The Nigerian Music Industry: Producing 'Good Music' and 'Crap Music'? Whose fault? (part2)

"Nigerian music industry, Live fast die young, good looking corpse"


Here's the second and last part to the write up that was posted last week HERE

Lyrics to KOJO by @iceverse

Ice Verse, a fast rising Nigerian rapper dropped this Tune some weeks ago. Produced by DJ Klem, thought to share the lyrics to the song with yall

Intro:

Let it go

Let it go

The Nigerian Music Industry: Producing 'Good Music' and 'Crap Music'? Whose fault? (part1)

 ."Nigerian music industry, Live fast die young, good looking corpse"....

This article was written on the 27th of August 2013

 Last night I woke up around 2 in the morning, I couldn't go back to sleep so I went for my usual habit of surfing the net while listening to music. 

Anyways, I ran into a tweet about how the popular South African song 'Khona' is not supposed to be a 'party jam' as many Nigerians perceived it to be.

The tweet made me curious and so I tried searching for the meaning of the song. And wow!!! There it was, lying in one of my favorite blogsites (www.citrusmusiclive.com).

Prior to this, the only thing I loved and respected about that song were the unique dance moves I saw in the video.

However, as I read through the blog, I got  a totally different view about the song. I realized that the song is way deeper that just a 'bunch of South Africans' dancing and singing. I fell in love with the music itself immediately. 

Back to the matter (no be open and close oh. hehe), the interpretation got me thinking, 'a song which so much depth in meaning and expression, how come it got so much commercial success?' 

You wouldn't blame me though, the Nigerian mentality that a commercial song has to be 'meaningless' got a serious grip on me. And there I was all these while thinking we Nigerians made the best music in the continent. *smh*

It also got me thinking about the general Nigerian mentality that to be successful as an artist you do not only have to be commercial, you also have to sing 'crap'(nonsense).

Ok, yeah we know that loads  Nigerian artists making very low quality music. I must say, rather than blaming it all on these music makers, the 'fans' also are a major cause of this. 

I know at this point you are thinking, 'wetin consign fan with making of music', but for this point to be well understood, I must break something down. 

The fact is, this music thing is business and this is why you hear a lot of our artists calling themselves business men/women. And just as the normal convention, every business has its customers, and of course, the demands of these customers are what these business people would love to satisfy. They have no choice. Doing otherwise would be like forcing your product(s) on the customer/consumer(just like wana said in 360nobs) and this, my people cannot work anywhere in the world. 

From my experience with Nigerian music, I have come to a realize that not only are the fans indecisive, they are also confused. 

For my point to be well understood, I have to delve a lil bit into explaining what I really think music is (or should be).

Music is an art, a way of life, major means of communication, telling stories, it is used to narrate experiences, used to express feelings among several other things. 

If not for music, many wouldn't know the life stories of the likes of Tupac, Biggie, Dagrin (All in blessed memory), Warren G, Snoop Dogg, 50 cent, Jay Z, Akon, Chris Brown, Usher, Kendrick Lamar, Eminem, Kanye and many others. 

Without even meeting them in person, we get a good picture of their lives, their struggles, challenges and exploits and other things. 

However, it is so sad that in 2013 an average Nigerian artist's belief is that,he has to sing 'crap' to be successful. 

This trend as far back as I can remember started in the mid 2000s. 

I remember an artist back then sang that he was totally tired of making sense in his songs. Why? Because he has tried over and over again but he realized that the fans seem to rather prefer the 'nonsense' music to good music. He then said he was gonna start singing 'nonsense'.

Well, I cannot remember the artist who sang it so I wouldn't know if he made it with the 'nonsense' music.

My point is, there are several artists who are ready to make good music, but due to the kind of market they are selling their products to, they are forced to sing 'DUST'.

All these artists have several things at stake. We know of several artists who after getting their degree (instead of working with it) because of their passion for the game, dumped their degrees and pursued their musical career. We know of other who dropped out and several others who never even went to school at all (all in the name of wanting to 'blow').

As if all these ain't enough, they face several challenges from home as we know that in the kind of society we live, only 'omo burukus' (bad kids) would want to do music. 

Like i said earlier, the fans are the customers, but what happens when the customers/consumers are indecisive or confused?.

Today they love rap music, tomorrow they love, RnB and the day after they are in love with 'Ginger' music.

I've witnessed many good Nigerian artist depreciate. Not because they don't enjoy making good music, but because the good music they made didn't get them paid.

