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Mysterious music-maker Nabil Adili’s first album is a blend of his two guiding philosophies – minimalism and leading an orchestra from the shadows.
The 20-year-old producer who works under the moniker NBL released The Yungin a couple of weeks ago and the nine-track album is a labour of love, borne out of more than six years of hard work and self-instruction.
“I have always had a deep love for hip hop and rap music, and I have been busy teaching myself new skills through YouTube over the last five years,” the British University of Bahrain student, who is completing a computer science degree, told GulfWeekly during an interview.
The Yungin’s album title is a reference to how the Saudi-born artist is seen by regional music industry stalwarts as being a ‘young one’ though he quickly proves his skills far surpass his years.
The album cover was created by photographer Yousif Al Sahaf, better known as Morbid, based on a quick conversation that the two had, where NBL mentioned he wanted to highlight the orchestral sound of the album.
In the first song on the album I’m Back alongside Dubai rapper Jeed, NBL clarifies that his music mainly plays within the English domain in Arabic rap.
While rappers and hip hop front men tend to face much of the limelight, the producers and MCs that produce their backing music are often the first and last to work on a track… and are often forgotten when the music starts to top charts.
NBL is happy with that, finding that he enjoys turning music into magic behind the scenes, akin to an orchestral leader, who brings his vision to life with the help of skilled musical specialists.
During the last year, NBL has been networking with rappers, singers and other musicians across the region, and the results speak for themselves – 10 different voices feature on the 20-minute album.
And as such, it parallels with other album-releasing producers like Dr Dre. In recent years, producers are being increasingly recognised as artists as their technical skill blends with artistic expression.
NBL has been working with Abdulrahman Al Sahaf, popularly known as Wrista, after they met through mutual friends.
Although he initially dreamed of being a rapper, he has developed a growing attachment to the production side of the business during recent years, and is amongst the core members of Wrista’s collective, Last of a Dying Breed.
“When I first met Nabil, he approached me because he wanted to be a rapper, and after hearing the stuff he sent me, I was blunt and told him that I hoped he didn’t pursue a career as a rapper,” Wrista noted, which NBL acknowledged as the best advice he got.
“But what stood out to me was that he was always eager to learn, improve and get better, and when it comes to producing, he has a fantastic ear for detail and richness.”
This detail and richness is apparent in the second track, Summer in Paris, featuring Sharin Tamimi, which has reached the top 200 on the Apple Music Middle East charts – a stellar achievement for a new artist in the region who chooses to create in English.
“I grew up listening to J-Cole, Kendrick Lamar and Jay-Z, so it felt more authentic for me to have lyrics in English,” the producer explained.
“That being said, I have been experimenting with sampling more Arabic music in my work, and one Saudi artist I have been working with, sent me traditional music but it’s a bit trickier to sample because instrumentation and recording are very different.”
Each of the songs on the album has a unique story behind it, with some taking as little as 20 minutes, while others have taken weeks to perfect.
Hometown Hero, Love Has Many Faces, Praise, Speaking to God V2, Chase The Thrill and This God Forsaken Place each have a unique audio signature, proving the music maker’s mettle technically while also highlighting each collaborating rapper’s skillset.
“Chase The Thrill, for example, was laid down initially within 20 minutes, because that’s just how long I had before the rapper came to pick us up,” NBL explained with a chuckle.
“Of course, I finished it out later, but he loved the foundation and it was exactly what we needed to start brainstorming ideas, lyrics and flows. In fact, I kept adjusting and changing right up to the moment we uploaded to our distribution service.
“I did the outro for that song just 30 minutes before the upload, which meant he never had a chance to hear the final version, but he loved it!”
As for what’s next, NBL hopes to sit down with a local band, and get inspired by whichever artist is speaking to him at the moment – right now, it’s Al Green – before unleashing their creativity together on the next record.
The Yungin is now available on Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, Tidal and Amazon Music.
For more details, visit @nabiladili on Instagram.
