Last week on #Beatsmith, we spoke to Altims about producing Rema’s latest banger, “Lady” — a standout off his third EP, Bad Commando. Now, we’re turning our attention to the EP’s title track, which seems to be gaining more momentum with each passing day.

Produced by fast-rising talent, London, “Bad Commando” is an utterly infectious earworm that burrows itself into the brain of anyone who listens. So, we decided to catch up with the song’s producer to discuss how a rejected beat became another Rema hit.

On meeting Rema:

I met Rema back in 2018. Before we got acquainted, I used to hear his songs, but I didn’t know who he was. Then I saw him recording at the Mavin Records studio one day, and I introduced myself.

On first discussing “Bad Commando”:

Honestly, none of this was planned. I had originally made the beat for another artist, but he wasn’t feeling it at that point. So, I played it for Rema and he immediately liked it.

On main inspiration:

If I’m being honest, I didn’t have anything in my head when I was making the beat. I was just flowing with the vibe. Well, I was eating during the process, so I can say there was a lot of joy in my heart.

On difficulty level:

Compared to the other songs I’ve worked on (Starboy’s “London”, DJ Tunez’s “Turn Up”), making “Bad Commando” was probably the easiest. I made the beat in like 20 minutes and finished everything when he recorded.

On the song’s short runtime:

I think the shorter a song is, the sweeter it gets. When it doesn’t go on for too long, like with “Bad Commando” (which clocks in at one minute and forty-four seconds), you can play it over and over again.

On if he’d change anything:

Listening to the song post-release, there are a few minor tweaks I’d like to make here and there, but at the end of the day, I’m happy with the way it turned out.

Rema is easily the biggest breakout star of 2019. In less than a year, he’s dropped three impressive EPs, all filled with really fantastic tracks. Out of all them, however, one that truly stands out is “Lady” — an infectious afropop gem off his third project, Bad Commando.

Considering that it’s one of Rema’s most dynamically produced tracks, we simply had to reach out to Altims, the Mavin Records beatsmith behind it. He discussed meeting Rema, finding diving inspiration for the beat, and noticing the effect the song had on women.

On meeting Rema:

I met Rema in early 2018, through D’Prince. He was recording a bunch of songs with a couple of producers, and D’Prince played me some. I thought he sounded unique, and we met a couple of days after at the Mavin HQ.

On first discussing “Lady”:

I actually don’t remember us having a conversation about “Lady” in particular. When we linked up, we recorded between 5 and 7 songs within the span of a couple of days, and “Lady” just happened to be one of them.

On main influence:

I actually made the beat an entire year before the song was recorded. I had the full idea for it before I even sat down to put it together. It happens like that some times. I call it divine inspiration.

On difficulty level:

Making “Lady” was really, really easy for me, especially when I compare it to the other projects I’ve worked on. The instrumental was done in 45 minutes, from start to finish.

On coolest memory:

After we recorded vocals and bounced the rough cut, every babe that heard the rough version danced and asked for it to be played again, without even knowing the artist. I thought that was really cool.

Burna Boy’s exceptional African Giant is easily the best Nigerian album of 2019, as well as one of the best of the past decade, so it comes as no surprise that it recently nabbed a well-deserved Grammy nomination for ‘Best World Music Album’.

While Burna Boy’s talents cannot be praised enough, it’s also worth noting that this album wouldn’t be what it is without the brilliant Kel P, who produced over half the tracks. So, we decided to reach out to 2019’s defining beatsmith to ask how the game-changing album came to be.

On meeting Burna Boy:

So, around August last year, Ceeza Milli recorded Burna Boy on one of my beats. Burna Boy asked who made it, and Ceeza told him about me. The next day, I got a call from both of them to link up and that was how I met him.

On first discussing ‘African Giant’:

I never knew I was coming to make an album. I just knew I was there to record songs. We didn’t really have any serious conversation or even a moment to get to know each other beforehand. We were just working and the vibe was smooth.

On main inspiration:

My main inspiration was Burna Boy himself. His previous songs, the ones he released before I met him, influenced my work on the new songs. I was also influenced by his unique vocal texture and writing.

On the difficulty level:

It was very tasking. I was basically indoors for an entire month, grinding to make sure every song sounded different. Burna is a fast writer — he can record four complete hit songs in a single day.

On his favourite track:

My favourite track is definitely “Wetin Man Go Do”. The composition is somehow simple and dynamic all at the same time. The vocals and adlibs also blend really smoothly together.

Joeboy has had a truly incredible breakout year, thanks to the back-to-back success of “Baby”, “Beginning”, “Don’t Call Me Back” and “All For You”. Well, out of those four career-making singles, two of them were produced by rising beatsmith, Beats by KO.

So, we decided to catch up with Beats by KO, who is also deservedly enjoying a breakout year of his own. He talked about meeting Joeboy two years ago, working on his latest hit, “All For You”, and why they never really have to plan a song.

