Yalla Habebe wants you to remember the music, not the face

Building a Sound Without a Face

He started producing music at 12, teaching himself through YouTube tutorials and online courses. With no formal training, his ear took shape around Adriatique, John Summit, Vintage Culture, and producers who build club tracks around melody instead of just drops. This is reflected in his own records, which avoid generic sounds by leaning into Afro house, favoring vocal-driven hooks and a slower, groove-forward pace.

Finding a label proved to be harder than finding a sound, and this is where most independent artists hit a wall. Yalla Habebe was no different; as an unproven act with no face to sell, very few labels were interested in that math. “Obstacles every artist goes through are finding the right label to work with,” he says. So he found his own way by building one himself. 

He taught himself Spotify’s algorithm and social platforms to run releases on his own. Before releasing music as Yalla Habebe, he worked the marketing side of projects tied to Vintage Culture, watching how tracks get positioned before release. This experience helped him to shape how he approaches his own rollouts. Running the label himself also gives him direct control over the timing, presentation, and promotion of each release.

Turning Familiar Tracks Into Momentum

According to Yalla Habebe, he generated more than 300,000 streams in his first month. He attributes that to his steady early momentum on Instagram and TikTok. The releases driving those numbers are reworks: an Afro house reinterpretation of the Timbaland-era track “The Way I Are” and a version of “Move Ya Body.” The strategy uses familiar songs with unfamiliar treatments as an entry point for new listeners.

Yalla Habebe is not aiming for a quiet career. “I see myself as one of the prominent artists in the space if I keep this momentum up,” he says. Reaching that goal means fewer big swings, more of the same grind, more shows, and more releases. As he continues to run his own label, there is no five-year plan sitting in a drawer somewhere. Whether the face behind the project is ever revealed is beside the point. He wants listeners to remember the music, the name, and the identity he has built around both.