Ghanaian singer OliveTheBoy says almost all of his songs begin with a search for the “nicest melodies” before he settles on a subject, describing music as the only goal in his life.
Speaking on the On The Line Podcast, the GoodSin hitmaker outlined a creative routine he believes is shared by many artists, even though each has their own style and preferences.
According to OliveTheBoy, the foundation of his writing is always melodic exploration, which he develops first before deciding what story the song should tell.
“Almost for every artist that I’ve worked with or I know. I mean, people work in different ways, but I think a lot of them work the same way that I work. Aside of very tiny little differences. Start with the melodies, brainstorm melodies, find the nicest melodies and find a topic. Make sure you’re making sense out of the topic,” he said.
Melody first, meaning next
OliveTheBoy explained that his sessions typically begin with improvising tune ideas, with lyrics and themes emerging only after he has settled on a musical direction.
He said he prefers to generate several melody options, refine them, and then attach a narrative that feels coherent and emotionally resonant.
For him, the main discipline lies in ensuring that, once a topic is chosen, every line in the song serves that core idea and tells a story that listeners can follow.
He added that, based on his collaborations and relationships within the music industry, he has observed a similar pattern in the way many contemporaries create their material, with melody guiding the rest of the process.
No room for balance
The singer also spoke candidly about how his determination to succeed in music affects his personal life, admitting his ambitions have pushed aside almost everything else.
“I do music to be great, right? Right. That is the goal,” he said, when asked about how he manages his career alongside life away from the studio.
“So, I don’t think I would need any balance. I don’t know how that is going to work because music is everything to me now. There’s actually no other goal. the only thing that is leading me to the goal. There’s nothing else.”
OliveTheBoy described that single-minded approach as both his motivation and his long-term plan, suggesting he does not currently see a need to reduce his focus on his craft.
He framed his dedication as a necessary sacrifice in pursuit of greatness, indicating that any notion of work-life balance sits firmly behind his drive to make music.
While he acknowledged that different artists may choose other paths, he made clear that, for him, there is only one priority – continuing to build songs from melody upwards, with music at the centre of everything he does.
