09-05-2025
Pentatonix's Kevin Olusola Reveals the Surprising Reason Why Jay-Z Inspired His Debut Solo Album (Exclusive)
Kevin Olusola's debut album was inspired by a Jay-Z lyric
The singer, cellist and beatboxer is known for his work in the a cappella group Pentatonix
Dawn of a Misfit dropped Friday
Pentatonix's Kevin Olusola can thank a Jay-Z lyric for his very first solo album.
The singer and cellist speaks with PEOPLE ahead of his debut solo album Dawn of a Misfit coming out, revealing how the rapper inspired him to branch out from the a cappella group he's known for.
When asked what he hopes fans will get out of Dawn of a Misfit, Olusola, 36, says that he'd like for fans "to see me for who I really am." "I think in a lot of ways, if you're a Pentatonix fan, you may see this album and go, 'Well, this is not the Kevin that I know,' and that's perfectly fine."
Olusola paraphrases a lyric from the 2009 song "On to the Next One," where Jay-Z, 55, raps that should fans "want my old s---, buy my old albums."
"I think one thing that Jay-Z says I appreciate of goes, 'If you like my old albums, buy my old albums,' " the singer says. "For me, if you like me in Pentatonix then watch me in Pentatonix, but the evolution of me as a man and a father and also understanding my identity, you're going to get the full extent of that."
Olusola digs deeper, saying that his new album "may make you feel uncomfortable." "And that's perfectly okay as long as I'm being truthful to who I am, which is I've known I've always been a misfit."
As far as new fans picking up his album and hearing his music for the first time, the father-of-two hopes they will "connect to the messaging of it's okay for you to be a misfit."
"It's okay for you to not feel like you fit in because the things that make you unique, that maybe you were teased about and maybe you were bullied for are the exact things you're going to need to change your world."
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Dawn of a Misfit features a range of songs from instrumental covers to pop songs like Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy" and "A Change Is Gonna Come" by Sam Cooke, to sampling classical music from artists like Vivaldi and Beethoven. There's even a playful song dedicated to his daughter, Kaia.
All include Olusola's flair and passion for classical music as a cellist — especially his lead single "Dark Winter."
After being a premed student at Yale University, Olusola thought he was going to be a doctor who lived in China. After original Pentatonix members Kirstin Maldonado, Mitch Grassi, and Scott Hoying saw a video of him playing the cello while beatboxing to Mark Summer's "Julie-O" in 2011, he changed course into a field that he never thought he would be in.
"To have this wild opportunity to do something I never thought that I was even qualified for, I'm just super appreciative of that opportunity," he says.
While working on the album, Olusola says he journaled about what he wanted out of the process, which included a "healing process" for him, "thinking about all the identity issues I've gone through throughout my life."
"And I feel like this album has done exactly that and so now to release it out into the world, it just feels so therapeutic and such a climactic moment in my life, and so I'm just super appreciative."
Dawn of a Misfit is available to stream.
Read the original article on People
