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“This is my baby, you know,” says the cheery faced 21-year-old American who studies Chinese at Tsinghua University, referring to the 10-year-old Samuel Shen Cello.
Leaning forward and inhaling deeply, Olusola then begins popping his lips and bopping his head as he mimics the sound of a snare and bass drum while seemingly simultaneously producing a strange whirring noise.
He calls the bizarre blend of classical cello and the hip-hop art of beat boxing — a vocal technique that utilizes the mouth to produce drum, rhythm and other musical sounds — “classical hip-hop fusion,” though he admits it’s a working title.
“It’s hard to put the music in a certain box. It’s hip-hop, it has that rough feel to it, but because the cello is a classical instrument it adds a certain eloquence,” he said.
Whatever he decides to call the curious synthesis, it’s earned the budding musician wide recognition not only in the Beijing music scene but also from some of the most highly regarded individuals on both sides of the musical spectrum.
In 2009, renowned classical cellist Yo-Yo Ma praised the creativity of the classical/hip-hop hybrid after Olusola entered the international Indaba Music Celebrate and Collaborate competition and secured second place out of more than 400 participants, just missing a chance to record with the legendary cellist.
“Simply being recognized by such a famous artist was such a huge honor,” Olusola said.
Shortly after that, Olusola was sharing the stage with another legendary artist, Hip-hop pioneer KRS-One, known as one of the “godfathers of hip-hop”.
He said the inspiration for his classical hip-hop blend came from musical influence of artists such as Yo-Yo Ma, Rahzel and Charlie Parker.
It wasn’t until during a semester at Peking University in 2008, after he was invited to take part in a student talent show, that he merged the musical styles.
“I was trying to think of something really unique to bring to the show. One day while playing I just began tinkering with the two styles and found I quite liked the sound,” he said.
He said the reception by the audience at the talent show was overwhelming.
“Everyone was screaming, they were so pumped up. It made me realize that I might really have something unique,” he said.
“What I’m realizing more and more about music, especially for a classical instrumentalist, is that to make it, to maintain a lifestyle and earn enough to live off of, you have to find a niche that draws people in,” he said. “You really don’t find many people using hip hop with a cello.”
While Olusla may still be uncertain where his future lies, Beijing’s music scene seems to have embraced the young musician’s vision.
During his visit in 2008, Olusola joined students from the Chinese Central Conservatory and the Beijing New Music Ensemble in a concert, which led to a performance in 2009 in honor of US president Barack Obama’s first visit to China.
“The concert was such a cool experience. We had a group of some of Beijing’s finest musicians dedicating their time for the president’s visit,” Olusola said.
Before he began experimenting with hip-hop, Olusola was receiving national attention in the United States for his abilities as a cellist, winning countless awards, and he played the prestigious Carnegie Hall in New York twice by the age of 18.
Since his teens, Olusola said the cello has been an integral part of his life, but when he first began taking lessons at the age of seven, he didn’t particularly like the big bulky instrument.
“When I went from playing the piano to cello, I really didn’t like it. It was slow and difficult to play. But I persevered,” he said.
More than 10 years later, he says he couldn’t imagine life without it. “Now, I can barely set my cello down,” he said.
Similar to his passion for playing Cello, Olusola said his enthusiasm for China came quite by chance. In 2007, as a freshman at Yale University, Olusola applied for the Friends of Yale program, a program enacted by President Hu Jintao in May 2006, designed to give students at Yale University a chance to learn about China. Much to his surprise he was accepted and was one of 100 students and faculty from Yale to visit Beijing and attend a conference where President Hu Jintao spoke.
“I was blown away. It opened my eyes to something completely different, a completely different culture,” he said. “When I got back from the trip I changed my major and began really studying East Asian culture and Mandarin.”
