Yinka Bernie Wants to Show You ‘What Happens After’
On his new EP, What Happens After, the maverick Nigerian artist and producer continues to push the boundaries of his sound.
Yinka Berniethrives in sparseness.
Since 2017, he’s released four projects—all EPs— which relay his brilliant grasp on the human condition. The latest of those arrived last week, a three-song salvo titled What Happens After. Brooding yet colorful, and boldly executed, it portends a two-year return for Bernie, whose last project Something New came in 2022.
“People haven’t heard me like this in a minute,” Bernie tells OkayAfrica about What Happens After. “With the title, it’s very playful and vague — I feel like people that listen to me expect a particular style of music that they’re familiar with… introspective, calm, mid-tempo. This time I’m just like, you’ve gotten that one, what else? What happens after?”EP track “In Love With Yb” is quite distinct from anything Yinka Bernie has previously released. You could situate the rap bounce somewhere between Memphis and Lagos, with subtle variations in the piano-led undertones. “She’s in love with Yb, I’m in love with Yb,” sings a seductively-voiced refrain while the artist coolly plays around the production. While reflecting a cosmopolitan ease, there’s an early 2000s Nigerian vibe to the track that sounds in tune with the experimental nature of alté artists, a sensibility (rather than a genre) Yinka Bernie arguably belongs in.
This zeal to experiment was inspired by “a state of restlessness,” Bernie says. “I felt like that’s what the past year has been — there’s been a lot moving around, trying new things… I feel like it’s a wide title that can mean so many things to different people.”
On “Bawo?” Bernie subverts the energy of the aforementioned song, retaining a soulful core. This is achieved through sparkling guitars which contribute towards the sensual confidence in his delivery. He’s the quintessential Yoruba man in his element, sweet-talking and suggestive. In this way, What Happens After, like his preceding projects, embodies rich interiority. But where Bernie previously explored introspection head-on, he turns to the other side here: finding purpose in the hurt, being sexy, and suffusing oneself in the bright colors of activity.
American rapper Mick Jenkins features on “Streets,” the figurative and literal centerpiece of the project. It’s a quirky affair that sounds as though it was recorded on a summer day — such is the presence and imagery. Bernie tells us he’s been a longtime fan of Jenkins’ music, since his early projects and the acclaimed The Waters.
“I made ‘Streets’ in Ghana in 2022 and, when I made it, I felt like it needed somebody else,” he recounts. “I think Mick Jenkins dropped his album at the time and I was just like ‘yeah, this guy’s voice would fit straight.’ We reached out, surprisingly he responded, and we just made it happen. He liked the song and he dropped his verse on it.”
Yinka Bernie’s career highlights the vast spectrum of African music. Collectively, his projects showcase the most inventive musicians coming out of the continent, their pulse attuned under the alté tag that was the rave of youth culture before the 2020s. On his 2017 debut, 19 & Over, one hears the contributions of Musmah, Lady Donli and Bris B, with the likes of Higo and Le Mav behind the boards, alongside Bernie.
Facades and Something New further explored young relationships and mental health,
as embodied on “It’s Okay To Cry,” the Joyce Olong-featured song. Along with songs like “Jaded” and “Who Do You Call,” it’s apparent how, for a generation of young music lovers, Bernie is more than just another artist. Rather he represents the purity of feeling and the grit of technique to be able to bring lush, affected soundscapes to life.
“I feel it’s expressiveness,” he says about the unique quality to his music, “‘cause I’m saying so many things. I’m always saying so many things in a song. Painting different scenarios, creating worlds — so I think that’s my core. I think the delivery as well is very conversational. The way I make music is like I’m talking to my guy or having a conversation with somebody. That’s the constant in everything I do.”