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 | OJB Jezreel
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| OJB Jezreel
Label: Blue Pie Productions
Artists Genre: Urban
ABOUT: Babatunde Jezreel Okungbowa aka OJB Jezreel
It would be mighty unjust to document Nigeria's urban
music renaissance without a mention or indeed a
celebration of its most consistent creative vanguards,
a class with a membership of less than half a dozen
including the object of this piece. Sadly, this has
never been the case as music writers and presenters
have continually shown preference for the musician
over and above the silently assiduous boardsman. But
not this writer though. Never one to pass over
timeless and priceless ivory for overpriced platinum
jewelry, yours sincerely sought a meeting with this
phenomenally talented urban music impresario.
For Babatunde Jezreel Okungbowa a.k.a. OJB Jezreel
music is undoubtedly the essence of his life and
making beautiful music the purpose of his existence.
Jigga, as he is affectionately refered to by his Gbaja
Street homies has been the creative force behind the
numerous hits of a countless number of artistes. Name
them, from Ruggedman, 2Face Idibia, Jazzman Olofin,
Nomoreloss to Raskie, K-Show & Six-O, C-mion, Abounce,
Jafaar, Amah, Funke, the list is endless.
"How did it all begin"? is obviously the first
question any interviewer will ask this soft spoken,
unassuming father of two. OJB isn't so sure of when he
caught the production bug but believes it started
sometime in 1986. The artiste who confesses to having
a rather uneventful childhood started making beats in
backroom studios, first in his Surulere neighbourhood
and later in other parts of the city. Inspired by
music made by legendary producers like Jimmy Jam &
Terry Lewis, Dallas Austin, LA Reid & Babyface, Teddy
Riley and later R.Kelly, he and his friends, Micheal
Richman and the three Dairo brothers, Henry, Banji and
the now famous Paul Play, scions of Nigerian juju
music icon,IK Dairo, formed a production crew called
Playground, House n Effects(PHE) and started making
and offering Hip Hop/R&B beats to popular Nigerian
artistes at the time.
But that was the late 80s and such sounds were alien
to mainstream Nigerian artistes who were more into
reggae, afro-pop, afro-funk and disco. Even their
attempts to give the beats away for nothing except
credit on albums were spurned. Rather than give up on
their dream of creative fulfilment, the quintet
restrategized, this time they learnt the polyrhythmic
style of the time as pioneered by famous producers
like Odion Iruoje, Lemmy Jackson, Laolu Akins, Emma
Ogosi, Tony Okoroji and Harry Moscow which
incorporated elements of reggae, pop funk, punk, disco
as well as indigenous genres like juju, highlife and
afrobeat. While their self re-education lasted, OJB
kept his ears to the streets, across the atlantic that
is, listening up to the works of emerging beatsmiths
like Eric B, Dr. Dre, Erick Sermon, The Bomb Squad,
Marley Marl and DJ Premier, knowing fully well that
sometime soon the sound created in the south of Bronx
will rule the world. OJB honed his singing and
songwriting skill so much that he became as consummate
a performer as he was a producer haven learnt how to
play the drums, guitar and piano during the same
period.
Their second attempt at industry recognition was a
little more successful. Their beats made the cut on
top artistes' albums but they still didn't get credit
let alone cash. But they had put a foot in the door of
recognition. Lack of income led to the dissolution of
the crew in the mid 90s with some members opting out
of music and others like Paul Play changing position
from behind the boards to behind the mic. OJB wouldn't
dettach himself from the boards even when faced with
enormous personal and social challenges like a
pregnant wife and family disapproval of his chosen
profession. He also had to cope with the ignominy of
being a school drop out. But the cast-iron resolve of
this Agbor, Delta state native to make it as a
producer wouldn't be broken. OJB had another idea on
how to break through the industry's glass ceiling.
This time he focused on making beats for talented and
determined groups made up of youngsters like X-Appeal,
Harmony and Plantashun Boiz. This initiative,
concretised and christened Silver Point Productions,
coincided with the emergence of more privately owned
radio stations in Lagos. The plan worked as joints
from these young guns got appreciable airplay on the
new stations. His name started making the rounds
amongst music industry insiders, especially young
upstarts in search of a distinct identity for
Nigeria's hip hop generation. The money trickled in,
enough for him to acquire basic studio equipment and a
system.
Jigga knew music made from a computer software was the
way forward. In the middle of all this he had his
first stab at recording with the release of his debut
album, Deep Light, on Ayetoro Records in 1999. The
album was a commercial failure mainly because the
label didn't know how to go about promoting a hip
hopr&b album. It however announced the arrival of one
of the most well rounded artistes of our time. His
profile as a producer continued to rise with further
credit for work on Baba Dee's hit single Governor's
Daughter and Daddy Showkey's sophomore album. Silver
Point grew rapidly with young production understudies
like Jokaynie, Mr. Smith, Segzion and Niyex making the
grades and becoming bonafide hit makers. OJB points
out that his Surulere hit factory is the creative
engine of their fledgling label, Point Beat Records,
and they have already rounded up the usual suspects
for their inaugural foray into the Nigerian music
industry.
These days the self confessed studio rat lives under
less socio-economic pressures, charging a handsome
five figure for a beat and a king's ransom to produce
an album especially when the client is a sexy but
musically deficient screen godess looking to cash in
on the loyalty of undiscerning fans. Make no mistake,
Jigga hasn't lost his touch with the yes y'all. Still
very much in the mix, the beatsmith still laces
straight up, funked out hip hop beats for thoroughbred
mc's (and the fizzy drink variant for air headed teeny
bopper hip hoppers).
OJB recently took the business arm of his game to
another level with the signing of a distribution deal
with Kennis Music, the record distribution behemoth
run by industry fat cats, Kenny "Keke" Ogungbe and
Dayo "D1" Adeneye. His first assignment was to do an
urban makeover of Ace, the classic album by juju music
maestro, Sir Shina Peters. The charismatic entertainer
had also signed a deal with the enterprising duo for
the re-release of his 1989 classic. OJB has also just
released his sophomore offering, a seventeen tracker
titled Jah's My Lite. With an intriguing variety of
styles and sounds, the album is one of the best hip
hopr&b albums ever released in Nigeria. The album
moved 20.000 units in it's first week, an impressive
figure for an artiste more renowned for his skills
behind the boards than behind the mic. His label has
packaged a tour of the U.K. for the international
promotion of the album. It is expected to commence in
June 2005.
Beyond making music OJB is the creative director of an
ambitious new multimedia outfit called One Beat. The
company intends to run a TV programme of the same name
to showcase the arts, music and culture of
contemporary Africa to Africans at home and in the
diaspora. It is expected to air first on local TV
networks in selected African countries before going on
cable TV.
With an astonishing number of competences, OJB seems
destined to emulate his number one role model, the
legendary Quincy Jones.
You can get OJB out now on Blue Pie Productions for
MGN PRODUCTIONS Nigeria at all leading digital
retailers around the planet.
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