that came from.

This one is a special record. Higo came to my house, he also made “Raining Outside.” I still have the video of him producing “Raw Dinner”–he was

just playing around. We were just in the house together in one room when he was making the beat. Then he played that opening section… I did a voice

note, and then he left. Before you know it, he sent me the beat because I didn’t do it there. I recorded the hook, and I had it for a while. Kida

became my guy and I just sent it to Kida. Then Kida sent it back, and I was just like, “Bruh .”

I made “Maria” around the same time (I made Morocco), but I did not finish it. “Maria” wasn’t going to be on Mandy. It was Odunsi (The Engine) who

was like, “Bro, how are you not going to put this song?” That was when GoldLink was trying to get me to come and shoot his video. So, I sent him

“Maria” and told him to hop on the song. He sent it back that night and I submitted it the next day. It was the last addition to the project.

Dubai-core. That one is just a very fun song. You know, there are just some songs you make where it’s just a Santi song. I made the beat with GMK

and he was laughing like, “What kind of fucking song is this.” It was just fun and nice, but it helped to build the sound of Mandy. Songs like “Dime

In The Winter,” “Morocco,” and “Turn Down Mami” are very much instrumental to getting into the lore of our sound. Also, I don’t always write about

myself. I could just make a story. In the story, I’m a guy with a girl, and we’ve smoked the dealer’s stuff, and he’s going to come and kill us, so

we are thinking of what to do. That’s how dancehall guys used to sing about crazy shit and that’s what I did–and then, there are anime references,

of course.

“Turn Down Mami” is crazy because it's one of the first beats I made when I started making beats. I would just make the skeleton and send it to

Genio. Or Genio will make something, and I’ll send it to Doz (credited producer) to fully flesh because I used to like his drums. I recorded it in

Dubai. It’s actually about my ex who I was with in Dubai for about five years. That was her name because she didn’t like going out so they used to

call her Turn Down Mami, and I just named the song after her. She’s my soldier, she loved it. She still calls herself Turn Down Mami.

I feel like I am a rapper, so if I don’t rap, my project isn’t complete. “Diamonds” just has one thing that makes it a personal song of mine. I just

needed to have it so that niggas know. Also, “Diamonds” is with “Where You Been,” it’s two in one. I was in Lagos at my aunt’s house, and I just

walked down the road and smoked and came back. The “Diamonds” beat was just playing, and I just sang. There’s a thing I do when I record where I try

to catch the beat. So, I might be gaming, but I’ll hear the beat, then I’ll run. It’s just a stupid thing, I don’t know why I do it. It’s just like

what’s going to come out of your head at that spot. So, as I did that, the lyrics just came out. I just sang that part and kept it. I didn’t hear it

again until two days later, and I was just like, “This p is mad o,” and I did “Diamonds.” “Where You Been” was with Seki, who’s my good friend. He’s

from The Philippines. He did the first part of “Where You Been” and then, I just sang on it. He didn’t know what to do with the song, and I said

that I was going to make it the second half of “Diamonds.” He did his part in Dubai, and I did my part in Lagos in 2018.

It’s a special record produced by Odunsi (The Engine). It’s inspired by a lot of HAIM (rock band). Again, it’s just pop music. I used to listen to a

lot of HAIM when I was younger. I don’t think they sing that much again. Also, I would say early Post Malone. There’s a way Post Malone used to sing

in his early days that resonated with me and I feel like I picked up a lot of things about feeling comfortable enough to sing like a popstar on

crazy beats. So, the feeling of the beat just made me feel like this is freedom for me. The thing about me is that when I make a song, I love

bringing people on and seeing how they approach it. So, I put Tay (Iwar) then I sent it to Amaa(rae) to hop on it, and she did.