Al’Hassan Gimba, popularly known as just “Gimba”, is a Lagos-based artist, singer, songwriter and producer from Nassarawa state. After his crazy introduction into the music industry, he narrates in this exclusive interview, how his time in Sarz Academy changed his life and shares some exclusives on his forthcoming maiden project.
What do you think about music as an expression of oneself?
GIMBA: Music is a form of art which you use to tell your story through sounds. Unconsciously, what you feel is what you create. So that’s what music is to me, a way to create what you feel.
How would you describe your experience so far in the music industry?
GIMBA: It has been very interesting. I have gotten to meet a lot of people, awesome personalities. I have been able to learn so may things about how the industry works. How relationships are very important. It’s just a very interesting journey to be very honest.
How long have you been doing music for?
GIMBA: I have actually been singing for a very long time, but i started going to the studio in 2021. Prior to that, I used to record songs on my phone. So I already knew what I wanted my music to sound like.
If you search “Gimba” right now on Apple music, a song with you, Wizkid, Wande Coal & DJ Tunez pop up. How did that come about? And how does it feel to casually be on a song with certified legends? I want the whole story!
GIMBA: Honestly, I feel blessed for the rare opportunity. It all started from Sarz academy. I attended Sarz academy — I applied for it and got selected among one of the creatives. Going there was my first exposure into the music pack. We learnt to make good music within a short period of time because when we are making songs we know Sarz is going to come and other celebrities are going to come, so you need to have something dope to play for them. You can’t say, “I am still working on it” , you have to have a proper song to play for them. So that was a habit that I held on to until after the camp.
Then, Cash, a music executive invited me for another camp. When I went for the camp, I met a producer named D3an. He’s one of the popular Nigerian powerhouse duo “Smeez & D3an”, they specialize in amapiano. D3an and I worked on an amapiano record and he really liked the song; he felt like I could make a song very fast, under 20mins. This was around October ending. One random day in December, D3an called me to the island so he could introduce me to Dj Tunez. When I met Dj Tunez, he said he had heard a lot about me. ” I bin dey hear say you bad, so show us say you bad”.
It was my first time meeting him so I didn’t want to talk too much or do too much. D3an wanted to work with me on the song, so he played the blessings beat, but it was still skeletial. DJ Tunez wanted to see me do something with the beat, so I freestyled blessings. He was like, I should just write and record it because it sounded dope. We kept playing it all night.
I got there around 6pm and I recorded Blessing by 8/9pm, then we played it till around midnight. There was even a point when Wande Coal walked into the room and he left. I was like, what’s going on?? But he didn’t know me at that point. The song kept playing and everyone kept vibing. Then I left. That was on the 26th of December, 2022.
Sometimes in March 2023, last year, when I was about to go to school, Tunez called me and said there was a surprise for me. He didn’t want to tell me that it was Wizkid, but I never believed that it was Wizkid because I believed that before Wizkid will work with an artist, the artist would have to be big because he would also be looking at your brand and all that and I was just behind the scenes. I went to school and when I came back, he invited me.
The first thing I heard was Wizkid’s voice on the beat. At that point, I thought they had removed my voice from the beat and I was just the song writer but then I heard my voice and I was surprised. Then I heard another voice, and it was Wande Coal. I thought it was a prank. I didn’t know how to act because it didn’t feel real. Tunez said “we are going to drop the song, we are going to call it Blessings”.
I didn’t even know how to react. I didn’t want to put my mind on the fact that we were going to release the song, because we were focused on Sarz academy at the time. I didn’t want to tell anybody and get anyones hopes high, so no one knew. 5/6 days before blessings dropped, Tunez texted me that the song would be released on the 12th, which was coincidentally the same day Sarz academy was to drop their own jingle. I became worried. Everything was happening fast. Before this, we had already shot the video for Blessings.
Tunez called me, I thought I was going for a session, but i found myself on the beach. Next thing, Wizkid is there, as well as Wande Coal; and i’m like oh this is actually for real – the first time I’m meeting Wiz was at a video shoot to our song. It was a miracle honestly. When it happened, it was not just for me, it was for the whole academy because when it came out I was still in the academy. I am still grateful for it every single day because it was what made me realize that my voice is unique. That song exposed me to a lot of things and I am grateful for it.
Let’s talk about your new project. Tell us what you have for us.
GIMBA: My project is very creative and I am so proud of it. I am proud of what the project has done for me. This is my first project ever, so I am really grateful for the ability to create it, and for all the people that God has enabled me to work with like the producers and my management. I always prayed for a very good manager that I can work with, and God blessed me with the best.
With everything that has been going on behind the scenes, I am really grateful that God has put me with people that understand how e dey go, people that have vision and shared goals. The project is a definition of who I am. The name of the project is Trust the Process (written in hausa).
So it is a definition of who I am and my journey into music. Honestly, I never thought of being an artist, singing was always a talent but I never had the dream of being an artiste, so it’s like the music chose me. The first music I ever posted was a cover to Adekunle Gold and Wurld, and the night I posted it, they both commented. I posted other covers and the artists commented. That was a wake up call for me to buckle up. Music is meant for me, and this project is me explaining the process from my point of view. Trust me, there is no trendy sound on that project, it’s just me being me.
In regards to this project, and yourself as an artiste, how would you describe your sound?
GIMBA: My sound is very very jazzy. I will call it African Jazz, because the percussions are very African.
In no particular order, give us 5 artistes we should expect to be played, if i give you the aux cord right now
GIMBA: Wizkid, Wande Cole, Burna Boy, Rema and Olamide.
If you weren’t into music, where do you think you’ll have ended up? Still something music related?
GIMBA: If I wasn’t an artiste, I will be a producer. If I wasn’t into music, I will still be in the creative space.
Any last words to your fans out there?
GIMBA: I am sorry for the long wait and I promise it is worth it.