Cruel Santino

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.

It’s inspired by Europop. There’s this song named “Steal My Sunshine” by Len, it’s a very old song. Basically, the

foundation of Mandy comes from a very pure time in my life because I didn’t know anything about the music business. The

project just came from a sense of wanting people to connect to this sound that has been missing but still resonates with

you. When I made “Raining Outside,” it was around 2017, and I wanted to make a song about being there no matter what.

I’m not saying I’m the perfect friend or the best man in the world, but I’m just saying I’m always going to be there. I

feel like that resonates with the heart of people because there’s no greater feeling than when somebody knows that you

have their back– it makes you feel good. Also, all my projects are centred around women because I grew up around my mum

and her sisters. All my life, I’ve lived with my sister and my friends and her friends. So, “Raining Outside” is kind of

an ode to all the girls in my life, too, just to let them know that I have their backs and they never need to bother

when they have a friend like me; I also put a little sexiness in the song. The funny thing about the song is that when I

originally recorded it, I did a whole different thing. I came the next day, and I heard it, and I was like, “Bro, what’s

this rubbish?” and I deleted it. I then started singing line by line and sang the whole thing again. I made “Raining

Outside” in Magodo (Lagos) in GMK’s house in 2017. All the songs on Mandy & The Jungle were made two or three years

before they dropped.

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.

DRAM found my music and told Tunde in Love Renaissance (LVRN) about me. He was texting me that my shit is fire and I was

sending him my music. I sent him the whole Mandy project, and he liked it. In January 2019, there were a bunch of guys

recording in my house, and Genio (the producer) played a beat, and I just freestyled to it. It was hard, and I asked

DRAM if he could go on this, and he said yes. He sent it back the next day.

“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.

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.”

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.

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.

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.

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 .”

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.