Not many Nigerian/Afrobeats producers can boast of engineering a Grammy-winning project, but our star feature this week can; he produced the most songs on Grammy-winning album “TWICE AS TALL”. Odunayo Alli, also known as Telz, and with the popular trademark “FUNKULA” sits with us this week to discuss the relevance of the big win to the afrobeats community and Africa as a continent, amongst other shenanigans.
Dom; I’m sure you’ve pinched yourself a thousand times and finally concluded that this is real; you won a Grammy as a producer! Tell us how significantly your life changed since this happened.
Telz; I feel like it’s very complicated to explain, because I never saw it coming in a million years…. but we’re here. It still feels surreal. I remember getting the news of the grammy nomination in my crib while with with my friend Bubu, I punched my door out of excitement and defaced it. Had to cover it with a poster so it isn’t too obvious. I don’t think I’ll be able to fully grasp it for years to come; it truly is an amazing feeling.
Dom; People see the Grammys as the pinnacle of awards in not just Africa or Europe, but the world in general. How big is this win for the Nigerian music industry, and afrobeats as a whole?
Telz; I feel like… you know how the Grammys before used to be something we laugh about ascertaining in Africa, the same way people talk about going to space. It was just to inspire hard work, with no serious intention to win it. But now that we (myself, Burna, and the other Nigerian winners at the last award) have achieved this feat, it gives other artistes that assurance, both old and mostly young, that if they could do it, then we could as well. For example, ever since Burna won it, I have seen people on social media saying “Fireboy deserves/can win a Grammy”, amongst other potential nominees. It kind of opens the door for everyone now, and it’s a very realistic big deal.
Dom; I remember seeing one of your tweets saying you almost quit on music right before you started getting the recognition you deserve. What kept you going?
Telz; Honestly, I’m not even sure. I remember that period, I was supposed to go to my university to get my certificate, and a friend of mine told me that Kuvie (a Ghanaian producer – @Kuviemmadeit) was in Lagos and we should go see him. Since I wasn’t getting any sense of direction then, I just thought to myself to meet up and see how it goes. As I got to his hotel, the people I’m seeing sitting there are TEC from Showdemcamp and Tems, and it got me asking myself who is this guy that can conjure such calibre of people together? Afterwards, we were just chilling while Kuvie was playing some beats and everyone was feeling it. I requested to also play some beats as well, and everyone was astonished while feeling & vibing to my beats. It made me happy and gave me a sort of hope to not quit just yet. Some days after, I went to see Kuvie again, and this time, the artiste chilling with him was PrettyBoyDO (this was the period we recorded WETIN YOU SMOKE). So since then, I started going around with Kuvie much more, and basically everyone I met after then in my career progression was from that meeting.
Dom; How soon are we going to see a personal project from you and which artistes would you like to feature on the project.
Telz; I’m most definitely going to do my projects (not just one), but for now, I believe I’m not ready for that yet. Deviating a bit from the question, I feel like generally, people see the most popular producers as the best producers, but I don’t exactly agree with this notion. Right now, I believe I have a lot to learn and a lot of development to put in place before I start working on personal projects. If I’m dropping anything at all, it has to be revolutionary; I can’t just drop a mid song/project. Soon though, in like 4/5 years, after much developing and evolving of my sound, it should be expected.
As for artistes, I would also love to work with Tomi-Thomas, and try to experiment his sound with Afro-house, which is the genre I’m currently in.
Dom; Now you have to divulge a secret to us. We want to know which artiste or producer we can expect a fire collaboration with FUNKULA very soon!
Telz; I’ve got something with P-priime. Flames as anticipated!
Dom; While working with various acts, which artiste’s recording process did you find the most enthralling/fascinating and why? (Apart from Burna’). My first guess is Prettyboy-DO!
Telz; DO’s process tells a lot about him; he is a perfectionist. If you aren’t careful with him, you’ll just have to give him your laptop at a point just so he records and produces the song himself to his taste. DO can record 4 bars for 4/5 hours; until he gets what he wants, he won’t relent, and that’s what makes him the amazing artiste he is.
You know I cannot talk about energy in the booth without talking about Burna. Sometimes, he would begin with creating the vibe of the song he wants with his mouth by singing how he wants the beat to go. From there, we would take it up and create a banger.
Another artiste with the most fascinating work process is Fireboy. There was a time we were recording a slow song (if he doesn’t drop the song, I’ll drop it). What he was meant to do was hooks and backups on the beat. While he was recording the backups in pieces, it seemed like rubbish because I was like what is he doing. But the moment we put everything together… scintillating. I definitely love working with Fireboy.
Dom; Are we ever going to get more than just the producer side of Telz? Can you also see yourself become a full artiste? Or going into something more creative like fashion? Or any other branch of entertainment.
Telz; Nope. Definitely not singing or doing anything music related except aspiring to be at the pinnacle of music production. However, there’s something else I have a passion for, which is gyming. So, while I’m not aiming for club bouncer vibe, I’ll just like to be that guy who drops gym motivation videos (and gym motivation beats).
Dom; Do you think you’ll ever delve into the UK DRILL community, even if its for a bit, seeing how it is becoming a proper growing community in Nigeria, with the likes of Tomi Obanure and PSIV making waves in that stead in Nigeria?
Telz; I’ve actually done a drill song before; Remmy Baggings – Gboju. I started out as a rap producer, and I currently have some drill beats, so it’s definitely something I fancy. But the deal with doing drill in Nigeria is, being realistic, Nigerians don’t really appreciate it. It isn’t our main sound. If it isn’t afrobeats, it doesn’t have replay value, and no replay value means you won’t really make money from it, so no need to deceive ourselves. However, with the rate at which the growth is accelerating, it’ll definitely get more attention from producers and artiste to delve into. I genuinely wish that the rap community was much more appreciated in Nigeria than it is currently. The best rappers aren’t even the most popular rappers, and that’s hard facts.
Dom; Which African artiste and producer do you believe can be a contender for a Grammy, and actually win it based on how significantly they are contributing to the propagation of afrobeats to the world?
Telz; For me, Fireboy and Sarz. I think Fireboy is one of the best artistes in the whole world, and not just Nigeria. We see Olamide sing his praises every opportunity he gets, but one won’t understand properly till you get to work with him. He could just manifest some GOAT doings in the studio and while you’re going crazy, he would react in an unsatisfied way which means he wants to change it. However, the craziest thing about this is whatever he changes it to is always far better than what you initially went crazy over, which will just leave you puzzled.
As for Sarz, he is the greatest afrobeats producer of all time. Sarz’s sound speaks to you like they are words coming out of his mouth. He is the only producer in Nigeria I look up to. Most times when I complete a beat, I try to ask myself if this is how Sarz would do it, just to maintain the top quality and professionalism that Sarz’s beat exhumes. Sarz is our Timberland. Most top producers currently in Nigeria have a Sarz influence in their sound which emphasizes his greatness.
Dom; Finally, you have to battle yourself by telling us your faves off TWICE AS TALL. Top 5 please!
Telz; (After waiting for like 10 minutes) This was extremely hard pick, but here goes nothing;
5 – Way too big
4 – Wettin dey sup
3 – Onyeka
2 – Alarm Clock
1 – Bank on it
Dom; It’s been an absolute pleasure anchoring this fun interview. We at The49thStreet want to extend our gratitude for your time and interest, and we wish you more awards and recognitions, both internationally and locally!
Telz; Thanks to you guys for having me, and keep doing the amazing work you are doing at The49thstreet; its revolutionary.