A lot of factors come to play on this subject matter
about who is appropriately deserving for the credits to a hit song, whether it
is the music producer or the artiste. The way our industry operates, it is
undecided, the strings that determine the hit status of a song.
It goes beyond
just having panache vocals, a popularly known producer giving mad beats and
Suka Sounds in the mix. There’s even songs that never saw the light of the
charts simply because no proper hype was attached to it, notwithstanding the
fact that it checked all the right boxes. In some shores outside of here,
songwriters even demand music credits as part of their rights considering
they’re the ones responsible for the lyrical framework.
More times than not, when a song becomes a hit, the
artiste is extolled for his (or her) level of genius exuded on the track and so
for the purpose of this post, I shall be focusing on the two parties involved
in making the music (sounds), which has largely become the basis for our
judgment – the artiste and the music producer. In furtherance to adjudging this
matter, it will be noteworthy to always consider the prominence of both artiste
and producer, their technical knowledge of their art (singing and music
production) as well as the hit songs in question.
Let me start with Don Jazzy
(I bet you already guessed it), his heavy involvement in music matters not only
brought him to the forefront of affairs but has kept him as a constant front
row player, which continues to set him apart from his colleagues in the industry.
This also explains why almost everyone wants to get him on their track because
his records speak volumes. Is it Korede Bello or Dr Sid, even D’Prince, Di’Ja
and then Reekado Banks?
The trend stays consistent as he continues to churn out
hit productions for his Mavin crew. I obviously won’t forget to mention D’Banj
and Wande Coal, and how their different paths have swiveled since severing ties
with Don Jazzy.
Cobhams is another producer whose art is equally
vested in the music. His trend isn’t any different and that’s why Timi Dakolo,
Dare Art Alade, Bez especially haven’t looked else where since realizing he had
already developed a penchant for making their individual magic tick. Even Banky
W, when he feels pressed to go back to his roots, he looks no further than
Cobhams.
Samklef would be the producer that founded the
Wizkid sound and tailored it into some level of consistency. Back then, you
hear Wizkid and you just think… “this is Samklef!” The excuse now is that
Wizzy’s sound has gone international, yet there’s that Samklef fine-tune in
Wizkid’s songs that we really used to love but no longer get anymore since he
parted ways with him for good.
Could I possibly forget OJB and J. Martins? Never!
These two are responsible for a large amount of hits from the early to mid
millennial era. And their discography covers works from 2face Idibia,
Ruggedman, D’Banj, Wizkid, Durella, Goldie, Resonance, Yemi Alade, Waje,
P-Square, Flavour and Bracket (just to mention a few) respectively. OJB is that
guy whose production launched a fine crop of today’s a-list artistes into fame
and J. Martins has never relented in well-doing since since. Many artistes owe
these two real big!
There’s also Masterkraft, Tee-Y Mix, Pheelz,
D’Tunes, Young John, DJ Coublon and their likes who amidst the tight
monopolistic turfs associated with the industry, they still shone through like
diamonds from their rough to stealing seats at the high table and eventually
becoming the most sought after producers of today. Alternatively, there are instances
with some producers where the artiste has succeeded in building a personality
that will always overshadow the producer’s works.
This is evident with the
likes of Selebobo and Shizzi whose stellar works can be tied to unarguably
Africa’s best artistes, Yemi Alade and Davido. No matter how epoch their inputs
are in the music, we might never really get past overlooking Ms Alade and
Davido to herald their producers solely for the genius work done on their
records. Leriq suffered this feat with Burna Boy as with Del’B who still
experiences same with Chidinma, Flavour, Wizkid and even Kcee.
For those of us
conversant with industry trends, you must have noticed that more producers are
turning artistes in a bid to fight this anomaly. Those with vocal prowess have
taken to singing while others who have crafted a signature sound, task
themselves with doing collabos. Oh, I just remembered Sarz now. He was quite
the bad guy then and calling the shots. Although he remains respected but he is
hardly ever remembered seeing as he has almost fizzled out into oblivion now.
The thought is indeed very painful.
Thankfully, this isn’t an ill that has befallen only
us here in Nigeria, it’s a global fight that has been on for decades. Producers
all over the world are not duly recognized or well appreciated for their
efforts and contributions to building the industry. This would explain the
movie “Straight Outta Compton” starring Dr Dre, Ice Cube and a couple other
international producers trying to pass a message across although from a racial
angle but we get the big picture. Some producers never get any attention and
the little recognition a few others get, is sometimes not even enough.
Now,
they have all resorted to lacing their sound tags on every production they ever
laid their hands on by a means of announcing themselves (and their works) to
the world. Will that ever be enough? Obviously not. Even if it’ll suffice on
the interim, how long really will it last?
It’s over to you guys… care to join me speculate?
Written by Jim Donnett of Tooxclusive
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