I.L.L.N.O.L.E.D.G.E. is an acronym for: Intuitive, Limitless, Liberal-minded, New-fangled, Original, Luminous, Educative, Dedicated, Genuine, Elevators. The brother duo has developed their own sound called “Akan Fu”. Their craft is an embodiment of their philosophy of the close relationship between music and spirituality and puts the focus on black cultural heritage. We had a chance to catch up with brothers Steve Hartley & Mill Voyance before they performed in front of an intimate audience at Hidden Gem Studio in Amsterdam.
We are Illnoledge, two brothers. We are both producers and composers. We are raised in a very musical family. And through the years, we developed our own sound called Akan Fu, which stands for A Kulture Attuning to Nature for Unification. We will definitely lift up your vibration. And you will sense the spirit of unity. We'll definitely put you on the move. Put you in the groove. Planetary groove.
How do you feel in this current chapter of your life, in your music, in your art?
S: Feeling in a very good space right now. Very grateful to be in this moment and share what we love to do. Share the love vibrations and being grateful to feel alive. Definitely a chapter to celebrate. So, yeah, it's a privilege.
M: Yeah, definitely a privilege to be an artist and to be able to share a message. You know, and yeah, we've grown very aware of this privilege. And yeah, we like to keep on raising awareness, you know, especially in times like these that we live in. Raise awareness about what the people are going through, you know. It's a blessing.
S: We're aware that the world is really in need of love, you know, especially these days. That's what we share.
Tijmen de Nooy Photography
If you were to describe the sound of Illnoledge, how would you describe it?
M: We like to call it Pan-African dream music. So to elaborate, in our upbringing, we heard a lot of music. Also, we were raised with our father's music, his own compositions. And he was a very Pan-African minded guy. So that's where we picked that up. It was just like a culture at home. So, yeah, when it comes to Pan-Africanism, there's a lot of sounds over the world. Our family comes from the Caribbean part of the world. We heard a lot of sounds and philosophies. I think you can hear that in what we're doing. And, yeah, Akan Fu was born out of that. It's A Kulture Attuning to Nature For Unification. So that's like the acronym.
S: That's the meaning behind it. And it literally also translates to 'enlightened men', or 'enlightened people'. So that's a very uplifting meaning.
Is there a message you’d like to convey in your music?
S: Our main message is to always stay open for the unknown. Especially when you're afraid.
M: Because there's always something else in the universe as big as this, you know? So always stay open.
What's in store for Illnoledge in the near future?
A lot of new work. We're prepping it in our kitchen. Soul kitchen. And we're very excited to share that very soon. So, stay tuned!
Is there anything else you’d like to share?
Always be authentic. Always do you. Always do you, you know, no matter what, you know. Just stay true to yourself.
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