Producer-to-Artist Pipeline: Good or Bad for the Nigerian Music Industry?Producers often release music as lead artists without their vocals on those songs by collaborating with artists as featured acts and releasing those songs as their own. This is an approach that DJs also take. Sometimes, producers release music in the form of instrumentals, with or without vocal chops, and still manage to make bops. Occasionally, they sing a bit on those records with artists but allow the artists to take the spotlight.
Although it is not uncommon for producers to be artists, it is a growing trend to see top producers in the Nigerian music industry abandon the boards for the mic. Some prominent producers who have made this switch include Young Jonn and Pheelz. Both were in-house producers for YBNL and are credited with crafting numerous hits by YBNL artists, including Olamide, Lil Kesh, and Adekunle Gold. Pheelz notably produced all but one track on Olamide’s Baddest Guy Ever Liveth and, along with Young Jonn, delivered the critically acclaimed Young and Getting It album by Lil Kesh.
However, both producers have transitioned to being full-time artists in recent years. Young Jonn has released two EPs—Love Is Not Enough Vol. 1 and Vol. 2—as well as a debut album, Jiggy Forever. The three projects are packed with hit records and have amassed a multitude of streams. Young Jonn has solidified himself as an artist to be reckoned with and has been touring the world with headline shows.
The same can be said of Pheelz, whose 2022 collaboration with BNXN (formerly Buju) birthed the monster hit “Finesse,” a record that is comfortably in the 100 million stream club. Pheelz also has three EPs and one album under his belt and appeared on Usher’s 2024 album, Coming Home. It’s safe to say that both Young Jonn and Pheelz have had successful careers as producers first, and now as artists.
However, with their successes as artists, they’ve had fewer production credits in recent years. Pheelz’s most notable production credit recently is on Usher’s album and his own records, while Young Jonn has scarcely had any production credits at all. This means that artists have now been starved of the production magic these producers once brought to the table.It might seem that these are just two producers the industry could survive without, but this could be the start of a trend, with more producers opting to take center stage behind the mic. Nigerian Grammy award-winning producer Kel P, credited with hits such as Burna Boy’s “Dangote” and “On the Low,” is one such producer following that trend. Kel P released his debut single, *One More Night*, in 2023 and has since followed up with two full-length projects, solidifying his shift from producer to full-time artist—though he has released few songs bearing his signature “It’s Kel P Vibes” tag.
It would be difficult to choose between Young Jonn the artist and Young Jonn the producer, or Pheelz the artist and Pheelz the producer. It may be easier to choose Kel P the producer over Kel P the artist, seeing as he has yet to top his contributions to the production space, especially his work on Burna Boy’s Grammy-nominated *African Giant* album. Still, it is clear that the aforementioned artists/producers have chosen to pursue careers as artists first.A producer is just as important as an artist in the music creation process, so there is no understating the importance of having the very best in the Nigerian music industry.
However, with this recent trend, we may need to churn out more high-quality producers to fill the void left by the likes of Young Jonn, Kel P, and Pheelz. But who’s to say those new producers won’t follow in the footsteps of their predecessors?
Written by Promise Agbonkpolor