On meeting Joeboy:

I met Joeboy about two years ago, through a secondary school friend. He was in Unilag with him, and he told me about how good his music was and how great he thought we’d sound together. So, we started talking, I sent him a couple of my beats and he liked all of them. That’s how it all began.

On first discussing “All For You”:

We never actually had a conversation about making “All For You”. Joeboy, Oxygen Mix and I typically just go into the studio and catch a vibe. We never really plan to do a particular song, we just create whatever the vibe brings. That’s what happened with “All For You”. 

On main influence:

I listen to A LOT of music, so it’s really hard to point to any particular song or songs that influence my work. It’s usually how I’m feeling at the moment that inspires what I do. So, with “All For You”, it was just my state of mind at the time that influenced me.

On the difficulty level:

This one was actually less than “Don’t Call Me Back”. It was like a gift, it kind of just came to us. There are some songs you work on, where everything seems to be going fine, and in the end, it just doesn’t come together. That wasn’t the case with “All For You”. The vibe that day was just perfect. 

On the most exciting studio memory:

I remember the studio being really full — a lot of our friends were around — so the energy was great. We also took breaks to play FIFA, and even though Joeboy and Oxygen Mix beat me, it was fun. Honestly, just being in the studio with talented people is exciting to me. 

On if he’d change anything:

No. At all. I’m the type of person that does not go back to things after I’m done. So, yeah, I feel like the song is exactly how it’s meant to be. If there was any change that needed to be made, I would have definitely done it before it dropped.

Burna Boy’s career-best LP, African Giant remains the strongest Nigerian project that has been released this year. While it’s stacked with a ton of great songs and features, a clear highlight is “Different”, which features Angelique Kidjo and Damian Marley.

Produced by Chopstix, GMK and TMXO, “Different” is one of the most thoughtful songs on the project, and with the album primed to nab a Grammy nomination in a week, we decided to sit down with TMXO and discuss how the standout song happened.

On meeting Burna Boy:

I met Burna Boy through Chopstix, who also produced “Different” with GMK and I. They were working together a lot at the time. I called him about an idea for a Burna Boy song, as Burna had just tweeted that he wanted to work with Youssou N’Dour.

I had just left GMK’s studio that day, where I’d worked on something that fit perfectly with what that song with Youssou could possibly sound like. Chopstix took me to Burna’s studio that same day, and we cut his verses on the record. This was about two years ago.

On first-ever discussion about “Different”:

After I saw the Burna tweet about wanting to collaborate with Youssou, I made the phone call to Femi Leye, who had collaborated with Youssou on his album, History. “Bro, I need your help. I have a record for Burna that he’s trying to get Youssou on,” I told him.

On the track featuring Damian and Angelique:

I had absolutely no idea. We actually just added the song to “hard drive records” — an inside joke for songs that’ll never make it out. At some point, Chopstix wanted to add it to his own album. Some days after he told me that plan, he called that Burna’s management wanted to meet.

That’s when I learnt that the song was going to be on African Giant and that it now featured Damian Marley and Angelique Kidjo. I laughed hard in disbelief, and then I heard Damian Marley’s verse and laughed even harder in disbelief.

On working with Chopstix and GMK:

It was seamless. It went from one person to the other at the right time, and everyone played a very significant role. The most important decisions we made were not even in making the beat, it was in placing the record and trusting the next producer.

All of us were fresh off working on an album together, so we still had synergy and mutual respect for our individual abilities. GMK had the beat draft and trusted me to take it to the next level. I trusted Chopstix too, and he’d already been working with Burna, so it all worked out.

On inspiration:

A wide range of things inspired my work on the song. Traditional Malian music and dancehall definitely played a big part, and now that I think about it, the music from Nas and Damian Marley’s collaborative album, Distant Relatives, also inspired me.

On the most exciting studio moment:

Just seeing Burna Boy work. He takes his craft very seriously, and even though it might sound cliche, it’s a very spiritual process. He is a real genius. He goes over his lines again and again before he even gets on the mic, and if it doesn’t feel natural, he doesn’t bother putting it down.

That was very special to watch. Right there, I kind of figured that before Burna even releases a song, you’re sure people who like him and can relate to him will love it. His music is authentically him and seeing it happen first hand helped me understand why he is so beloved.

Reekado Banks is one of afropop’s most consistent stars, dropping at least one defining hit every single year. For 2019, that hit is the infectious “Rora”, which was masterfully produced by Tuzi, with a little help from the always-impressive Altims.

So, we decided to sit down with the fast-rising producer behind one of the yeat’s best songs, talking through how he met the star, how Altims popped in to add a little spice, and how anger influenced the track’s initial guitar progression.

On meeting Reekado Banks:

Following the release of Skiibii’s “Sensima”, which I produced, I got a call from Swaps to come meet someone in his studio. I rushed down there, and it was Reekado Banks.