M.I's first album (Talk About It) as far as I'm concerned is one of the greatest rap albums in Nigeria. The song 'crowd mentality' moved the airwaves as Mr. Incredible made an attempt to encourage Nigerians to do what they love and not what the crowd does. 

Unfortunately,....................

And the Story even gets more interesting in the next part of this post.... stay connected to this blog for the better half..

write up by Olayemi Oladapo 

@Yemzdgogeta_YMC

3D Minds; Meet the DANCING DOCTOR.

This clip is titled: 3D Minds. This is another one from many of his exclusive dance clips. Yusuf Deji whose stage name is Dr Hombreezle one of the best dancers in the Kwara State .He is a medical doctor, who graduated from Unilorin. Follow him on twitter via his handle @hombreezle. Look out for more of this from him.
Download Link: http://www1.datafilehost.com/d/4e248b5d

Swagged Out Demeanor (Viral Video)

After a long interval since the release of SCATTER (Ft. Ajebutter22), CJ is back with a new viral video to a track off his "Demeanor of A College Kid" mixtape. SWAGGED OUT DEMEANOR is a rap song with a nice combination of storytelling & "swag bars" . The track is produced by UK based artiste/producer Chillz and is a little warm up for SCATTER video, which is set to drop sometime in the coming months. The mixtape drops under his movement/label PLAYAZ CONNECT ENTERTAINMENT (P.C.E) and BORN KINGS management. Sawlead Ent are the executive producers of Demeanor Of A College Kid & are responsible for majority of the production on the mixtape... Look out for that!!!

YOUTUBE LINK (HD): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOYn2wlkjpg&feature=youtu.be&hd=1
Normal quality: http://youtu.be/ZOYn2wlkjpg

Follow: @Cj_of_PCE @PlayazConnect @BornKings_

 

DON JAZZY & D'BANJ PERFORMING TOGETHER AT D'BANJ YOUNGER SISTER'S WEDDING

I don't usually post random stuff like this but THIS Caught my attention. And though I don't know why, but I'm  extra excited about it.
Don Jazzy and D'banj Performing together at Dbanj's sister's wedding. :O..
Most of us thought after the break up of the now defunct Mo'Hits Crew, that would be the end of the relationship, but I find this amazing.
Below are some photos of Dbanj And Don Jazzy Performing together at Dbanj's sister's wedding to Dotun of Cool FM....
Do You think any collaboration or reconciliation is in the offing?
Drop your comments and below too and let's see what you think

B-Red Celebrates Birthday.

B-Red Celebrates Birthday.


So last Thursday, ‘The Place lounge’ at Lekki was on a complete shutdown with the HKN Gang artist celebrating his birthday in collaboration with Cool FM for their playlist party. Though his birthday was on the 23^rd of July, he moved the celebration to the 25^th of July (Thursday). He returned to Nigeria a day to the celebration after being in the U.S.A for over a month in the course time which he also dropped his single with Shizzi (HKN’s In house producer) titled ‘Love you die’ {Download link: http://t.co/Opflupmifc  }

Personally, I was there to celebrate and so I got a couple of photos I’d share with ya’ll.  It’s unfortunate that I couldn’t get photos of all the major persons present at the party, you can’t blame me though, I was having so much fun balling with my nigga B-red and other HKN gang members at the party that I forgot about photos. lol. I tried getting a couple more from other sources thoug.The party was free for all (no pass was required), but the VIP section was definitely restricted. Loads of artists, producers, director, managers, actors, actresses, and entertainers were present at the occasion.

Some of the major celebrities who were present are Davido, Tuface, Flowssick, Shank, Kcee, Harry Songs, Chairman HKN, DeeKay HKN, Danagog HKN, Skuki, king Jhafi, Dj exclusive , Npz, Eniola Badmus, Efa,  Solid star, Jaymavin, and many of others. Lemme share some photos with ya’ll…




Bday boy

With B-red





Davido arrives in his whip



DJ Olu HKN, O.B.O with Shank behind them



Oil prince(An artist manager) with Chairman HKN

Shank and I after the party

B-red with Oil prince(An artist manager)



with Dj Exclusive of EME

B-red with a maimed fan

JJC performing with a live band

Davido performing with B-red



Tu baba in the building



B-red and King Jhafi after the party

Party on fire

B-red with body guards



B-red showing love to the streets



Solid Star

Q.Dot

Shank and B-red after the party

Up, Close & Personal with Dammy Krane.

