In the past year, Nigerian music has advanced significantly, with producers’ creativity playing a role in some of this success. They continuously create sounds that advance the story and musical development in Nigeria year after year.
Nigerian music producers have recently changed from being underrepresented to important shot callers, especially now that investors are beginning to take an interest in them.
Producers like London and Ozedikus, who were both included on the list from the previous year, won sizable publishing deals with Sony Music France in 2021. With help from Sony, Sarz put out Luv n Attn, a project that includes “Monalisa,” one of the most popular songs of 2021.
New artists like Andrevibez collaborated with Ladipoe and Buju on a song that spent the majority of the year keeping Nigerians in their “Feelings.” We also witnessed a gradual increase in the popularity of female producers like Saszy Afroshii, who created “Satisfy My Soul,” one of Ria Sean’s most well-liked songs from her debut album.
Producers like Mystro and Blaisebeatz, who are hardly newcomers to the industry, stepped up to the task with the production of Kizz Daniel’s “Lie” and Tiwa Savage & Brandy’s “Somebody’s Son,” respectively.
Pheelz, who is also the lead act on the song “Finesse,” has the public fascinated just a quarter of the way through the year. After the producer teased a studio snippet on Tiktok, the song immediately went viral. The song debuted at No. 10 on the Billboard World Digital Song Sales Chart and reached its highest point at No. 1 on the Shazam Global Charts since then.
Young John was welcomed to Chocolate City several weeks back along with the release of a record on which he also served as producer and lead vocalist. Nigerian music producers are taking charge and making intriguing changes now more than ever. However, Naijatastic have compiled a comprehensive list of some of the producers we’re keeping an eye on for 2022 and beyond, if recent trends are any indication.
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Here are some Nigerian Producers to keep close eye on during the course of 2022:
1. BlaiseBeatz
The Nigerian music scene has featured Blaisebeatz for a while. He has previously collaborated with artists including Banky W, Niyola, LAX, Maleek Berry, and many others. After creating “Pami,” a dreamy song with DJ Tunes, Wizkid, Adekunle Gold, and Omah Lay, he began to gain momentum in 2020.
The producer, whose real name is Marcel Akunwata, helped Adekunle Gold transition from alternative-folk to pop stardom with songs like “Something Different” and “Okay,” which helped define his career.
His production of songs like Buju’s “Outside,” Omah Lay’s “Free My Mind,” Davido & CKay’s “La La,” and 1da Banton’s “No Wahala,” which later went viral on Tiktok with a remix starring Tiwa Savage and Kizz Daniel, upped the stakes in 2021.
Five songs on Adekunle Gold’s most recent album, Catch Me If You Can, were produced by Blaisebeatz, including lead singles like “Sinner,” “It Is What It Is,” and “Mercy.”
Additionally, he contributed to the creation of three songs from Kizz Daniel’s Barnabas, one of the best-selling Nigerian albums of 2021, including “Lie,” the album’s most well-known song. Although you might not be familiar with his name, his work is all around you.
2. AndreVibez
Perhaps the most notable producer of the previous year was Andrevibez. You’re not mistaken if you don’t think of him as a rookie because he produced music for Rema and Alpha P back when they were a Benin duo. Additionally, he is the son of the late Victor Uwaifo, a notable Highlife musician from Nigeria. Ladipoe and Buju’s “Feelings,” one of Nigeria’s top songs of 2021, was created by Andrevibez.
Additionally, he was the producer of Rema’s “Calm Down,” which peaked at No. 1 in eight different countries, as well as Crayon & Rema’s “Too Correct,” Ladipoe & Fireboy’s “Running,” and others. At the recent Beatz Award, the producer was named the ‘Don Jazzy New Discovery Producer’ prize as a way to cap off the year.
3. Eskeez
After producing Olamide’s 2021 studio album, UY Scuti, which includes songs like “Rock” and “Jailer,” Eskeez won widespread praise. Since his third album, Olamide has nurtured his tendency for highlighting underappreciated producers on each effort.
