You have heard hits like Sempe, Certified Loner, Loyalty and Go Low, but do you know the magician behind the audio deck? Nnawuba Onyebuchi Clemsy, with the producer tag “Bring The Heat Clemzy” has been a force to reckon with in the game since he gained limelight. He has produced for heavyweights like Tiwa Savage, 2Face and LAX, and for someone who has such infinity stones in his gauntlet, he remains very humble and jovial regarding his accolades.
Dominic representing The 49th Street sits with the talented sound engineer to discuss the journey so far, and also some 49th exclusives on things to expect this year.
Where did the name “Clemzy” come from?
Clemzy: Clemzy comes from my actual name CLEMSY, so I just changed the ‘S’ to ‘Z’
How would you describe your journey so far?
Clemzy: I would say that it has been a graceful journey, a wonderful journey and I thank God for the success so far. Although it hasn’t been easy, it has been rough and tough, but in all we thank God for where I am. All glory to God.4
So far in your career, what would you say has been a stand-out moment that made you realize that you are on the right path?
Clemzy: I think that was 2016/2017, when Wizkid first recorded on a beat I made. 2016/2017. He was working with Legendury Beatz then, and Legendury Beatz said, ‘Clemzy how far? We are in L.A. Do you have some beats? Send it to me, let me send it to Wiz’. I sent him the beats and a few weeks later, he sent me a song with Wiz on it. I was like “Ah, I think this journey is it ooh”. I am here now because from that day I knew that I just had to keep working, keep grinding, and eventually everything will make sense.
Can you tell us which song it is? Or is it confidential?
Clemzy: It is confidential because the song never came out
How do you feel about the success of Sempe? Breaking Afrobeats barriers across the globe?
Clemzy: It has been a great feeling to be honest, because I knew that song would be a big song from the start. I knew that what I was creating would be global. It blew from 2020 and the success it made is actually overwhelming; I feel very grateful and thankful.
How would you describe the working chemistry with LAX? You both have made great tunes for us over the years.
Clemzy: We have been friends before we even started making songs together. I have seen him record so many times and we help ourselves to be better because we listen a lot to each other. I know the beats and recording terms are most comfortable for him. I am a huge music critic, so I correct artiste when they are recording, I like to take their vocals, I like to engineer the whole process because that is the beauty of any great record. So, because we have been together for a long time, there is nothing like ‘this person is forming’ or ‘ this person acts like a celebrity’ or ‘ this person doesn’t want to listen’. We both listen to, understand and compliment ourselves, and the result shows, because you already know it’s a problem when you hear LAX x Clemzy!!
Tell us about the creative process of the smash hit “Go Low”
Clemzy: In December of 2019, a friend of mine came back from South Africa, she was like ‘Clemzy there are some sounds that are coming from the South, it is Amapiano’. I was like, ‘what is amapiano?!’, and so she put me through some songs from Maphorisa and Kabza De Smallz, and I was like ‘This is a game changer’. It was during that period Fresh EDM and I met, and spoke about this one sound taking over Nigeria by 2020/2021, so we decided to be the first to try hop on the wave here. Before I knew it Fresh produced a song with Mayorkun ‘Of Lagos’. I was like, ‘Brooooo, you have done it before me!!’. So, I locked myself inside the studio, tried to study the sound, listened to a lot of songs from the genre, and then I cooked up the beat while lacing the melody on top. I went to LAX and said ‘Bro, I have something for you. We are about to change the game’.
I played it and he was like, ‘what type of sound is this?’. He didn’t understand the sound from the beginning, but I had seen the vision. I told him ‘Bro don’t worry, you see this melody wey I done arrange, just do it. Just flow with the beat, don’t worry about it if you don’t like it like that now. This song is going to be a big song. We would be like the first to do this sound in Nigeria. This sound is coming and we need to be among the first to do it’. He listened and agreed to do it because he was starting to feel it. So, we did the song and it came out amazing. LAX glided throughout, so effortless from him. He was very surprised and excited at the final result. We were just jumping in the studio.
This is amazing. Rumor has it that Wizkid is on the remix that never made it out. Should we ever expect this collaboration to make it out?
Clemzy: Haha it’s so beautiful to see the positive reception, to be honest. On TikTok and YouTube, the snippet of the remix is already gone and I love the reactions to it. However, we are still trying to finish the song, to make everything about it perfect before releasing it. So, what I will say is anticipate!!
Are there any other young Afrobeats producers like yourself that motivate you to keep going?
Clemzy: Yes, because a lot of amazing producers are out there right now, producers whose sounds are crazy. I am the kind of person that listens to every song when it comes out every week, so I am a fan of a lot of producers and I am proud of them all. Shoutout to the choppers killing it!
Do you think you will ever transition into music as a full-time artiste or just continue pulling the strings behind the scenes?
Clemzy: Time will tell, because I was an artist before I started producing, so I still have it in me. Most times when I do beats, I lay melodies down before I even give it to the artist, so I feel I still have it in me. With time we will know if I would eventually go into singing or another thing.
Should we ever expect a project from you as a producer, and if yes, which artists would you definitely feature on this speculative project? (We know LAX would be there)
Clemzy: Hahaha you know my brother is first on the list. Well, this is exclusive info; my project is almost ready! I have been working on it since last year, and I am planning to put it out before this year runs out. Probably before September or October, but it is already 90% ready.
Sweet! Love this 49th exclusive info. So, what would you say is your biggest lesson learned so far?
Clemzy: Stay humble and know what you are doing. Don’t step on people’s toes. Try to be nice as you can and do your thing.
Any international collab to expect?
Clemzy: For now, I have a lot of nice international collaborations on my hard drive and I would love to work with other international artistes. All I keep doing is keep working and keep networking. In due time, workings would be shown.
Finally, give us a top 5 in no particular order of your favorite songs produced by Clemzy; Chef’s Kiss!
Clemzy: This is hard because all my beats are amazing, but there is one sound I did for Tekno on his Old Romance album – Neighbor. The way I treated that beat; I don’t think I can ever create something like that again. That sound was amazing. The bounce, the way everything went was amazing. So that’s like my most favorite production so far. I would say Sempe as well, because that beat is extraordinary. Loyalty by Ajebo Hustlers is amazing also, Certified Loner by Mayorkun. Then LAX and Black Sheriff- Bounce is also amazing. I have a lot of amazing vibes.
This has been an amazing interview. Thank you so much for your time!
Clemzy: Shoutout to you guys at 49th, the work you do is immense for the culture. Thank you so much for this!