The in-demand, Los Angeles-based multi-instrumentalist is set to unfurl his “Jazz is Dead” show with a 10-piece orchestra at The Pyramid Scheme on Tuesday. The Local Spins interview.
Collaborations, Film & TV Scoring and More: Adrian Younge, at right, in the studio with Snoop Dogg. (Courtesy Photo)
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A renowned multi-instrumentalist and composer, Adrian Younge is acclaimed for both preserving the heart and pioneering the boundaries of different styles of music, including psychedelic soul, retro soul and hip hop.
Younge produces scores for film and TV; the Emmy Award winner’s compositional work ranges from music for films such as “The Equalizer” and “Black Dynamite” as well as the TV shows “Luke Cage” and “Sugar.”
The 46-year-old, Los Angeles-based composer also has been sampled by a number of artists, including Jay Z, Common, DJ Premier and Schoolboy Q.
He’s also collaborated with the likes of RZA, Vince Staples, Snoop Dogg and Ghostface Killah, among others. Younge, alongside Ali Shaheed Muhammad (A Tribe Called Quest), produced Kendrick Lamar’s “untitled 06,” which would eventually be reshaped into the song “Questions” from the 2018 album, “The Midnight Hour.”
Younge has hit the road in support of his new record, “Something about April III,” the last album in a trilogy of psychedelic soul music, influenced heavily by the culture of Brazil. The album, due out April 18 via Linear Labs, features a 30-piece orchestra, and is an amalgamation of the “trials and tribulations” that has brought Younge to a creative place he “always wanted to be.”
Tour Poster: ‘Jazz is Dead’
Younge will perform at The Pyramid Scheme in Grand Rapids on Tuesday (March 11), billed as “Jazz is Dead: Adrian Younge with a 10-piece Orchestra.” Doors open at 7 p.m. Tickets are $25 in advance, available online here. Grand Rapids Soul Club will open the show as part of Younge’s only Michigan tour stop.
From his all-analog studio, Linear Labs, Younge chatted recently with Local Spins for a Q&A about his new record, upcoming tour and global inspirations.
Local Spins: What have you been up to lately?
Adrian Younge: I came back home like the night before last. I score a lot of film and television, so yesterday and this morning I was just scoring and I really just stopped basically for us to talk.
Local Spins: What does the process of film scoring look like, depending on the project?
Young: Well, when you’re scoring, you basically become part of the team because you basically become part of the team when you become a musical expert, so you’re trying to understand what the team’s vision is and then you’re trying to figure out how you can make that vision even better. So like every project’s different because there’s different kinds of musical rules for every project. For example, one movie might want the emotion to sound sweet and sappy, while another movie’s supposed to think it sounds very dark and so you just have to understand the psychology of the filmmaker and then you try to execute the best version of that sonically.
Local Spins: If you can think back, what was a difficult film to score?
Younge: Me and my musical partner Ali Shaheed Muhammad scored a movie called “Boogie,” and that was difficult because there were so many musical changes throughout the movie. We did so many different takes so that was difficult, but it was fun though.
Local Spins: Can you talk about what you’re working on right now?
Younge: I score a show called “Cross Raising Kanan” for Stars, “Reasonable Doubt” for Hulu, “Human Footprint” for PBS, just a bunch of stuff.
Local Spins: So you’re about to head out on tour and you have “Something about April III” coming out. What keeps you interested in getting out there and hitting the road and bringing this music in person to people?
Younge: Well, I always say I create music in order to perform it live so the recorded versions are essentially the blueprint of what I want to present. That’s kind of like how I always feel it, because I think the best way to really hear and understand music is being in front of your fans. So that keeps me moving because as an artist you’re on an everlasting journey to spread awareness of your craft and I haven’t personally toured my Adrian Younge solo stuff in almost a decade. So I’m excited to actually do that.
Local Spins: There’s a quote from another interview you did where you said that this tour is about “celebrating your foundation” and how this series of records essentially helped guide you to where your career is now. What are those important aspects of your foundation musically or otherwise?
Younge: I like to look at “Something about April,” even though it’s not my first album, it’s kind of like my first album because it’s the one most people know me from when I did Part 1. I did Part 1 in 2011, Part 2 in 2015 and now in 2025 doing Part 3. So that first one really kind of set me up as this super producer maestro and it was sampled by a lot of people. So where I’m at right now is where I always wanted to be. When I created that first album, it was like me making all my attempts, all my trials and tribulations to get to this point where I am now.
LISTEN: Adrian Younge, “A Musica Na Minha Fantasia” (from “Something About April III”)
Local Spins: Do you enjoy being on tour?
Younge: I mean I love being on the road. The reason why I love being on the road is because you’re out of control of so many things in your regular life. So it’s cool because if … I’m in the studio, then there’s just studio things I have to do. But if I’m on the road, I can’t do those things. So there’s other non-studio things I have to do and I can just get that done. Plus, I just love being out and meeting people. As an artist, it’s always great to connect with your fans, because as an artist you’ve spoken to so many people around the world but they’ve never met you. So when you meet somebody that has been listening to you through your music, it’s like you complete that magical musical relationship and I love completing those relationships.
The Upcoming New Album: The final chapter to his ‘psychedelic soul trilogy.’
Local Spins: What things have been inspiring you lately outside of music?
Younge: I do a lot. I do photography. I’m all analogs. My studio is all analog. No computers. I have a dark room. I shoot film and print my film in my enlargers. I cut records in my studio. No computers for all of it. Honestly, I’m so stimulated by this notion of analog creation that I’m always doing something that is somehow music adjacent.
Local Spins: Can you tell me more about your photography journey?
Younge: I’ve always shot. The only album cover I didn’t shoot was “Something about April Part 1.” That was one of my good friends and seeing what he did with that, it inspired me. After that, I picked up a camera and started shooting. If you see my Ghostface albums or Delfonics albums or Souls of Mischief, all the albums — I shoot my albums. I’m inspired by photography as an art, but then I always like to be in control of the way my brand looks.
Local Spins: Can you tell me about the album cover for “Something about April III”?
Younge: Even though the album comes out in April, you can see the album cover. I flew to Brazil, hired models and shot that on location in Sao Paulo as part of the story. I love photography.
Local Spins: When you’re on stage, what are some magical moments or just some moments that really stick out in your brain when you’re performing?
Younge: Going to places and having people sing the lyrics to your music and you had no idea you had that many people that listen to your music. There’s nothing better than that.
VIDEO: Adrian Younge, “Rules of the Game” (featuring Snoop Dogg)
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