He sits, calmly, draped in opulent fashion. A choreography of young partygoers unfurls behind him, like a backdrop. Yarden, fully immersed in the flamboyance of stardom, sings with delight and charisma inside the just-released music video for ‘Time’. The song, released last year, alongside four other songs in his acclaimed debut EP, The One Who Descends, is but a slice of the enigma that sets Yarden apart from other newcomers in Afrobeats.

Barely two years ago, many Nigerians were introduced to Yarden’s impeccable vocalisation through the emo-pop of ‘Wetin’, the love song that’s meant to be on every hopeful romantic’s playlist. The song, which lifts Yarden off from the Trap-py terrain that tarmacked his early releases such as ‘Wild’ (2020) and ‘Fl3x’ (2022), became an instant favourite for many Afrobeats lovers who once struggled to embrace this era of moody tempos in the industry.

On The One Who Descends, Yarden once again takes a lone chair out in the quiet and sits with his emotions. The restless loverboy in ‘Wait’ only grows more impatient throughout the record, except for when he reflects on the inevitable ‘Pressure’ of life in the closing track. Still, his hunger for love remains just as attractive on the entire playlist, as he sautés it with different sonic recipes from Amapiano, to Synthy-pop, and RnB.

If there’s anything more to admire about Yarden, it’s in how graceful he wears his aura. The young musician, signed to Etins Record/0207 Def Jam, glides through the newcomer class with a dose of vintage soul that’s too smooth to ignore. From his EP title being the Hebrew translation of his professional moniker, to drawing inspiration from Celine Dion, and dreams of unveiling his music in a cafe, we chop it up with Yarden as he takes us on a riveting tour into this moment in his journey, and how he’s warming up to creating a legacy that lingers beyond the immediate dividends of stardom.

What have you been up to?
I’ve been pushing the EP that just dropped, I think that is the major thing that is just going on right now. Pushing with content on every platform, and just daring up for what’s to come.

How long did it take you to work on that EP?
It was about two years because it was, you know, when it comes to having an introduction, or bringing something that is on the table to a new audience, you have to prepare and let it be presentable, brand wise. So, it took some time.

What part of your artistry did you want to showcase the most on this project?
I just wanted to express myself.

What drives your music, at the core of your music what are you trying to say essentially?
The things I put on music, I try to make music have its own life and give music a soul, that’s what I try to put into the music. Whatever message I’m trying to pass across it has to be very authentic, and has to be very original as well. Anything I’m on, or any record I’m on, I try to make the music live so, it can enter into the listener soul. It’s basically not the lyrical content, it has something about it that has this life about it. That’s one of the major things I think about when I’m creating records.

How did you hone your sound style?
Basically it’s not just by my doing, it’s just that constant listening to the music from the 80s are kind of influencing the sound. And also a lot of Michael Jackson, that kind of created the base for what Yarden sound is. Then obviously I already have a background because afrobeat is basically what I listen to the most. So, it’s just an infusion of what I enjoy listening to, the influences I have and trying to create my own out of it. And basically what I said I try to do is try to put the soul into the music. It kind of gives this some sense of nostalgia. I think that’s where I would put myself sonically.

When did you actually decide to go into music professionally?
I have always been a church boy to be honest in my young age. I was always around the choir. I just wanted to join the choir then. That is when I started taking lessons on how to sing, because I have always loved singing so I took lessons on how to sing, and upholding the skills. So basically church kind of gave me that base to sing and sort of structure my anxiety. And I got to university for school in 2017 and I met a lot of people. I just got into life and the fun part of doing music. And I say that it’s the hardest part of it because it’s real. In 2019, I was working and putting out on my own original songs because I was doing a lot of covers then. I wanted to actually put out my own songs, and 2019 was being professional for me but then I was always putting music only on audio mack Just for the fun of it. I didn’t really know much, my own was just let me put out music, let me just enjoy. I tell this person I make music. In 2020, was when I put out my actual single on all platforms while featuring Swayvee, and that is where I would say my journey actually started from.

Do you have a typical creative process when you want to make music?
It’s not linear, it can come in various forms, it’s just that music will be made at the end of the day. But most of the time, when I listen to old music, I just want to see if I can bring that essence into my base genre which is afrobeat. I listened to that and still try to put in some melodies, or intercalation of that. We maybe just take some inspiration and create something, we go for something catchy at first that is what we go for, something that draws your attention. My creative process is honestly not very linear, it’s just as it comes I just do what I need to do, and I love that, that is what it is.

