[Interview] Ainjo creative process, key influences and more for debut album HIM "Hopeless in men"
Ainjo, the rising star who debuted with an album of high quality. The album HIM "Hopeless In Men" is filled with emotions , beautiful instrumentals, and a smooth voice. Ainjo's jazz-infused R&B album really makes you feel all the different parts of the transformation of a heartbreak. The first and last songs being titled "HIM pt1" and "HIM pt2 " stood out to me because it closing lyric "I'm still hopeless in men" also highlights that complete album storyline feel. Which I love by the way !
I spoke with Ainjo about the making of HIM "Hopeless In Men" and here's what I learned
Me: What was the creative process like for this album? How long did it take you..did you start off with an idea and just kind of ran with it, or was it like bits and pieces here and there?
Ainjo: A little bit of both. The day that I met my producer, Elliot, we had like a two hour meeting. He was like, what are you trying to do? And I was like, I just want to. I want to write an album. I want to do an album. I think I want to call it HIM , because I just feel like everybody has a him and, you know, it went from being seven songs to being nine songs to being 12, to being 14. So I felt like every time I would think of something and I was just like, yep, him, him, him. I would be like, okay, I gotta add this, I gotta add this. It was a two year process, the entire making of the project. And the first song on the entire project was "Tangerine". Then I went to my songwriter and I was like, I want something slow. My friend Cam, my creative director, was like, you should do something with just guitar. I was just like, okay. So the ideas from, you know, everybody in the team all came together, and then song after song after song after song just kept getting added. And funny enough, I felt like I needed one more to complete the project because I don't have anything that's like strictly sex, you know, because I feel like everybody has that. Him also, you know, somebody that just knows what they doing in that area. I just didn't add that. But overall, two years, everyone's ideas, everyone's. Or my experiences, I think two year process.
Me: what are the key sounds or influences that make this project different from your previous work?
Ainjo: When I first started releasing music, I was just going on YouTube and grabbing beats. Either it was like a YouTube beat or like just, you know, I would meet producers and they'd be like, oh, can I make something for you? I'm like, yeah. I didn't really have a set sound at the moment and I feel like Elliot and I having conversations and like I learned about what BeatStar is and then I would go to BeatStars and go through like Amy Winehouse type beats or like blues and jazz type beats. then I would you sing on top of that. I would send it to Elliot and then he would make it sound similar. I would send him something like me just singing acapella and then he would build around that. So the sound, the sound really came.
Elliot helped me like curate the sound, like really solidify my voice truly with his instrumentation and with his ideas and his creative direction. I would send him something completely blank and I'd be like, I trust you. And if I wanted to change something, I'd be like, move this here, move this there. It was teamwork that made it happen. Amy Winehouse is a big inspiration. Mariah the Scientist , the R&B girlies..Jasmine Sullivan. The Storytellers all helped, you know, helped me and influenced the sound. Elliots ear and the R&B girlies !
Me: What are some fun facts about you that most people don't know about?
Ainjo: I love to cook and host! I love making cocktails, and I love making big meals for people. I bake, I cook. For Thanksgiving ..Our house is not that big, right? We had 20 people here, and I've made everything except for two things. I made four types of bread, two types of ice cream, cranberry sauce. From scratch..everything everything! And it just brought me so much joy. I just love hosting, and I love, like I said, creating cocktails and getting people a little lit. I will not get lit! My husband and I, we love to host and we love to entertain.So having people come over and, like, spend time together, it just brings me a lot of joy.
Me: You've performed at various events like SXSW for example, think of your very first performance and the last what was a moment that made you stop and realize "This is exactly where I'm supposed to be" ?
Ainjo: Well, I'll talk about my first performance ever. My first performance, I stood completely still. I didn't know what I was doing. I was nervous, I was anxious.So I sang, you know, full and big. I just stood completely still...No emotion on the face, Nothing. It felt right because I saw that people, other people were enjoying what I was saying. Even though I was stuck in one spot when I had performed at, I think it was a 3C in Atlanta, I felt in that moment, I was like, yep, I'm in the right place. I'm doing what I'm supposed to be doing. And that was like, 2018. I felt alive. That's typically when I'm performing, I feel alive. I'm like, YES! I also go based off of the crowd. So if the crowd isn't giving me energy, it's, like, pretty difficult for me to perform. Overall, 2018 is when I knew yep..I remember I was wearing all white at a long ponytail down to the crack of my ass, and it was just add on some cute heels. I felt really, really good and people were dancing based off of what I was seeing when I was performing.
Me: If you could describe your album, Him "Hopeless in Men" in three words,what words would you pick?
Ainjo: Vulnerable, Honest and Accurate because all them songs is how I feel!
Congratulations again on the debut album and thank you to Ainjo and her team for their time :)
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