Johnny Drille – In Time ft Angelique Kidjo

Johnny Drille’s “In Time” featuring Angelique Kidjo is one of the standout collaborations on his sophomore album Before The Morning Light, released on May 15, 2025. The track brings together Johnny’s quiet, acoustic-driven folk-soul with Kidjo’s Grammy-winning Afrobeat and world music vocals, creating a song that feels intimate but reaches far beyond Nigeria.

The song stays true to Johnny’s core sound. It opens with soft guitar, minimal percussion, and his signature floating falsetto, the same intimacy that made him stand out since Before We Fall Asleep in 2021. When Angelique Kidjo enters, she shifts the mood. Singing in English and Fon, her layered vocals and phrasing add weight and movement without overpowering Johnny. The contrast works because neither artist tries to outdo the other. It’s a collaboration that respects both lanes and blends them into something that feels pan-African and timeless.

Lyrically, “In Time” is about patience, healing, and trusting the process. The album’s title signals a move from darkness into light, and this track captures that transition. Johnny sings about growth and faith in a future still unfolding, while Kidjo’s lines give the message a spiritual, almost ancestral weight. It’s not a high-energy track. It’s slower, reflective, and built to sit with you. For listeners going through personal transitions or uncertainty, it works as a calm reassurance that things do shift if you give them time.

Production keeps things organic. Acoustic guitar and warm keys carry the song, with strings and harmonies added subtly in the background. There’s no heavy auto-tune or over-polished pop sheen. The mix leaves space for both voices, so Johnny’s light falsetto and Kidjo’s commanding tone sit clearly side by side. That choice fits the wider direction of Before The Morning Light, which leans on live instrumentation and collaboration over heavy electronic production.

The feature also matters for Johnny’s career arc. Angelique Kidjo brings international recognition and credibility, pulling his music toward audiences outside West Africa while keeping the song rooted in African storytelling. Since the album dropped, “In Time” has been highlighted by fans as one of the most emotionally resonant moments on the project.

“In Time” shows that Johnny Drille can evolve without losing what made him different. It’s more collaborative and expansive than his earlier work, but the honesty, acoustic warmth, and conversational tone are still there. For anyone exploring Nigerian alternative music, it’s proof that vulnerability and craft can hold their own alongside the bigger, louder sounds in the scene.