by Clarence MacEbong for The 49th Street
After pressing play on Loseyi Professor, Seyi Vibez’s latest project, something struck me. It wasn’t Loseyi’s radiant delivery, vivid stories or soulful essence; any one who pays attention to his music quickly becomes accustomed to these aspects of his sound. The project’s seven tracks are characterised by a refined, airy feel which speaks of the production excellence that sets the scene for Seyi Vibez to work his magic. Listed as producer on all tracks bar one, Dibs is credited as the mastermind behind this masterpiece and has been one of Loseyi’s trusted lieutenants since they stunned the Afrobeats space with “Chance” in 2022.
We can draw parallels between the evolution and versatility of Dibs’ production and Seyi Vibez’s emergence as an Afrobeats sensation. From “Para Boi” and “Hushpuppi” to “Karma” and “Different Pattern”, Dibs’ discography is littered with records that have drawn attention to a new musical perspective within Afrobeats. His sound has blessed the streets with a new gospel, and although resonant within street-hop, he isn’t confined to niches or the temptations of one-track mindedness. The unofficial duo he has struck up with Loseyi continues to bear fruit till date as they etch their stories into the stitching of Afrobeats’ ever-evolving fabric.
However, Dibs is becoming a man of his own. His influence within the Afrobeats soundscape is extending like tentacles after he handed Burna Boy his latest #1 record with “Higher” while spending the last few weeks battling himself for top spot, overtaking his previous #1 record in the shape of Seyi Vibez’s “Doha”. This battle at the top of the charts mirrors the one within Dibs’ internal psyche as he saunters on in his mission to be better than he once was. The picture we get after connecting the dots of his life shows us that it was only a matter of time before he would use his hands to create reality from his dreams.
All the time Dibs has spent studying the game is paying him back a thousand fold. He describes himself as a producer who can do anything, speaking with emphasis during our phone call on a cool Wednesday evening at the end of July. His demeanour throughout is that of a calm young man who is assured of himself, answering questions in detail but never offering more words than a thought deserves. Dibs prefers to maintain a low profile and excels at staying out of the mix, a skill which serves him well as he navigates the latter stages of his Computer Science undergraduate degree.
But at this moment, where he stands tall on top of his world and at the top of the charts, he deserves to be heard and seen. He had just concluded a studio session when his manager informed me that he was ready to join the call. After getting through pleasantries, Dibs opened up to The 49th Street about his life, perspective on music and what it feels like to be The New Best Thing.
This interview is lightly edited for clarity.
49th Street: Your music is becoming more sought after. Either on their phones or in the streets, everyone can hear “Yo Dibs!”. How does that make you feel?
Dibs: It’s new to me, first of all. That’s what I’ll say. But we thank God, and I feel like we haven’t even started yet. We still have a long way to go.
Do you wake up in the morning and ask yourself, “is this really my life?”, or do you feel like you expected this?
Yes! Sometimes I feel like “wow, so this is actually happening”, you know, that shock is still there. I’m grateful, for real.
It’s something to be grateful for, because I know you’ve been balancing music and school for a while. What’s your life like outside music?
Man, just me o. I’m not the outsider type, I be introvert. I don’t like going out that much. Just a normal guy that likes to chill.
I feel that vibe from the way you talk. It feels like “man, it’s just me and my laptop.”
I’m that kind of guy. You know, sessions, show my face sometimes… But I’m not the type that likes to italawa. But don’t worry, I’m working on it [laughs].
Need to find a balance! Are you done with school now?
No, one year left. By this time next year, I’ll be done.
Let’s get into the music. I read you were born into a family of music lovers…
Yeah! Everyone in my family loves music. Na my dad first start am, he loves loud music. I grew up to love music, because every time I’d listen to a song like “damn, this is hard! I wanna know how it’s done”. I developed an interest for music that way.
What was Dibs listening to between the ages of 8 and 15?
Man, Styl-Plus o. I was listening to Wiz, Olamide, Burna… King Sunny Ade, you know, Baba Ara! All the cultural, local vibes.
So that’s where your love for cultural, street sounds came from…
Bro, it was a mixture of everything. And I was in the choir too.
Every church choir boy or girl always turns out to be hard, I don’t know how they do it.
Na training!
How did you start producing, then? What age did you get your first laptop?
I didn’t have a laptop. I don’t know what to call that thing. I couldn’t see half of the screen [laughs]. The screen was detached from the keyboard, I can’t wish for my enemy to use that thing. But before using that, I was using my Android chinko phone to make beats. Just me and myself, doing my thing. Trying to improve.
Sometimes I’d show my friends the beats but dem no really put mind…
So you were messing around with FL Studio, trying things…
There was no FL Studio for phones then… Actually there was, but it was for rich people. There’s this free app for Android — Caustic — but it was so complicated! That’s what I was using then.
