Music Magnate Wilson Joel has Global Pull on the Industry

By Carrie Smith / August 1, 2023

Musician, producer, and entrepreneur Wilson Joel is taking the global music industry by storm. An entertainment veteran on the path to uplift others, Joel is bridging the gap between international music counterparts. First making waves over seas in Nigeria and South Africa, he’s now branched to the U.S., joining forces with the Recording Academy.

Driven by his philosophy for learning, Joel propels himself by his kind heart and thirst for knowledge. “Be a student for life. There is always something to learn,” said Joel. “Never ever think you’ve arrived today. The day you think you’ve arrived is the day you’ve stopped learning and then you stop growing.”

Born into a musically talented family in Lagos, Nigeria, Joel always had a hankering for the art form. Hymns of soul, R&B, and traditional Nigerian melodies flowed through his mother’s restaurants and father's affiliated church. His family harnessed the magic that translated into accomplished singers, dancers, and instrumentalists.

As a young child, Joel spent hours examining record players, even pulling them apart to peek at the sorcery inside. By age 13, increasingly hungry to learn more, he poked around his hometown to find a piano teacher. Finally finding a piano repair man a few blocks down, he was introduced to the keys where he would later teach himself how to be fluent in the instrument’s language.

“I think music is a language and different people speak this language differently,” said Joel reflecting on his experiences. “With every country that I've had the opportunity to be in, I realized that music sounds different. But all this music carries soul and it carries a reading. The reading is the difference. People express music, according to their experiences and from how life has been with them.”

A self proclaimed musician up until the age of 20, Joel decided to extend his knowledge further by sitting in on studio sessions to study the elements of song creation, slightly satisfying his hunger to master the craft. Two years of learning led him to a friend and fellow music creator who guided Joel through the rungs of production. Holding a tight-knit web of knowledge, he began producing radio advertisements, albums, soundtracks and more.

Spending great lengths of time at his church House On The Rock in Nigeria, Joel became a keyboardist amongst other band positions, leveling him up to head of instrumentalists where he would teach others for five years. But Joel wanted to fly even higher. Diving further into the industry he uprooted his life and moved to Johannesburg, South Africa to swim in a new pool of the industry.

“Music has the power to do a lot of things. It can heal, it can give you life. And for me, if I can’t make music on that level, where people come in and they don't go back home the same way, I don't think I’ll feel fulfilled yet,” said Joel reflecting on his decisions. “It is a dream that I want to happen at least once in my lifetime.”

Beginning as a freelance producer, Joel quickly caught the eyes of many artists, one being critically acclaimed Lulu Dikana who built a bridge between him and Universal Music South Africa. Since then, he went on to produce music for various other artists under the company’s umbrella, partnering with them since. Becoming close with the branch’s director Dharam Sewaj, Joel’s once small patch of seeds blossomed into a field of flowers where he gathered industry ropes one fiber at a time.

Eventually, he moved back to Nigeria with his newly found knowledge, becoming the House On The Rock’s music director and later ascending to the same position for Experience Lagos, the largest gospel concert in the world. For nine years, he worked tirelessly to coordinate each musical aspect for the church and of course eventually, craved more knowledge.

One year prior, in 2022 Joel was granted the Extraordinary Ability Visa, allowing him to further his musical abilities in the U.S.’s entertainment hub. Shortly after settling down outside the nation’s capital, Joel became an ambassador for DC’s World Cultural Festival, a member of the Grammy’s Recording Academy, and a member of ForbesBLK.

Running on fumes of positivity and a philosophy of selfless giving, Joel is currently gearing up to release library music for films, where filmmakers can purchase affordable soundtracks.

“For me, what propels me to be on that edge is because I believe a lot in giving. I can give my eyes for you to use it as long as you return them when you're done,” Joel laughed. “I believe that giving is life.”

In addition to weaving the musical intricacies of various concerts and songs, he hopes to one day provide an all encompassing music service to artists worldwide. From sea to sea, country to country, Wilson Joel is changing the realm of entertainment for the better.

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