Up, Close and Personal: Yemi meets up with the 'My Dear' crooner. They talk about how he started music,how he met 2face and got signed and many other issues. ENJOY

Yemi: Hello Mr Dammy Krane. How is the Body?

Dammy: Ko le re body!!!

Yemi: So, Tell Us who "Dammy Krane" is.

Dammy: Dammy Krane is that jolly good fellow that lights up the room. He is the

enterkraner of life. lol

Yemi: How did it all start for You? The Music thing.

Dammy: I grew up in music.

Yemi: Give us an insight into your educational background

Dammy: I go primary school and secondary school...I am still in Uni

Yemi: What was your family's reaction when you said You wanted to do Music

Dammy: I was disowned lol, but I have full support of my parents now

Yemi: How has fame affected Your personal life?

Dammy: It has not affected me in any way o!

Yemi: Talking about Fame. How did You meet 2Face and get the Hypertek records

Deal?

Dammy: That story long o!!!! lol. anyway  I was invited to tubaba’s birthday party by

my friend Iyad. I was sitting in the corner as there were a lot of big acts

there, when iyad shouted my name to come closer. That was when Tuface asked

where is Dammy Krane because he had been hearing about me and he had seen me perform. The rest they say is history lol

Yemi: Did You have any deal before the Hypertek deal?

Dammy: No

Yemi: Your hit song "My Dear" what was the inspiration behind the song?

Dammy: From God

Yemi: When is your album coming out?

Dammy: Before the end of 2013 hopefully

Yemi: How do you cope with Your Female fans?

Dammy: Its Dammy Krane for the girls….i love my fans

Yemi: What's your most memorable moment as an artist?

Dammy: There are a lot!!! One time I was having an outdoor photo shoot and me and

my  crew noticed a secondary school girl pass on a bike (okada) and she was

hitting  the okada man to stop, she got down straightened her skirt and came over to me  for a picture

Yemi: So, Mr Krane, give us a brief idea of what a typical day is like for you.

Dammy: There is no typical in my day lol

Yemi: Can you tell us why you chose this genre considering everybody is doing hip hop?

Dammy: I grew up around fuji, my mum managed fuji artist. But don’t get it twisted my  genre aint pure fuji, it’s a mixture

Yemi: What's the most scandalous rumour You've heard about Yourself?

Dammy: It’s still to come

Yemi: You are such an energetic performer. How do you manage to stay fit?

Dammy: I take gingervite! lol

Yemi: Is Dammy Krane single / In a Relationship & tell us the features of you i

deal woman.

Dammy: Dammy Krane is single, my ideal woman is ‘the African woman’

Yemi: Any words for Your fans?

Dammy: Stay positive, God first and remain humble in whatever you do

CHECK OUT DAMMY KRANE'S NEW VIDEO 'Xteristics'

EVOLUTION OF BEAT MAKING IN NIGERIA.

EVOLUTION OF BEAT MAKING IN NIGERIA; Naija's Hottest producers.

I sit back and reminisce the old days where we Nigerians gave little or no ears to our own music. It was all about the foreign music. The American music to be precise(and maybe the 'Makosa' beats amongst others).

I'm talking about the days when artists such as Sisquo, Usher! Wyclef and the likes were the "real deal".

Over the years however, the Nigerian music industry has grown and a lot of attention has been given to our very own 'Jamz'..

The year 2005 marked as a major breakthrough in the Nigerian music industry with the likes of DBanj, Tuface who came to set a pace for other artists.. Also the Nigerian hip hop scene was also quite dormant till the major breakthrough of the likes of Naeto C (You know my P [2008], M.I (Talk about it [2008]).. These artists also paved way for yoruba rap acts like of Lord of Ajasa, Da'Grin (In blessed memory)...

        However, despite the massive boost of the Nigerian music industry within and outside Africa, not enough recognition was the giving to the was music producers who are the major tools in the hits hitting the streets every day in the Nigerian Music industry..

I can state arguably that the music producers' work in a song is up to 50 percent of the whole work of art. If a beat is 'wack', there is every chance that the song is gonna be 'wack'...

On the other hand, if a beat is 'dope', but the artist is not 'all that', such artist can still manage to make a great track out of such beat.

In a place like the U.S.A, where producers have always been recognized. The likes of Quincy Jones, Dre Dre, Scott Storch,Timbaland,  are forces to reckon with in the music industries.

Dre for instance has been relevant ever since the days of 'N***ars* with attitude' and most definitely is still a 'boss'. Scott storch who was really active around 2005 while working with terror squad and many other artists seems to have been quiet for quite some time now. Timbaland killed it back in 2007 with many tunes and collaborations. He had also been in limelight since the days of 'Timbaland&Magoo'.