How long after Caustic did you move to the laptop?
Maybe a year, then they stole the phone. It was because they stole the phone that I was forced to use that laptop.
You went from making beats on a banged up laptop to producing a #1 record for Burna Boy…
If you told me back then that I’d produce for Burna Boy and Seyi [Vibez] — that all these things would be happening — I’d have told you that you’re tripping. Time did its thing. I’m grateful.
So where in all of this did you meet Seyi Vibez?
It took me a while to meet Seyi. Back then, I was just doing random sessions, I’d make beats and sell them online. I wasn’t really getting sessions then. I met Seyi two years ago and on the first day we met, the first song we ever did was “Chance”. That was the only song we did that day before I had to go to school. All of a sudden, the song blew up.
That song was the one that really made everyone take notice. Did your reception in school change?
Before Seyi, I had some songs popping that I did with Barry Jhay, like “Ayewada”. When I got to school, I was this kind of popular loner. It was a year after that “Chance” came.
And that was 2022. Everything moves by so fast. Do people walk up to you to ask you to teach them about production?
It happens, but they don’t always know that it’s me. It’s only if you pay attention. That’s the kind of person I am. Even if you know it’s me, you might not be sure. I’m not casted in my school, and I like it like that.
Seyi Vibez just released a new project and people already think this is some of his best work. You had a big hand in that. What was the project’s sound direction?
First of all, people just think that, because we do Amapiano, we don’t know how to make other types of sounds. We can do anything. Any type of style. This was just like, “okay, you guys should hear this other side”. It’s not like we had a particular way we wanted to go, we did these like we do other songs.
On that project, we did three of those songs — “Doha,” “Casablanca,” and “Santorini” — in under 4 hours.
You made all the beats from scratch?
All the recording, all the presets, everything. Nothing was added, since that day, until it dropped.
That means so many things. You work quickly, you guys think up all the melodies on the spot…
On the spot. That’s the way we did “Man of the Year” and “LOML” with Ami Faku. We did both of those songs in the same sitting. The story behind those ones is funny too, because we were supposed to check out that morning, but we woke up at 8am.
We were bored, so we cooked up something. The energy was up, and Seyi likes to move fast, so we did another one. The first one was “Man of the Year”, then the next one was “LOML”, then we moved to another. That’s the way we work.
What even gets to me is that you make every beat from scratch and you finish recording in one sitting.
You need to see when we’re working. It’s not like normal sessions where someone can write a verse for two hours, it’s fast. We can do one song — the beat, the melodies, the percussions — under 30 minutes.
“Chance” is one of the fastest songs I’ve made. We made that song in less than an hour, and I was supposed to link my cousin before going back to school. I was already late and I hadn’t even packed. So we finished it, then I left. I listened back to the song on my way and I was like “what is this?”
You even surprised yourself.
Omo, na that time I start dey burst my own head.
How does it feel to have this record with Burna Boy?
I feel lucky, to be honest. I feel blessed. Not a lot of people get to the point of working with one of the biggest artists, not to talk of working on the artist’s single. People around the world wish to work on a single, but it just happened. Not like I knew it was going to happen.
Did he reach out to you?
Artists normally request for beats from different producers. I sent him a pack, and it just happened.
The rise of your music has coincided with the popularity of Afro-Adura and that’s also due to…
Afro what?
Afro-Adura!
What is Afro-Adura? It’s the first time I’ve heard of that.
Think of it as aspirational street-hop music.
I’m doing all the sounds my bro. I no get any genre. I just do it as it comes. Nothing wey I no fit make! I don’t know about Afro-Adura [laughs].
What type of feeling do you want your music to give?
I don’t have a particular way I want my music to feel. Music is just about pouring out your emotions, making people feel what you feel through sounds. If I feel angry, or hyped up, you will definitely hear it in my beat. Same as when I’m feeling calm and relaxed.
And we hear that calm vibe on “Loseyi Professor”.
[laughs] Yes, just calm.
People hear you a lot on Seyi’s music and now Burna’s. Do you have your own music on the way?
Yes, I’m working on my own project. I’m working on myself as well. Progress all the way my bro.
Have your internal changes influenced your process?
No, it’s still the same process. It is the same me. Just a different direction. I’m not different. I might’ve improved, but I’m not different.
What kind of identity do you want Dibs the musician to present to people?
Just a normal, cool guy who knows what he’s doing. Like “this guy is fucking good at what he does, e sure for am”. I don’t want anything flashy.
Just stacking up and making hits.
As it should be.
What’s your creative process?
I just open my laptop and create. I don’t wake up thinking I’m going to make a beat today. I just hear something I like and create.
So you can wake up one day and make 10 beats, on another day you can make none.
Exactly. I don’t force it. It’s a vibe. Music is about the connection. It’s something you do when you’re in the mood to, not that you have to. That’s just me though.