I played him plenty beats — he really knows what he wants — and the moment he heard the beat for “Rora”, he said, “This is it”. He freestyled and invited me to his house the very next day.

On first discussing “Rora”:

There wasn’t really a conversation around making the song. The moment he heard the beat, there was an instant connection and we went right ahead to record it.

On inspiration and difficulty level:

The beat came from a deep emotional place, so it wasn’t really tasking to make. It was an expression of how I was feeling at the moment, and thanks to Reekado, he made the work easy.

On the coolest studio moment:

To me, I think the most exciting moment was definitely when Altims, who is credited as a co-producer, came into the studio and added some serious spice to the beat.

On the oddest influence:

Wow! I was very angry when I made the initial guitar progression on the beat. It’s something I still remember vividly. I was having an argument and, at the same time, my fingers were on the keyboard.

On if he’d change anything:

I have ‘Rora Final 1 to 5’ on my laptop, so whatever you are hearing is a complete, well-thought-out masterpiece. So, I wouldn’t change anything, unless Reekado decides to feature Drake or my crush, J Lo on a remix.

The Headies went down a few days ago, and Teni emerged as the night’s most awarded artist, taking home ‘Best Recording of the Year’ and ‘Best Vocal Performance (Female)’ for “Uyo Meyo”, Best Pop Single for “Case”,  and the ‘Viewer’s Choice’ award.

Before the success of “Uyo Meyo” and “Case”, however, Teni had “Askamaya”, the breakout track that turned her into an afropop sensation. The boisterous single might not have gotten as much love at the Headies as it deserved, but it did earn Spellz a ‘Producer of the Year’ nod.

So, even though Teni has come out with a fair amount of gems since, “Askamaya” is still her at her hit-making best. Over a year after it’s release, we sat with the beatsmith behind the defining track, asking him about meeting Teni, promising to make her a hit, and pushing her to release it.

On meeting Teni:

Teni and I first met back in June of 2017, about a year before “Askamaya” dropped. We video called through a mutual friend, who later signed her to his record label.

On first discussing “Askamaya”:

She came to my studio in Lekki and was like, “Baba, I hear say you dey give people hit. Today, you must give me my own.” I laughed and promised to do my best. We prayed and then recorded three songs, including “Askamaya”.

On main influence:

I listen to a lot of music, from street-influenced bangers to r&b hits, so I can’t say one song in particular influenced “Askamaya”. It was just a beat I made a few days before we recorded.

On the difficulty level:

Compared to the other songs I’ve worked on, it really wasn’t that difficult. Making a hit song is usually quite simple for me. I don’t sweat it. I just go with my gut, and that’s how it was for “Askamaya”.

On getting the song out:

About 3 months after we made the track, I called Teni and told her that she was sitting on a monster hit. She was like, “Baba, which of the songs?” I told her “Askamaya”. A few weeks later, it was released and the rest is history

Over the weekend, Falz’s fourth studio album, Moral Instruction — a socially conscious body of work that was greatly inspired by the legendary Fela Kuti — pulled off a surprise upset, beating out Burna Boy’s acclaimed mixtape, Outside to take home the Headies award for ‘Album of the Year’.

While the album’s ballsy concept got the most attention, the true star of the project was undoubtedly Falz’s go-to beatsmith, Sess, who produced five of the LP’s nine tracks. So, we at Zikoko decided to sit down with him to find out how the ‘Album of the Year’ came to be.

On meeting Falz:

I met Falz through my manager/business partner back in 2014. We had reached out to his team about collaborating, and he invited us to the studio. It was at that point we started working on his sophomore album, Stories That Touch.

On first discussing ‘Moral Instruction’:

The first conversation we had about Moral Instruction was actually while we were working on his surprise album, 27. In a session, he told me he had an idea for a conscious project. He already had the title, but he wanted it to be an EP at that time.

I then came up with the idea of using Fela as a springboard, kind of like continuing the conversation he started. We agreed to sample various Fela songs that touched on the issues we were tackling. Later on, we realised the project was too big to be an EP, so he decided to make it an album. 

On main inspiration:

Fela totally inspired the project. We were privileged to get permission to sample his music, so there were no limits to where we could push it sonically. We were going for a perfect blend of classic Afrobeat & hip-hop. We were basically listening to Fela’s albums while working on the project.

On the difficulty level:

Definitely the most tasking thing I’ve ever worked on, because, as I said earlier, we were trying to use Fela as a springboard. So, we needed to find how to bring that classic Afrobeat to the present, creating a perfect fusion that would not diminish the integrity of the message.

Luckily for us, we had support and direction from Rikki Stein [— a British music industry executive known for being Fela’s manager from 1983 until the icon’s death in 1997]. So, we were very well-grounded on how to approach it. 

On the most surprising influence:

The most surprising inspiration was my childhood. Growing up, my dad would play Fela in the car during road trips. I remember singing all the words, and it used to freak him out. I never imagined I would eventually be sampling and recreating an original Fela song. It’s still surreal.