Now this is a story all about how his life got flipped, turned upside down…

In west Nigeria born and raised, on the playing fields is where he spent most of his days, chilling out, maxin’, relaxing all cool, he had some personal thoughts after graduating school.

Born in Ibadan, Oyo State Nigeria, Able Olu-Jordan, computer science sophomore, moved to the United States when he was 15 years old to enroll in higher education, or so his parents thought. Jordan said he moved to the United States to achieve his dreams.

Jordan, has had many hobbies throughout his young life including soccer, rugby and drawing. Jordan, who has been writing songs since he was 9-years-old, said nothing allows him to express himself like music does. After many trials and tribulations, he released his self-produced debut album titled Seconds and Dimes.

“I came up with the title a year before the album came out. {SAD}, the title, has a few meanings. One was I was sad, but also the seconds of time I was going have to put into the album, and dimes of money I was going have to put into the album as well,” Jordan said.

During his first musical experience Jordan said he was enamored by Eminem. Other artists, such as Michael Jackson, Usher, Ne-Yo, Eminem and J Cole, also influence him. Jordan said when he writes, it is very vivid, and personal — much like the artists who have impacted him.

“Most of my songs come from experiences,” Jordan said. “I use words to paint images, almost autobiographical. I make it about my life.”

While attending school and also working 10 hours a day on music, Jordan said making this personal album was not easy, since he had to shuffle his social life, work life and school.

“It was difficult in the sense of life having its way on me, but the writing part was easy,” Jordan said. At that point in time I was going through a phase, so trying to mix life and make music every day was hard.”

He set this goal for himself to make an album when he was only 11 years old.

“I wrote it down, saying I would produce a solo album,” Jordan said.

The album is an even mixture between rap and singing, and Jordan would describe his sound as ‘honest.’ The album is an expression of him as an introvert, and he thinks a lot of people will relate to the album because he talks about things people care about.

According to Jordan, he is pleased with the album and has been getting positive feedback from his friends, as well as strangers.

“The reaction was pretty nice to be honest. I had a stranger come up to me while I was playing the album and asked who it was, and it felt good to say that it was me,” Jordan said.

 The debut album was released in late January, and he has been promoting the piece of work on social media platforms like Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter and Facebook, and hoping to get more listens and hits. Jordan said releasing music as an indie artist is hard because people expect the music to be bad and he is hoping to change that notion.

“Whenever you introduce yourself and music to new people, they have a wall up and expect it to be bad, and I just enjoy the reaction on their faces when they hear the music and enjoy it,” Jordan said.

He worked with an agency to get his music on all of the premium streaming services such as iTunes, SoundCloud and Spotify — and that makes this real for him. Some of his music is at 6,000 hits and he hopes it keeps climbing.

He has multiple intentions for the album, but one stands above them all.

“I just want the people to feel comfortable. It is okay to think bad things or good things at times we are human. If you are sad or lonely that’s okay at times, I just want people to feel human and know that they Jordan said are not the only one going through things.”

Richard Anyaegbu, business management sophomore, was also born in Nigeria and said he can relate to Jordan’s experience.

Anyaegbu, CEO and creative director of his own clothing and hat company “Threads,” understands what it is like to be a college student while also expressing yourself, living out your passions and achieving your goals.

“Starting the line was challenging, after my friend backed out and the trend for ‘LIT’ faded, I had to find a way to keep the company relevant, so that’s how we transitioned to threads,” Anyaegbu said.

He brainstormed and had to find something with meaning that spelled “LIT” and eventually came up with “Life in Threads.”

Anyaegbu, like Jordan, said that staying up late and into the early morning as well as juggling all of life’s task — with classes at 8 a.m. — was natural for him.

When Jordan stepped off of the plane in Houston from Nigeria at 15 years old and smelled “cigarettes and alcohol,” he said he knew this was real.

Knowing music was his passion and it was something he wanted to do forever, he had goals of starting his own music label titled “Section 1,” and continuing to hone in his craft. Jordan said he hopes to be a beacon of light.

With the album taking about five months to make and narrowing the track list from 50 songs down to 12, Jordan said he is pleased with the final product.

Leland Creel, general business sophomore, said he has listened to certain songs on the album and enjoyed  parts of the album.

“I would listen to these songs in my free time, I would also recommend the album to others,” Creel said.

He thought it was impressive, unique and innovative that Jordan wrote and produced every song and enjoyed the different sound the album had.

Jordan has other musical projects in the works and some finished. He said he will continue to write and make music. Jordan said he hopes this personal debut album simply helps people.

“The album tells a story on its own, it’s me in a whole other perspective, I keep my mask on, and this is just me trying to connect more to others,” Jordan said.

After playing a song from the album for a friend, she cried, and to him he felt that his music could really resonate with people.

“I want my music to be borderless. I want people to listen to my music anywhere they can and enjoy it,” Jordan said.

his dreams are to be famous and be well-recognizable, but he also says he wants to stay committed to himself and do what he loves. Music is his passion, it is the only thing that allows him to freely express himself, and he plans on continuing to do that.

Able Olu-Jordan debut album titled {SAD} or Seconds and Dimes is available on SoundCloud, iTunes and Spotify. You can also follow him on all social media @nanimurz.