Blaq Jerzee in spotlight
TRANSITION: GOES FROM PRODUCER TO ARTIST WITH DEBUT SINGLE
‘This project is the definition of who I really am. I’m doing me,’ he says.
Blaq Jerzee is one of Nigeria’s premier hitmakers, with production credits on smash songs from Wizkid and Tiwa Savage, to name a few. Now he’s about to embark on a new project, where for the first time he’s stepping out into the spotlight himself with his debut single One Leg Up.
The hit track features fellow Nigerian heavyweight singer Tekno. “Wizkid is to blame!” says the artist, who grew up in South Nigeria’s Edo state. Wizid’s smash-hit Fever was a Blaq Jerzee production.
They were hanging out one day when the Star boy singer made a suggestion. “Wizkid was like: ‘Yo, why are you always just selling your songs?! You need to put some out yourself. In fact, I want to sign you.’ I figured after that, okay, if the biggest artist in Africa is telling me to release songs, I should do it. That was my biggest motivation to push myself as an artist.”
The result is Blaq Jerzee’s first solo EP out in March next year. The first single off the EP is One Leg Up, an upbeat, Afrobeat track with great visuals that featured on Blaq Jerzee’s VEVO channel on the day of its release last Friday.
The producer-artist will be releasing his upcoming album with Ditto Music next year with features from WizKid, Tiwa Savage, Sizzla, Sarkodie, and many more.
Blaq Jerzee isn’t just a stage name. It’s who Okhuofu Isaiah Oshoriameh is, and has been ever since high school. “When I was a kid, I had to go to school in uniform. You needed to have five or six days’ uniforms you could change into, but my family could only afford one or two,” the Lagos producer-songwriter recalls. “So I had to do laundry all the time.”
This meant going to social gatherings, church groups or music practice not in school clothes like his friends, but in sportswear. “I’d always be wearing a jersey. So my friends started calling me that, and it stuck.”
Oshoriameh has come a long way since those humble beginnings. Today he’s one of Nigeria’s premier hitmakers, with production credits on smash songs by major artists. Now he’s set to join them on stage instead of behind the scenes.
For years, Blaq Jerzee had been all about lifting up others. “I have a passion for making stars. I never had intentions of releasing my own music. Dr Dre is someone I really look up to not just because of his sound, but because of the business behind his sound, seeing people with talent and helping them achieve success,” he explains.
That was the direction that Oshoriameh’s career seemed to be headed in for a long time: combining his love for Afrobeats, Highlife, Stevie Wonder, Boyz II Men and everything in between, the producer built an empire out of creating beats for others. Blaq Jerzee’s first solo EP is an enticing glimpse into his musical universe, where, as he puts it, “everything is unlimited. There are no restrictions”. He likes to take chances, as is evident on My Love and the Tekno-assisted Leg Up.
“I love to take risks in my sound because sometimes the only way to create something outside of what’s trendy is to do what no one else is doing. It might be a trumpet that differentiates it, or something else, but I’m always looking for something to make a song unique.”
Blaq Jerzee is driven by a desire to connect Nigerian music with international audiences. “I’m trying to export my music from Africa to the world,” he says. “It’s a universal sound that anyone from any part of the world can f**k with. But it always has the roots of African music and culture.”
This new collection of songs, lit up by vocals from Efya, Tiwa Savage and Wizkid, should put Blaq Jerzee well on his way to achieving his dream. “This project is the definition of who I really am. I’m doing me,” he says.