Unlike in Nigeria, producers have always been respected and well paid.

        However, the year 2005 marked a great turn around in the Nigerian music industry. With the entry of the producer, Don Jazzy into the music industry. As the in house producer of the then 'Mo-Hits' all Don Jazzy did was produce hit tracks.

Subsequently, so many producers began to emerge and today we have loads of producers out in the industry who create hits everyday.

In the light of all the above,I would be talking about ten producers in the music industry who are holding it down real tight. However, I'd like to point out the fact that this list is in no particular order. Its just a list of Nigerian music producers who I think are doing great work in the industry.

1)Don-Jazzy:

So many say he is the greatest producer Nigeria has produced.

Don Jazzy has been present since the days of 'JJC and 419 Squad'. He started Mo-hits with D'banj back in 2004 and has been relevant ever since then. Steady producing hits year after year Don Jazzy has never relented. He produced most of the songs on D'banj first album 'No long thing'. Same applies to 'Run Down' which is Dbanj's second album which features the monster hit 'Why me'.

Don Jazzy went ahead to murder Curriculum Vitae, which I'll tag as one of the greatest albums in Nigeria in recent times. This was the first and only album by the whole mohit crew.

Subsequently, 'The Entertainer' album was dropped from the Mo-Hit camp. This album which emerged as one of the best Albums in africa in the year 2008 was also got major production from Don Jazzy. Don Jazzy also produced Wande Coal's 'M2M' album which is personally one of my favorites. After Mo-hit split us, he started Mavin record and continued to make hits. The kick is on and blazing in the street today.

He recently was rated as the 36th. "Most

powerful celebrity in Africa" according to

Forbes.

2)Sarz: 

sarz who is signed to Trybe record came all of a sudden into the music industry and had began to bully the industry ever since. Young and vibrant, Sarz produces a lot of pop music.  Sarz produced a lot of hits in the EME album and went further to murder it by making 'Samba' which has been a club banger since the time of release till now.

As far as the Naija music scene is concerned, sarz is another major force to reckon with.

3)D'Tunes: 

D'Tunes who came to limelight after producing 'Kukere' which happened to be one of the hottest tunes in Nigeria as at 2012. He produced eight songs on Iyanya’s album.

However, prior to this, he had worked with artists like 9ice( on Bashorun Gaa) Tuface, Faze, Ruggedman, amongst others.

D’Tunes  set up his own music label,

Difference Entertainment, and signed on

Sean Tizzle whose single Sho Le is hitting up the airwaves.

4) Samklef : 

Samkef who produced a large part of wizkid's 'superstar' album has been in limelight for a couple of years now in the nigerian music industry. He produced wizkid's monster hit 'Don't dull'. A beat which Tyga of YMCMB alsso jumped on for a freestyle on Tim Westwood's show and this video got loads of views on youtube

He has worked with several other artists like Durella, Olamide, vector, Rugged man, skales and so many.

Samklef however is still steady making hits everyday in Naija.

5) Shizzi:

He produced Dami Duro which is the hit single which brough Davido to limelight. He is signed to HKN as the in house producer. Shizzi, who was nominated as the best

producer of the year by NEA, Nigeria

Entertainment Awards alongside producers

like Don Jazzy, Cobahms Asuquo, Samklef,

to mention a few.

He has worked with great artists

like Sasha, Harrysong, , OD Woods, Naeto C, Sauce Kid, Wande Coal, D’Prince, MayD,

PSquare. He also produced a track on the mohit's CV album and produced most of the tracks on Davido's O.B.O

We also several other major producers in Nigeria, some of which are;

6) OJB:

It would be totally disrespectful if I leave him out of the list. Despite the fact that her has not been too present in the industry lately, OJB is one of the best producers Nigeria has ever seen. He produce African Queen by tuface, and the entire grass to grace album. He also did several works with Kennis Music. At a point in Nigeria, he was like the only known producer and can be said to be the father of pop music in Nigeria. He paved the way for the likes of Don Jazzy.

There also other major producers doing big in the Nigerian music industry. Some of them which are

- J slick

- Gospel

-TY mix

- Phillz

- Yung-D

- Studio Magic

-Maleek Berry

New producers have also been emerging from different places in Nigeria.

Today, it is a fact that the music producers are the back bones of music in Nigeria

by Olayemi Oladapo ... @YemzDgogeta_YMC