Producers like Pheelz, P.Priime, and now Eskeez, a longtime ally of the singer rose to prominence as a result. Since then, Eskeez has begun 2022 with “Hate Me,” one of the year’s most eagerly awaited songs by Olamide and Wande Coal.
4. Saszy Afroshii
Saszy is one of the rare female producers that is pushing the limits. She briefly resurfaced in 2020 after producing “Baddest Boss” by Ghanaian singers Ms Vee and Mugeez. Saszy, like Dunnie, is working to strengthen the argument for the inclusion of additional female music creators.
She recently worked on “Satisfy My Soul,” one of Ria Sean’s highlight songs off her debut album. She also started the year off with “Mr Man,” a fan favorite off Fave’s newest album. She acquired a publishing contract with Aristokrat Records in 2020 and has since collaborated with artists including Ceeza Mili, Wizkid, and others.
5. Kukbeatz
Before Ruger made his debut in January 2021, Kukbeatz was well-known who had previously collaborated with 2baba, Sound Sultan, and Flavour. He proved that notion in a matter of months by becoming a credible hitmaker with songs like “Snapchat,” “Dior,” and “Bounce,” one of the hottest Nigerian songs of the previous year.
With the two projects on Ruger’s record that Kukbeatz himself produced, he would help to signal the singer’s ascent. He was a nominee for the The Beatz Awards’ “Afropop Producer of the Year” award.
6. Niphkeys
Niphkeys is a distributor of the kind of street music made popular by artists like Zinoleesky, whose song “Kilofeshe” proved popular on both digital and traditional media. Busiswa, a vocalist from South Africa, is also featured in the remix.
Following the successful releases of “Koleyewon” by Naira Marley, “Feel Good” by Mohbad, “Don’t Call Me” by Lil Kesh featuring Zinoleesky, and most recently “S.M.K” from Fave’s project, the producer, whose musical career officially began in 2015, continued to produce music. He is getting ready to release his debut album with Reekado Banks, so there are plenty of reasons to keep an eye on him.
7. Mystro
Mystro has worked with Wizkid, Tiwa Savage, and Chidinma in the past. He is a veteran of the music business. He began producing music after working behind the scenes for a while.
The result of this turn of events was the creation of three songs from Tiwa Savage’s last album, Water & Garri, including “Somebody’s Son” with Brandy. Given his versatility as a producer and tendency for singing catchy melodies, Mystro is beginning to shine and is set to make much more progress this year.
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8. Semzi Beatz
For his work with BadBoy Timz on songs like “MJ” and most recently “Skelele” with Olamide, Semzi Beatz is most known. Additionally, he was the producer of some of the songs that provided the soundtrack of the first half of 2021, including “Pronto” by Ajebo Hustlers & Omah Lay and “The Best” with Mayorkun from Davido’s most recent album.
He also worked on Joeboy’s debut album’s song “Consent.” He received a nomination for the Don Jazzy Discovery award for producing Laycon and YKB’s “Fall For Me.” His Midas touch can be heard in Dai Verse and Buju’s recently released “Sweet Daddy” remix.
9. Timi Jay
The 21-year-old has been interested in music since high school and produced Olakira’s “Maserati,” which also features Davido. His father owns one of Lagos’ greatest music libraries, which contains both classic tunes and songs that were on the Billboard charts, therefore he is influenced by his musical background.
He contributed to the “L’enu remix” by Buju and Burna Boy before his big time in 2020. Later, he produced the two songs from Buju’s most recent album that reached the top two positions on the Nigerian Apple charts.
Timi Jay is regarded as an accomplished sound engineer, having worked on tracks by Reekado Banks (“Ozumba Mbadiwe”) and Fave (“Baby Riddim”). At the most recent Beatz Award, he was named “Best Sound Engineer.” Timi Jay has demonstrated enough over the past year that he is getting closer to his peak musical producing years.
10. Shizzi
Shizzi frequently works with Davido, thus his appearance on A Good Time is notable. His most popular song in 2021, though, was Fireboy’s “Peru,” which later debuted at number one on the UK charts and reached the Billboard charts. He absolutely deserves a spot here because he had a tremendous year and got some dope hits.