We were lucky to catch up with Yusef Yoba recently and have shared our conversation below.
Yusef, so great to be with you and I think a lot of folks are going to benefit from hearing your story and lessons and wisdom. Imposter Syndrome is something that we know how words to describe, but it’s something that has held people back forever and so we’re really interested to hear about your story and how you overcame imposter syndrome.
I love being the ‘imposter’ lol. There are very few instances where I look around and don’t relish in the fact that some other people in the same room as me are confused to how I got in there too. One thing I always tell myself and others is that there is a reason why I’m exactly where I am. 99% of the time, that reason has little to do with luck and more to do with the core of who I am as a person. I’m extremely persistent, determined and willing to put myself in uncomfortable situations so that I can continuously evolve and be of better service to others. So even if I’m starting out as not the most experienced person in the room, don’t look like everyone else or have a completely different take than the status quo, it doesn’t invalidate what got me in there. Plus, if I’m an ‘imposter’ in a room of 5-10 people, chances are there’s at least 1-2 more in there based on whatever metric people judge by.
Always remember the value you’ve brought to the table and when in doubt, let other people talk their way out of seeming more credible. I’ve been in rooms with some very bad actors plenty of times; it’s easy to fake confidence but not so much competence. The best advice I can always give is to be overly knowledgeable, you’ll quickly start to realize just how much of the real deal you are. Even if you don’t immediately get the chance to show it, understanding your field at a high level will help you build a lot of internal confidence that will overwhelmingly transfer over into the next opportunity.
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
I’m a bit of a Swiss Army Knife when it comes to music and entertainment. I’m involved in a few different areas but mostly live in artist services. I do a mix a of publishing admin, A&R, and what you’d think of as ‘traditional’ artist management. Usually when I tell people this, they feel like it’s overwhelming to keep track of it all but it honestly keeps me super stimulated bouncing between everything.
For sure the biggest A&R win was helping my friend long-time friend and producer, K Rich, land a placement on Offset’s new album. He produced the record “Pills” featuring NBA YoungBoy, and that one was really special because it was my first placement as an A&R which came through a culmination of relationships we both built over almost a decade. We connected with my first ever music mentor, J Rich, whose Offset’s personal engineer & he really pushed for K to make the final cut of the album. It’s one of those things that still doesn’t feel real sometimes; I’m just grateful for the small part I played and hopefully there’s more to come from there!
The publishing gig I have actually came from me trying to get K Rich a different placement lol. I met with BKTHERULA’s management team to pitch him on working with her and that eventually led to getting a call asking if I’d like to run her publishing administration, which was wild because I never expected to get into publishing in this way. I love it though because I’m getting to help her retain 100% of her copyright ownership which will be a huge payoff years from now, especially as her career continues to grow and her catalogue becomes valuable! Publishing is probably the single most important aspect in music ownership so getting this role has made me way smarter about the music business as a whole. I feel like I can conquer any negotiation and understand contracts so much better now, so if anybody needs a publishing admin and wants to keep control of your music, definitely hit me up!
I just recently got my first tour managing opportunity BK’s team too. Again, very random how it came about but that’s the beauty of being open to opportunities as they come. Although I haven’t officially been on tour before, I’ve produced plenty of one-off events, so understanding venue logistics, soundchecks, and run-of-show stuff feels natural. I’m honestly super hype; I think this will be some of the most fun work I’ll ever do in the music realm and make sure you get your tickets for BKTHERULA’s Lucy Experience Tour starting October 26th!! We’re hitting the entire East Coast and Canada through November 25th. She’s definitely bringing insane energy to every show so we expect the crowd to match it in every city!
Meanwhile, I’m also working in a traditional manager role with Gus Culpo as he newly jumps into his DJ and producer career, which is something I’m really excited about. He’s super talented and one of the most driven people I’ve ever been around. I have zero doubts that we’ll have a ton of success together as we keep growing his career.
And finally, my latest project and probably the most personal, is Big Blue House, my TV and film production company. Storytelling has always been a passion of mine—especially after working up close with artists—and I love the idea of bringing my own vision to life in this way. I’ve got around six or so concepts brewing, and one in particular that I think will connect with people across the globe. I’m still very early in the process so I cant say too much but I can’t wait to share it! Hopefully around this time next year, we can talk more in depth about it all!
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
These are great questions. For the first part, I’ve consistently lived by my ‘Three P’s’ motto which are Patience, Prayer, and Persistence. Patience is probably the the one I’ve had to work on the most; it’s definitely not an easy prospect to give something your all and see little to no results for a while but I really do think things tend to work themselves out so long as you consistently put the work in. So just breathe and focus on the job at hand, you can’t force results nor recognition but you can always take steps each day to get better at your craft. Becoming great at anything simply takes time for those skills to accumulate.
When I mention prayer, it doesn’t matter to me exactly how you do it or what beliefs you follow. I really just want to emphasize that, in my opinion, it’s important to take a bit of time each day to fixate on your desires in a positive way. I think we should all do things to feed and nourish our spirits the same way we nourish our bodies. Whether its prayer, meditation, journaling, visualization, breath work, etc. find whatever works for you and set aside at least 10-20 minutes daily for it. I personally do a bit of all of these – my favorite is to pray/meditate in the sauna. I feel like i’m literally getting rid of the old/toxic things from my body while focusing on the new healthy things I want from life.
Persistence is a quality that’s somewhat the other side of the coin as patience. If you’re patient in working towards your goals then you’re innately persistent. You’d be surprised how many people could’ve achieved so many great things if they simply stayed the course. It’s definitely ok to give yourself a realistic timeline for things but until that time is up, KEEP GOING! And when that clock hits zero, KEEP GOING AGAIN! I promise you there’s always a way to get there! It took me seven years to get my first song placement; I did a bunch of other things in between to keep the ball rolling but I never gave up on that goal!
As for the advice part, I’d say to be brutally honest about where your shortcomings are. Mostly with yourself but also with the people you work with. It’s okay to not know everything or to not have a certain skillset, especially early on in your journey. Skills and knowledge can always be picked up along the way and trust me, people who believe in you will help you put the pieces together. But trustworthiness is hard to regain if you fumble it early and you’ll probably lose more confidence along the way. In your own time, make it your business to become a master at those things that need work and in the mean time be the best at what you can already do! That’s all patience and persistence right there!
Who is your ideal client or what sort of characteristics would make someone an ideal client for you?
On my side of things, at least when it comes to talent management, all I can really do is help give advice and come up with a game plan. It’s ultimately up to the artist on how they want their career to go and what sacrifices are made to get to that next level. All I could ever ask for is someone who is as determined if not more so than me. Anybody who is thoughtful, gritty and has a vision for their artistry is always welcomed! Obviously they have to be willing to trust their team to take some risks too and at the end of the day hold everyone accountable for what they bring to the table, themselves included.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: Tuesday_Morning
- Linkedin: Yusef Yoba | https://www.linkedin.com/in/yusefyoba11/
- Other: Emails: [email protected] [email protected]
