Nigerian musicians and producers go hand in hand. Hence the need to reveal some Nigerian musicians who made better music with their former producers.

The Nigerian sound wouldn’t have achieved it’s world wide appeal without the contribution of some of these talented musical collaborations .

I am not talking collaborations between artistes. No! The Nigerian musicians/producers collabos.

Some musicians have gotten away with leaving producers who brought them to limelight . They made magic with new producers.

Some examples are, Davido and Shizzi,Wizkid and Samklef,Olamide and Pheelz .The artistes have created bigger hits with new producers. Worthy of note is that, they never fell out with their first producers. The only exception being Wizkid and Samklef.

Don’t get me wrong, they still produce great music ,even internationally acclaimed(Burna Boy,Timaya,Wande Coal) ,but there is something missing ..That magic  touch only a producer who knows them can give.

This explains why some artists would record huge success under a particular producer but once they leave,it all goes downhill.

Here is a list of  5 Nigerian musicians who made better music with their first known producers.

Dbanj and Donjazzy

Dbanj is probably still the biggest entertainer in Nigeria .He owns the stage when it comes to music .

However,Donjazzy was the major force behind this. Donjazzy understood Dbanj’s sound .This was evident in the massive hits they churned out. There was no Top Nigerian musicians list without Dbanj.

If you need more convincing, here is it. Dbanj even got Kanye West to give him a record deal.

Since their split,neither of them has recorded major or phenomenal success ,musically .

While Donjazzy’s new acts Korede Bello,Reekado Banks have recorded massive success, the magic he created with Dbanj created can never be replicated.
So,its high time ,they get back in the studio . We yearn to hear the words ”It’s Don Jazzy Again!

K-Solo and Timaya

Timaya burst into the scene with  ”Dem mama ” and took the Nigerian music scene by surprise.

He was even surprised by the success of his first album. And rumour has it that, he sold the rights to an Alaba marketer for a measly N500 thousand.

That album went on to sell millions of copies .
As his album became a staple in almost every household,one could not ignore the voice shouting ‘chai’ in the background .He became one of the Top Nigerian musicians.

It was none other than producer,K Solo who produced the entire album .Their success together was short lived and their split was not amicable.

Despite Timaya’s continues musical  success which includes a massive state of the art mansion in Lagos, he has been unable to achieve viral success as he did with K Solo .

K Solo too has not been able to replicate the success he had with Timaya on any other artist.
It is time for these two to bury the hatchet and get back in the studio.

9ice and ID Cabasa

‘I go win Grammy‘..Who can forget that pledge by  9ice? 9ice was a strong contender to possibly bring Nigeria’s first Grammy home .
But , since he fell out with ID Cabasa,9ice’s musical career went downhill . And despite having access to other amazing producers, he has not replicated the magic ID Cabasa created with him .

ID Cabbasa created a perfect blend of Hiphop and 9ice’s ethnic rich lyrics. Despite 9ice’s lyrics being majorly in Yoruba dialect.  His music still appealed to English speaking music lovers.

It is clear no one would understand 9ice’s sound as much as ID Cabbassa did .

The only way 9ice can get back his street credibility is by getting in the studio with Cabasa.

Iyanya and D’Tunes

Iyanya redefined the tempo of Nigerian music with the fast paced smash hit, Kukere.  However, behind the scene was a little known producer at the time, D’Tunes.

Who can forget the phrase ”It’s D Tunes Again o” in almost all Iyanya’s tracks from the Desire Album.
With success came issues and Iyanya and D’Tunes parted ways .

While D’Tunes found short lived success with Sean Tizzle, Iyanya wasn’t so lucky. Not even a collaboration with Donjazzy  could take him back to his peak.

Though they found their way back together in 2017 with a dancehall song which quickly fizzled out as fast as their partnership,it is clear they need more bonding and time together, to create that magic.

Burna Boy and Leriq

If Iyanya increased the tempo of Nigerian music, Burna Boy slowed things down . This ‘bad boy’  proved we could still party to slow music. His vibe was a breathe of fresh air .His style unique, his songs made you want to just breeze through life.

Captivating our hearts with smash hit”Like To Party”,we also fell inlove with Leriq, the producer responsible for this new wave.

If we thought it was just a one off vibe or song, we were in for more surprises as they kept dropping more hits like Run My Race,Love to Love you.

However, as Burna Boy parted ways with record label ,Aristocrat Records,it appears his relationship with Leriq also fell apart.

He has gone on to release banging hits like  the critically acclaimed ‘Ye’, however, we miss that chill,cool vibe Leriq brings.

Written by Emeh Achanga