Get To Know: NIJI

From East London to New York, NIJI (AKA Niji Adeleye) has become one of the most desired piano players in the world which has resulted in him playing alongside Grammy Award-winning artists like Harry Styles and Gregory Porter as well as homegrown talent such as Beverly Knight, Benji Flow and Moses Boyd. Collaborations aside, NIJI has secured an elite day job at the Madison Square Garden as a resident organist.

With such huge achievements, NIJI has come a long way since being a young boy who learned how to play the piano in church. Fast forward to the present day and making time out of that New York to London time difference, passionate and energetic as ever about his music NIJI took a moment to discuss his life so far, musical influences, and his latest 5-track EP ‘Somewhere in The Middle’.

Growing up in East London and taking that leap of faith to New York, NIJI very quickly had to adapt life in the Big Apple over the last few years. First discovering his love for the piano at 14 years old while at church and then slowly being exposed to the music industry when he joined the London Gospel Community Choir a few years later ‘When I joined the choir it opened my eyes to so much, I didn’t realise you could do something you loved like play the piano and get paid for it, it became a no brainer as to what I wanted to do in the future, I ended up going to University to study economics, worked in the city for two years and very quickly decided that wasn’t where I wanted to be’.

Music has always been a constant in NIJI’s life and he has been influenced and inspired by a variety of sounds, ‘From a Jazz perspective I would say Oscar Peterson shaped what I can do with the piano, but I’m originally from East London so I have that duality, I can equally say I love Skepta and D Double E as much as any of the other Jazz artists l love, as well as people like Kirk Franklin, growing up there was always some kind of music playing, I remember either my mum or dad putting the Hi-fi on or playing a vinyl’.

Keen to pursue his dreams at 23, NIJI called it quits at the office job he was working at and has been living out his dreams over the last 8 years, take working with Gregory Porter of instance, where the two worked together on a Christmas show for the BBC, NIJI also shared how it worked with Stormzy for his Jimmy Fallon debut, ‘Growing up people used to say me and Stormzy looked alike, so meeting him in person felt quite ironic, we both laughed at how uncanny it was and took a photo together, I additionally went on the road with Harry Styles which was pretty cool’. Along with working with such an eclectic group of artists NIJI also has his ambitions set on working with ‘Alex Isley who I’ve briefly worked with during her Marigold tour, I’d love to work on a track with her in the future. Laura Mvula, Little Simz, deserves everything she’s getting right now, Noname she’s an incredible artist too, and the producer Inflo too, his work is amazing, those are just a few artists I’d like to work with’.

NIJI’s latest EP ‘Somewhere in the Middle’ is a true representation of who NIJI is today, ‘Somewhere in the Middle for me is a reflection of where I am right now, I’ve grown up as a middle child, so navigating my personality away from my siblings, my upbringing of being born in Hackney to Nigerian parents, living between London and New York, having career highs while working with huge artists and simultaneously having the ambition to pursue my passion projects, when it came down to writing this EP each song is a different facet of where I’m at’. The 5 track EP that took NIJI just one month to curate glides between an array of smooth sounds with a variety of percussion instruments and a singular track that showcases NIJI’s well-thought-out lyricism. ‘Banjoko’ is an uplifting and uptempo introductory track, that exhibits NIJI’s exquisite skillset, ‘Somewhere in the Middle’ is one of NIJI’s favourite and standout tracks ‘It encapsulates the grittiness of the grime sounds that I grew up on, my love for Jazz and horn melodies along with the authentic African instruments that have been embedded to celebrate my Nigerian heritage’. ‘Love Will Find its Way’ is a track that needed to tell its story through music and lyrics, while showcasing NIJI’s duality as an artist, it’s a time capsule track that reflects a love that just didn’t work out. A meaningful blend of Jazz and smooth piano sounds.

Alongside an impressive sound, the artwork with ‘Somewhere in The Middle’ is even more satisfying, NIJI trained with an underwater photographer for 3 weeks, ‘It was the hardest shoot I’ve ever done in my life, but it’s me in the deep end in the middle of the water, my relationship with water is very complex, but in a good way. Water takes the shape of anything you put it in, with my music and my experiences it’s kind of the same thing’.

‘I’m barely scratching the surface’, despite being in the music scene for almost 10 years NIJI is still determined to aim even higher within his career, the charismatic musician is set to explore more music, producing music with more artists and continue to delve into the world of engineering.

A very exciting moment for a musician as talented as NIJI, 2024 will be an even bigger year for him! Here are the final words on ‘Somewhere in the Middle’, which is out now on all streaming platforms: ‘The ultimate message behind my EP is to find happiness in any scenario'.

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