If Nigerian music had an amazing year in terms of productivity, mass, acclaim and growth, then a lot of that is down to the regulators of equalizers, sounds, strings, kicks, hi-hats, toms, vocoders and BPMs in the studio.
It is through their art that great art is possible. In their craft lies the beauty on which great music is created. They are as important or even more important than artists in the creative process. We have seen random beats go on to become hits, A Capella seldom produces hits - even Ambient records don’t.
At the end of an amazing year, Pulse Nigeria wants to recognize the top 10 Nigerian producers of 2020.
Here is the criteria for our selection;
- Year in review: December 2019 - November 30, 2020
- Producers of more than two popular songs during the year in review or producers of 60% of at least two popular critically-acclaimed bodies of work during the year in review.
- Producers who made at least 60% of any album during the year in review also have an added advantage.
Honourable Mentions
Cracker Mallo
Fresh VDM
44DB Collective
Magic Sticks
Tempoe
MikkyMe Joses
Adey
Without ado, here is Pulse Nigeria’s list of the top 10 Nigerian albums of 2020;
10.) London
Tag: LONDON!
Notable singles: ‘Koroba’ by Tiwa Savage, ‘Ginger Me’ by Rema
Like Mansa Jabulani and Telz, London is here on the strength of singles. He also produced ‘Temptation’ for Tiwa Savage, ‘Mystery Girl’ for Johnny Drille and ‘Do Me’ for Crayon.
In addition, he produced ‘Gyrate’ on Wizkid’s album, Made In Lagos.
9.) Telz
Tag: Funkula
Notable Singles: ‘Wonderful’ By Burna Boy, ‘Abule’ by Patoranking
During the year-in-review, Telz has gone from a Patoraking’s protege to a potential recipient of a Grammy certificate. He also produced ‘Do Me’ and ‘Mon Bebe’ on Patoranking’s album, Three. He then produced ‘Gboju’ for Remy Baggins off Amaterasu and ‘Wetin You Smoke’ off Prettyboy D-O’s album, Wildfire.’
8.) Spax
Tag: If it’s Spax, then it gotta be… or Classic
Notable Singles: ‘Away’ by Oxlade, ‘Do Me Nice’ by Show Dem Camp, ‘Puttin’ by Tekno, ‘BBC’ by Blaqbonez
Spax closed 2019 with another impressive work on Palmwine Express by Show Dem Camp. In 2020, he’s broken free straight into the pop/mainstream with singles for Tekno and Oxlade. He also produced on Wurld’s EP, Afrosoul, For Broken Ears by Tems, ME by Moelogo and Old Romance for Tekno.
7.) Mansa Jabulani
Tag: Mansa Jabulani
Notable Singles: ‘Of Lay Lay’ by Rahman Jago, ‘If No Be You’ by Jamopyper.
Mansaa Jabulani is often overlooked, but this year he produced 60% of Zlatan’s EP, Road To CDK. On the EP, there were popular singles like ‘The Matter’ and the title-track. He then produced a new single for Oberz.
6.) Speroach
Tag: Speroach
Notable singles: ‘Betty Butter’ by Mayorkun, ‘Jowo’ by Davido
First off, he was Executive Producer of Davido’s A Better Time. He also produced ‘Park Well’ for Tiwa Savage amongst other singles.
5.) BeatsByJayy
Tag: BeatsByJayy, yeah… Huh.
Notable Singles: 0
BeatsByJayy is not here on the strength of singles, instead he’s here on the strength of albums. This year alone, he produced 60% or more of the following albums: Judah EP for MI Abaga, God’s Engineering for AQ, The Live Report for MI Abaga and AQ and Jaynius for himself as Big Daddy Jayy.
He also produced on critically acclaimed albums like IllyChapoX for iLLBliss and Verses After Dark for Teeto Ceemos. In addition, he also produced all the beats for the viral Monster Verse Challenge.
4.) Omah Lay
Tag: O
Notable Singles: ‘Bad Influence’ for Omah Lay, ‘Lo Lo’ for Omah Lay
Some producers are more popular than others, but this choice is easy to overlook. Nonetheless, we shall not overlook it. This year alone, Omah Lay produced ‘Bad Influence,’ ‘Lo Lo’ and ‘Confession’ for himself. That’s not very far off Tempo who only made notable mentions but produced ‘Love Nwantiti’ for Ckay and ‘Godly’ for Omah Lay.
However, those two Tempoe-produced songs are neither ‘Bad Influence’ nor ‘Lo Lo,’ and ‘Godly’ has sadly not peaked.
3.) Rexxie
Tags: Yo Rexxie pon this one!
Notable Singles: ‘Aye’ for Naira Marley, ‘As E Dey Go’ for Naira Marley
Last year’s contender for producer of the year has returned for another spell at the top of the pile. This year, he produced all of Naira Marley’s smash hit singles that the Nigerian mainstream dines off. All of those songs have been some of the biggest songs on YouTube Main, Nigeria’s largest streaming platform.
He also produced his own EP and Naira Marley’s EP, Lord of Lamba, ‘Bebo’ on Grammy-nominated Burna Boy album, Twice As Tall as well as ‘Cincinnati’ for Governor of Africa and Peruzzi, ‘Morire’ for Korede Bello and ‘Ole’ for Tiwa Savage. He then produced records for Mohbad, Sarkodie, C Blvck and more.
2.) P-Priime
Tag: Giddem!
Notable Singles: ‘Loading’ by Olamide, ‘Infinity’ by Olamide
He produced tracks 1, 2 and 7 on The Basement Gig album. He also produced over 60% of Olamide’s critically acclaimed and commercially successful album, Carpe Diem. He produced ‘Shomo,’ ‘Unripe Paw Paw,’ ‘Aki and Paw Paw’ and ‘Lagos Anthem’ for Zlatan.
He produced ‘God Only Knows’ on Fireboy’s Apollo, one song on Cuppy’s album, Original Copy and ‘Southy Love’ for Peruzzi and Fireboy.
1.) Pheelz
Tag: Rih! Riddimacoolayor!
Notable Singles: ‘Jore’ by Adekunle Gold and Kizz Daniel, ‘Naughty Girl’ by Wande Coal
First off, he produced 60% or more of Apollo, Way Home for Darey and 999 EP for Olamide. He also produced multiple songs on each of Celia by Tiwa Savage and Afro pop Vol. 1 by Adekunle Gold as well as one song on each of Ecstasy by Lil Kesh and Carpe Diem by Olamide.
On 999 EP, he produced a large chunk. The man is firmly in the realms of the greatest Nigerian producers since 1999. In fact, he should be in the top three right now. His catalogue speaks for itself.