With a rich discography that includes hit songs like ‘The New Kid On The Block TNKOTB’, ‘Zinga Zinga Ling (Lean)’, ‘Eye Dey Red’, ‘Massarati’, ‘Rich African Love’, ‘Benin Man’, among others, THEBB02 has no doubt earned himself relevance and longevity in an industry where stars easily fade away. In this interview, the iconic music maker reveals how he achieved this feat, among other interesting facts about his music.
Your sound stands out in today’s music landscape. What inspires your music the most?
The ability to stay relevant at all times. Making conscious effort to make sounds that are relatable.
As a leading originator, my first instinct is going through my humongous library of songs, motifs, rhythms, melodies, tunes, nuanced musical jargons, which are all the inspired melodies and vibes from God my Maker through the benefit of my salvation in Christ Jesus. Next thing is making sure production kits or sound modules stay current and up-to-date with the soundscapes that are in vogue, as in the 808 kick and the log drums and whatever other sound palette that is in the air for that time.
As an ever-evolving (timeless) producer, my tunnel vision/focus is to find common ground to lace together a very soulful and catchy beat with accompanying relatable/organically viable, lyrical topics and messages, so that decades from now, when you go back to the song you can’t help but appreciate the work put into it. When you are able to achieve that as a producer, then you are sure to have a legacy worth revisiting that is made up of evergreen discography.
Also, events and situations happening around me serve as a launch pad and a means of communication in creating relatable intellectual property that will forever resonate with communities around the world. This is why the world till today can still resonate and find such curated catalogues from the greats such as Stevie Wonder, Beethoven, Prince, Michael Jackson, Mozart, Bach, Missy Elliot, Alanis Morriset, Carole King, Osayomore Joseph, the Great Ojo, Billy Joe, etc. Little titbits for studio owners: Make sure to remodel your studio every so often, at the least once every six months, as it can serve as a stimulus for the creative minds who come into your studio space.
Walk through your creative process – from idea to finished track?
I have always felt a strong sense of responsibility based on music motifs, innuendos, and melodies I have been blessed with over time; the avalanche of ideas that keep coming into my spirit that I am yet to put out into the world. Writing a song is like second nature to me. It is just something that is supernaturally and divinely embedded in my DNA. I can be watching a programme on TV and hop on my studio chair and create a song that is relatable or something I have experienced as a special moment with someone, maybe heartbreak; for example, the song ‘Eye Dey Red’ which is a response to negativities in society.
Walking you through my creative process is going through the songs that God has put in my spirit that I haven’t gotten into yet. Feeling duty-bound, or when I get into my creative mood, it could be from a baseline or lyrical idea that is so poignant/potent. I do my best in this process to key in the message alongside the melody such that it is easily ready to swallow, in a way that is musically soothing to the audience. So, most times my musical process comes from the melody approach. A lot of songs I have been blessed with are from the rhythm and melody perspective and that’s the case 70% of the time. There are so many songs on my phones. Thousands. Each song has its own melodies, ideas, and innuendos that only I can decode and make palatable or user-friendly for the audience. Take, for example, ‘Hallelujah is My Daily Song’, the lyrics come from a song that my mother would often sing in her native tongue. The messaging resonated with me and I wanted to find a way to express that. Meaning that things happen for me in a positive way every day, so this is a way of expressing that whole experience. It’s like giving thanks to God that I am always winning; a congratulatory lifestyle. I love the messaging.
There are also ideas that God will drop in my spirit with already-made lyrical message to it. For those ones I must and will stick to the topic and the subject matter. Moreover, there are also those ideas that I get from over-time exposure to already existing melodies or tunes ecosystem that I create from.
There are times when God just drops a lyric in my spirit. So, there are many ways that I can get into that creative zone. Many times, I look in my library and say, ‘God, I haven’t done even 1% of all the songs you dropped in my spirit’, and that sure puts me on the edge of my seat. There are those I also title based off how they come to me originally, like the one I talked about my mother. Sometimes I sit with my engineers and they want me to jump on some beat and I give them the ideas and melody to it. Sometimes I create based off what is popular in mainstream culture.
When I write a song, I don’t pay much attention to the length of the title as much as I care about passing the message therein to the audience. For example, I have a song, ‘Have you ever asked yourself what love is good for’. My songs are intellectual properties or materials. When you hear it, you know some work went into it. For me, I am always about the melodies first.
We have big studios in Boston, Lagos and Benin, so sometimes my guys want me to hop on a beat and I try it out. If I hear a potential song, I jump on it and do the necessary justice to make it palatable for the global audience.
Which artistes, legends, or genres influence your style the most?
Hip hop all day. Pop music all day. Songs with an African soul contextuality and African vibe energy.
Growing up, my father was a voracious listener, so I grew up listening also to country music and RnB. I grew up listening to Lionel Richie, Rick James, James Brown, Bob Marley & the Wailers, Iroy and Uroy, Eddy Grant, great Nigerian musicians like Sunny Okosun, Osayomore Joseph, Shina Peters, Ebenezer Obey, I.K. Dairo, etc. These are largely the legends that inspire me. The relics/vibes of those melodies can come to me even now.
Do you know how you know if a new song that you are working on in the studio is going to be a potential hit song? It’s when you take a break from it; when you go to bed and wake up and want to hear it all day. My library is 70% hip hop/pop and 30% kind of Nigeria Afrobeat/other Nigerian tribal beats and melodies.
How do you stay original and maintain your signature sound in a constantly changing industry?
Staying original to me is me just being myself, a creation of God. All of my intellectual properties come from God, my Originator. A lot of my materials are original, so I tap into that essence. For example, when cooking stew, tomatoes and oil are core components. Although in this day and age, especially here in America, some may try to experiment and change the way stew is cooked, or try to modernise the way we cook from back in the day, like adding or removing certain ingredients or by being overly conscious or being mindful of the volume of each ingredient used in the dish. In the same manner, when I am putting my materials and songs together, the total musical component and the pertinent trajectory in that regard dictate how I will present the overall sound.
For THEBB02, keeping what is soulful and original is the part that is easy. Keeping the signature sound is the tomatoes, seasoning and oil. I believe that this is the only part I will maintain as my signature sound. Majority of the ingredients I throw into, for example, a particular song I am just rapping, just singing or just hyping, etc, those are key components you consider when putting a track together, which is a big part of being THEBB02.
Also, if you don’t change or follow certain viable trends, then you are taking the risks of fading away soon enough. So, for you to be able to stay relevant or sustain longevity, you have to stay with what is in vogue but don’t lose that original sauce. For me, doing this is so natural as they are God-given materials (assets).
Hopefully, you have realised by now that I was giving a lot of my narration in descriptive language involving cooking as Bigmanity logo is the big cooking pot. It’s an ode (homage) as we are always cooking for our fanmily (the ion and 02 nation(s). Notice how I spell that fanmily. It is an endearing and respectful homage to our fans who we personally call and regard as chosen fanmily, because there is a family you are born into, and there are families you choose.