Do you have any favorite Yarden song? Tell us why it’s your favorite, the experiences behind making it.
Let’s use the EP. Honestly all the songs are like my favorites song at a particular time, because when I made them I couldn’t stop listening to them. They were like favorite from different timeline so, almost all of them are my favorites. But what I would say is the one I enjoy making was “Divine” because for the first time it was a very very collaborative effort, because most of the time it was just me and the producer. But this time it was me and a lot of in the room, people coming in so, we were very very , there was communication going on we were having this side talks.

You know when you want to record, you be like, ‘Oh, you guys should pipe down a little bit I’m about to record.’ The samples coming from a friend, sax guy just coming in and playing, it was just fun, the process was just honestly amazing and everything that was in my head is brought to life and even more. So, “Divine” was that track that was like this is what it is when you have same creative mind filled with passion and drive to make something good, this is what happens when you put them in a room . Divine was the track for me that was very fun to make.

Why is your professional name Yarden?
Yarden is actually Jordan which is my actual name in Hebrew. Because I enjoy reading the bible and not just because I’m a Christian or maybe I’m religious or anything, I just feel like the bible has a lot of lessons that you can use for your daily life. And it has very unbelievable stories that seem very unreal but, it is basically like a record book and I just wanted to know what it was called in Hebrew and it was Yarden; so, I just stuck with it.

Do you have any Nigerian fellow musician that you would really love to collaborate with?
Definitely, there’s a lot of musicians that I would love to work with. But on top of my list is Omah lay for sure, and I would love to work with Big Waves, I would love to work with Tems, and I would love to work with Cavemen. I think that is about it.

The first time I was into your music was when you dropped ‘Wetin’ and then it was very exceptional seeing such sorrowful delivery. Do you think you might want to pivot at any time into doing other genres?
To be honest I always try not to just do one particular thing when it comes to music. A lot of people might not know, but “Wetin” is a blend of, the inspiration I had for waiting was for song Celine Dion “New dawn”. It’s like I always try to put my sound, I try to make it more vintage and nostalgic, I think that is one of the things that is going to be consistent for a long time, even for the whole of my career.

But generally, I already have different sounds to explore, that’s the beauty of music so there are different things to do while I can. Tomorrow I might jump on a pop record tomorrow, on reggae it doesn’t even matter. Funny enough I have most of these records already done, and sometimes it might even be a mixture; imagine if you hear disco beat, and it changes to afrobeat or even if it’s the mixture of both. There is no limit to what I’m willing to do just as long as I get good music out of it, I’m cool.

What’s next for Yarden?
I just want to put out my good music, break records open new doors. One of the major things I want to do in my life time is to create a very very nice space for creating, I know that’s one of the things that I’m not existing right now because we are entertainers we have to entertain. So, by default most people don’t come to say what they are going through or the challenges they are facing, or even to ask for advice everybody feels like since there is no manual to blowing up, or having a successive career everybody can just do it.

That’s one thing I want to do, to create that means of hall, you need to open up and there’s already a safe space for you. And it’s going to be normalized for people to have that. That is one of the things I want to have as a legacy, where people can just let loose, that even if it’s music that you release you have that’s. It’s always going to be musical and entertaining things, our safe spaces. And when it comes to projects, I would love to work with a lot of the big stars and look forward to having a big rollout for me. I want everything to feel like it’s an era, like it’s a movie and it’s like a journey where everybody is following me and just staying with me.

Because there is going to be a lot of changes, because human beings are dynamic and I’m always open to evolve.

Are you going to be having any live shows soon?
Yeah definitely, I will have a cafe and I would call it Yarden’s cafe. In that cafe I’m doing a release party for the EP and we just make it as fun as possible, just have fun. I’m going to be with the band and we are just going to have maximum fun, and I will be on a couple of shows, big shows this December. You know this December is when there is going to be a surge of big shows going on so, I will be in a couple of them. And just going to perform for the fans, hopefully see some fans from the big artiste I will be performing alongside with.

I’m going to be outside the whole December.