Have we lost the art of the ‘creation process'?

I come from the age of surplus content, where your favorite artiste is always out with new music at every point. I come from the age where D’banj was tearing it, Wizkid is jumping on every song possible and a generation of new artistes are always breaking through. I come from a generation where the competition is stiff, and to get ahead is almost synonymous with having relevant content out on radio.

I also do come from the age where technology is advancing by the second, improving and democratizing the creation process. Softwares are the new instruments of creation, and the speed of music production has quadrupled in the last decade.

The effect of this means a proliferation of relatively easy pop sounds, and a chase for quantity over quality. We are on the age of increased content, and the drive to succeed amongst artiste means that the creation process lacks attention to detail. The process of creating music has become a chore for this generation of artistes, and isn’t to be enjoyed and savored for its intrinsic happiness and fulfillment.

But long before our generation moved to this quick-fire creationist system, we had the art of it. Artistes who played all of the instruments live, in a studio, can kick back

The art of creating music is a beautiful process. From the identification of beats, through to that moment when the artiste has his ‘Eureka’ moment and falls in love with the beat skeleton. The creation of lyrics, through to the initial dry run where the artiste records the music, the multiple recordings, adlibs and many more work that go into recording. Mixing and mastering is another sophisticated process that is beautiful to watch. Layering, sampling, inclusion of special effects, placement of instrumentation and many more of these processes are what makes it all come out nice for your ears.

These processes are beautiful.

Then there are the stories that give meaning to the origin of certain songs. Wizkid’s ‘Joy’ was a direct reflection of conversations he enjoyed with his mother where she regaled him with stories about his birth. Adekunle Gold’s ‘Pickup’ was inspired after he was bounced from a club because his celebrity was not big enough. Yemi Alade’s ‘Johnny’ was a product of heartbreak and love lost.

These stories are all a part of the music and should be properly documented and shared to provide life to the song. The inspiration birthed the song, and set the ball rolling for whatever comes after. The final product that we hear in the clubs, the radio, and on TV is the bye-product of all that artistry.

These days, with the rush to get out more content as quickly as possible, only a few artistes are creatively focused on the creative processs. Bez is one of them. The singer who released his debut album “Super Sun” in 2011, has waited 5 years for another one to materialize. And the reason is solely down to the creative process.

Emmanuel Bezhiwa Idakula popularly known as Bez (born 10 November 1983), is an instrumentalist, singer, song writer and composer whose genre has been described as alternative soul as it delves into soul, rock, jazz and RnB. The singer whose unique sound has driven his career to insurmountable heights  began singing as a child, first learning to play his father's guitar and singing in the choir. Despite going through tough times as a result of the death of his father, Bez' determination to follow the paths of music led him to perform at open mic events in the university.

His sophomore album “Gbagyi” child is just by the corner, and the details that went into the balbum is electrifying.

On his Instagram, Bez detailed the journey of an album that has been 3 years in the making:

“In 2013, a reconnection with my hometown Karu, and the local music being played triggered an idea that would create a direction for my sophomore album and I began to create music with a friend.

In a dingy studio apartment where we worked, somewhere on the streets of Lagos Nigeria, I thought of a way to merge the local sounds with the urban inspiration I derived from other parts of the world.

I shared this inspiration with creative genius Cobhams Asuquo, and together we hopped on a plane and set off to the quiet village of lush greens, nestled in the outskirts of Abuja.”

Also speaking about how his masterpiece came together, Bez continued:

“Armed with a laptop and 2 KSM 137 microphones, we gathered the best local instrumentalists in the land for a 3-hour session of pure magic.

These sounds travelled across the seas with my band and I to New York where the recording process continued, then to Houston Texas and Nashville Tennessee to be sprinkled with the magic dust of great horns, percussions and crunchy electric guitars.

In 2015, the sounds came back to Lagos where all the pieces were woven together intricately, to create the masterpiece that is the Gbagyi Child album.”

The 13-track album reveals collaborations with two of Nigeria’s most talented singers, Yemi Alade and Simi and is set to be released soon.

Lagos, Karu, New York, Houston, Nashville, and many more. That’s the detail in the creative process that many lack and fail to pursue. A fusion of sounds, inspiration from the remote grassroots, and urbanisation of content. These all come together for a project by one artiste.

One artiste.

But sadly, Bez is a dying breed. His kind – who marry artistry to commercialisation- are almost extinct, with the demands and pressures of the industry eroding their creative compass.