Oyewumi Adebisi on Growing a Music Career on Campus

 By Ugah Thelma and  Jacinta Emeka

The University of Lagos never truly goes silent; it only changes its tune. By day, the campus is a chaotic symphony of cabs and cars, the frantic shuffling of footsteps toward the Main Campus Car Park, and the steady drone of students and lecturers trying to compete with the afternoon heat. 

But as the sun dips behind the Lagoon and the hostels settle into a restless, low-voltage hum, a different kind of energy takes over. In the darkened corners of crowded rooms, the blue light of a laptop screen becomes a makeshift spotlight. This is where the next big sound in Nigerian music is born. 

For the student-musician, the campus is more than just a place to get a degree; it is a high-pressure incubator where the dream of a global stage is constantly at war with the reality of a 10:00 AM test.

Speaking with Oyewumi Adebisi, a 400-level Communication and Media Studies student who records under the name DJ Jill, the greatest hurdle is not the songwriting; it is the silence he requires to do that in school. 

In a UNILAG hostel, quiet is the rarest currency you can own. There is always someone laughing in the corridor, a bucket clattering in the bathroom, or a nearby speaker coughing to life. 

“I needed to record at one time, but there was just too much noise,” Adebisi recalls, shaking his head at the memory. “I had to wait until the dead of night when everyone was finally asleep. But then you face a new problem: you don’t want to be the guy waking everyone up with your vocals.” 

More often than not, he ends up recording through the chaos anyway, capturing the raw energy of the room and praying he can fine-tune the background noise away once he gets to a proper studio.

This “double life” requires a level of humility that many people don’t see. One night, he might be the centre of attention, but by Monday morning, he’s just another student in a polo shirt trying to stay awake in class. Adebisi is clear about one thing: music is a passion, but education is the anchor. He doesn’t see them as enemies. 

In fact, he believes the classroom gives him an edge that street artists might lack. “The industry is easy to get into but very tough to thrive in,” he explains. He’s seen the stereotypes of the uneducated musician, and he’s determined not to be part of it. For him, a degree in Communication and Media Studies isn’t just a backup plan; it’s a manual for understanding the structure of the industry and learning how to manage the business side of his talent.

Still, the grind is expensive. While his peers might be spending their pocket money on the latest sneakers or a weekend out, Adebisi is usually calculating the cost of a beat or a studio session. He remembers the time he finally got paid for a gig, a moment of triumph that most would celebrate with a party. Instead, he took every single kobo and handed it straight to a producer to mix and master his track, Love of This World. It’s a recurring theme in his life: dropping everything he has into his craft and relying on the occasional support from siblings to keep his head above water. It’s a high-stakes gamble, but for him, it’s the only one worth making.

When the friction of campus life becomes too heavy, Adebisi retreats to the edges of the university. You’ll often find him at the Lagoon Front or the Eco Park, places where the air is a bit cooler, and the world feels a bit wider.

 Away from the frantic energy of the lecture halls, the water and the trees provide the headspace he needs to write lyrics that actually mean something. “If you are lucky,” he says with a smile, “you find people there who will vibe with you and offer a bit of encouragement.” It’s these small moments of connection that make UNILAG feel like the ultimate training ground. As the recognised hub of entertainment in Lagos, the school offers a network of producers, songwriters, and fans that Adebisi views as his greatest leverage.

He represents a new breed of student who refuses to see the classroom and the studio as separate worlds. As long as the Lagoon Front offers a moment of peace and the hostels keep humming with energy, DJ Jill will keep balancing the books and the beats, proving that the hustle is just as important as the music itself.