JESSE RAY ERNSTER
To call Burna Boy the most prominent artist in Africa would be an understatement. Having amassed a huge audience in the UK and the US thanks to 2018’s Outside, the acclaim and awards that followed 2019’s African Giant have truly cemented him in the global consciousness. Behind the faders on that record was Jesse Ray Ernster, an LA transplant from Winnipeg with mixing in his blood. Though his father is also a mix engineer, Jesse’s big break came courtesy of a chance encounter with Kanye West, a relationship that led to Jesse recording tracks on Jesus Is King, which is where he met Nigerian singer and songwriter Burna Boy.
African Giant was produced in Nigeria, London, New York and LA, with fifth single Gum Body produced by Benjamin Zill, AKA Benjamz. “Benjamz’ reference mix sounded great and Burna wanted to retain that vibe,” says Jesse. “He has 20/20 vision with regard to how he wants to present his songs sonically. I generally won’t stray too far from the rough mix. When I receive a Burna song, I try to play off the strengths of the track, pinpoint the winning aspects of the song, and squeeze as much as I possibly can from those elements.”
TIME TO BOUNCE
Although Jesse had been mixing all the songs on African Giant from his studio in Los Angeles, a week from the album’s deadline, he and his manager got a call from Burna, who said he wanted to finish all the mixes in the same room. Next stop: London’s Metropolis Studios. It was exciting news for Jesse, but the Pro Tools sessions became tangled in a complicated routing scheme of analogue gear and obscure plug-ins.
Jesse was challenged with printing all of the sessions down in a format that would play back accurately at a different studio, which involved bouncing stems through
