What I need from artistes to produce them – Jesse Jagz

Looking at MI, P-Square, Katung, BBA’s Kevin Pam and you, it seems Jos has a peculiar touch on youngsters as far as entertainment is concerned. What is it about the place? Hmm, that is a difficult one. It is impossible to say what it is exactly about Jos that makes the children who grew up […]

Looking at MI, P-Square, Katung, BBA’s Kevin Pam and you, it seems Jos has a peculiar touch on youngsters as far as entertainment is concerned. What is it about the place?

Hmm, that is a difficult one. It is impossible to say what it is exactly about Jos that makes the children who grew up there to succeed in the entertainment industry. I guess it is something about the spirit of Jos really.

How did you and your brother get into music and are now making a life out of it?

Music was a fundamental part of our childhood. Our father is a pastor and our mum used to be a chorister. So from very early, we were exposed to music and musical instruments. I play the drums professionally. I play the piano, the bass guitar and other percussion instruments.

I guess it is only natural that we ended up making our careers from there.

Did you get encouragement from your parents when you both decided to take on music fulltime?

Yes, we did, because we were already singing in church at that time. Although when we started doing secular music, my dad was initially sceptical and not too supportive of us. But as time went by and we moved from Abuja to Lagos, that changed so that today, our parents are in full support of what we’re doing.

In the beginning, did you envisage that those small church experiences would take you all over the place and have people celebrate you this way?

I imagined they would take me far, but how far was what I couldn’t tell at the time. We started little and it wasn’t as profitable as it has now become. For us, it was music for the love of it. Our satisfaction was that people loved what we did and made us know that they did. This was an encouragement to do more and even better.

Have all these affected your education?

Yes and no, in the sense that I was studying Law but left when I was in 400 Level to take on music fulltime. I had to have a heart-to-heart discussion with my dad over this and his advice was I couldn’t do both of them at the same time.

He agreed that I had to drop one for the other. I intend to go back to school to complete my education, probably when I am no longer this young (Laughing).

Do you reckon that will happen after the fame and attributes that go with it?

Yes, it will; only I don’t think I will go back to Law. This year, I plan on starting a course in Production and Sound Engineering.

With two hit singles on air, why did you decide to go into production first as against singing?

On the contrary, I started out with singing, dancing and rapping. It was later on I went into production. Interestingly, people relate with me more as a producer after I produced M.I.’s album. It provoked a lot of media attention because of the quality of work I put into it and the outcome. But in the real sense, I am a singer and artiste considering the fact that I do other entertainment things.

As a celebrity and a single man, how do you cope with the attention…?

(Laughing) I never know how to answer this question correctly. Really, there are no ladies, I am still single and I can’t even say if I am searching. All I know is that I am single and I am fine with the way I am. My focus for now is to pursue my career to a very comfortable stage that will allow me to dedicate reasonable time to a relationship and eventually get married.

Really, so the ladies don’t admire or make passes at you?

Oh, my God, they do. But you always have to be polite to the fans. Even though they are doing things you don’t like, you can’t just tell them off, since the reason why they are around you is because they love your music. I just find a way to dodge the ladies even if it means giving phone numbers that are false.

Artistes are usually diplomatic on these matters, as you are trying to be. So your love life is at zero level for now?

I will tell you why you think that some artistes behave that way about their relationships. When an artiste is hustling to make it big, there is always a girl that he is going out with. But at a certain point, the girl says she is tired and moves on with her life.

Then the artiste starts to make progress and is getting well-known, then every girl he meets believes he’s had loads of girls in his life. Another thing is that artistes are really busy so they hardly find time to give a girl attention. If a girl who’s in love with an artiste understands and cares, the relationship may work, but more often than not, artistes end up being without that special someone.

Against the general notion that entertainers are on the fast lane, do you have a completely different lifestyle?

The characteristics of the fast lane do not appeal to me because I see them as entrapments. I am aware that for me to be and stay on top of my game, I have to be serious with what I do. You hardly have time for anything else because music is a fulltime job.

If you’re not promoting your work in the media, you should be writing songs, recording, rehearsing for shows or doing something creative. Remember you still have to make out time for your family. The big names in the industry all work hard and their artistes work even harder.

What is the craziest request from a fan to you?

Two ladies once asked me to sign my autograph on a part of their body I don’t want to mention. I was really embarrassed by their request.

You were too embarrassed to do them the honours?

I am conservative and have high moral standards having grown up with the doctrine of the Evangelical Church of West Africa (ECWA).

What are the hurdles that artistes have to cross for you to produce for them?

The talent is primary and so the artistes I produce within and outside the Chocolate City must really be talented. They also have to go through the scrutiny of the Chocolate City management with whom I have a production contract. They decide if his/her song can survive on radio or on the charts. 

What is the cost of producing a song?

I have been paid millions of naira, but I don’t think it is nice for me to mention the exact figure.

How do you know when a song is ripe for the market?

Songs have chemistry with listeners. It could be the beat, it could be the chorus. But when you hear that special thing, it hits you that this piece of music is ready.

Has fame affected you?

Yes, it has, but I won’t say it has changed me much though I am still trying to adjust to how my life is now. When you become famous, you can no longer do simple stuff like visit friends or go to the cinema. You really have to keep to yourself because whatever you do is in the eye of the public.

Although you have done some great songs, there are still some to which you could say the person shouldn’t have bothered. Do you come across such in your line of duty?

I have to say with all due respect to these people, the musicians we have now have done well for themselves. We have gotten to where we are without the support of government. Government has found it hard to do something as simple as creating the right structure for the music business to thrive upon.

A few years ago, some people decided to invest their time and money into the music business and very few people supported them. Some of them started out as pirates but they have metamorphosed into marketers and they are taking our music to the fans.

The Nigerian music went into a slump in the ‘90s and the rebirth we are witnessing has not lasted up to ten years, so people need to give the industry more time to produce the kind of music they think is good. But, I think so far, we have done very well.