Episode 129
Teedeevee, Afro-Pop Singer
Meet Teedeevee, a top International Afro-Beat musician, lyricist, composer, and performer.
In today’s episode, we chat with TeeDeeVee, an Afro-pop artist based in Lagos Nigeria. He is a Top International Afro-Beat musician, lyricist, composer, performer, and award winner of the Best upcoming artist in Africa in 2017.
Teedeevee describes Afropop as African Music combined with popular hip hop music but with a heavier beat.
Teedeevee tells us his music, and especially his latest song KORE (the mantra of Hope) is about giving people hope during this time of Covid. The continent, like all others, has been hit hard by the virus and people's lives and livelihoods have been affected and income taken away, so a song to keep people’s hope alive is what he created. In his album Adventure, Teedeevee’s music transcends into messages of love and life.
Coming from Nigeria, TeeDeeVee struggled to balance both getting his law degree and his love for creating music that tells a story. In 2021, he successfully got admitted to the bar, and in the same year, released his album.
- Teedeevee is a dynamic and versatile artist, which has led him to have a majority of global influences and collaborations reflected in his work. His international break occurred in 2019 when he produced a song with a Lebanese producer. Soon afterward, he started getting recognition from International artists from different parts of the world including Sudan, Germany, and France,
- What’s his songwriting and production process like, and what influences him? Teedeevee’s creative process starts with an idea about making a beat, collaborating with an in-house producer, then gets a melody, then the lyrics, and finally, when all those have come together, he goes to the studio to complete the process.
- His influences come from his experiences in his own life, most of them a reflection of the obstacles and challenges he and other people from the African continent go through before becoming successful.
Spotify: KORE
Connect with him on Instagram TeeDeeVee
Teedeevee’s success has come from being "stubborn" and resilient in believing that he will achieve everything he has set his mind to, in spite of the challenges he faces along the way. Through his music, he is able to encourage other people to follow their hearts’ desires.
He says, "I'm a full-time lyricist, composer, performer, and Afro-pop musician from Nigeria. I have been in the music industry for over 7 years and with vast experience, I have been able to work with several music moguls and visionaries in the music world.
"Having over 90 records, I've carved a niche for my unique lyrical prowess and creative music style which would make any service I render special.
"My music is well known for the uniqueness in my sound and lyrics. I have also got several recognitions and awards for my services over the years.
"Versatility is one of the major pivots the Teedeevee brand stands for, having recorded different styles of music ranging from Trap, Hip-hop, R&B, Dancehall, Afrobeat, Afropop to Amapiano.
"The African vibes and traditions are what I always hope to showcase in my works and preach the Afro music through the Nick and crannies of the world."
He is also an Attorney at Law. Graduated from the prestigious Faculty of Law at the University of Ibadan. Admitted into the Largest Bar in Africa as a Barrister.
Facebook Teedeeveeofficial
Instagram: @teedeevee_
Spotify https://open.spotify.com/album/0j6vt44wBu6rPXhBLhvqFD
Apple Music https://music.apple.com/us/album/anywhere-single/1569673155
Music tracks are copyrighted, provided by the artist, and used with permission.
Transcript
auto generated transcript
TeeDeeVee (:Okay,
Mark (:Welcome back everyone to our podcast, unlocking your world of creativity. And today our worldwide travels are taking us to Lagos, Nigeria, and we're gonna talk to an Afro-pop artist. TeeDeeVee how are you?
TeeDeeVee (:Nice. All nice. I'm very fine Mark. I'm very fine mark. What's up now? How are you doing?
Mark (:I'm doing great. It sounds like it's good to see your smile and it sounds like you're doing good too.
TeeDeeVee (:Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Mark (:Well, you've got a lot of great music I've been listening to in preparation for our conversation. It's got a great beat. It's got great lyrics. Tell me about the, the genre for our listeners, the genre of Afro pop. How do you define it? And what do you think is sort of the music based on,
TeeDeeVee (:Okay. Afro pop is a, music genre. I, I draft from afro beat afro beat is popular. Everyone knowsafro beat. Afro beat has been doing great in the whole wide world now you get the like of of WizKid,Davido, Burnna Boy doing great things in Afro Beat so Afropop is a different one. And what is basically different in AfroPop is the, is the bass in the beats? The beat are always heavier, like the beats are always heavier and the kind of mixed mixture of Pop. Like Hip Hop like the popular Hip Hop and Afro, you know what I'm saying? Like Hip Hop is American Hip Hop is American now mixing an American sound with an African sound. So mixing Afro between Hip Hop that's how I come out to get Afro Pop.
Mark (:It sounds, it sounds great. It's got, like you said, the roots of that African traditional kind of music, but boy, that heavy bass, that heavy beat.
TeeDeeVee (:Yeah, yeah. Yeah. A hundred.
Mark (:Sounds great. Well, you just dropped a yeah.
TeeDeeVee (:Thank you, Mark.
Mark (:Yeah. You just dropped a new album called adventure, right?
TeeDeeVee (:No, no. I, I dropped some popular songs recently.
Mark (:Okay. Well, tell us, tell us about the new, tell us about the new songs.
TeeDeeVee (:Okay. I dropped one very lovely song that, everybody has been talking about. I titled it Kore, K.O.R.E if you check on Spotify you can see it there. K.O.R.E is a, is a song for hope, like I was trying to give people hope, you know, this COVID we just passed through this Covid 19 this Coronavirus pandemic, we just passed through go. Got a lot of people in, great problems got people in great financial problems, great health problems, and physical challenges. A lot of challenges faced people like a lot of challenges. So I was trying to resuscitate hope like, I was trying to tell people that there’s still hope in yourself. Like there’s still hope in the whole wide world causeCOVID actually made the whole wide world stop. Like there was a very long pause to everything people were doing. Music was on, the pause, economy, was on the pause, traveling was on the pause like almost everything in the world was on the pause. So I was trying to make people know that there is still hope like there is still hope in this world. There’s still hope in yourself. So I, named the song, Kore mantra for hope mantra, like in mantra for hope, you know what I'm saying? So I released that one earlier this year in January. So after that, I released the song, with a UK-based producer. And I shifted from singing songs for hope to people and shifted to probably telling, babe to come to my room.
Mark (:Yes,
TeeDeeVee (:I did the song in the UK. So I did the song with him and release that song around March this year. And that of the song just come to my room is a party kind of song, telling a babe, like a girl, a female to come to your room. So, I dropped the song anywhere, with my brother from Nigeria, his name is Damevi. So we dropped, the song and the song I also did well the streamings are very great. So I've been working on a couple of songs from that. Cause most of my songs, I like to pass some certain messages, like love and life. Like, try to mix love and mix it with life. Like, tell them niceties of life, the nuances of life. Like what life is all about? Do you know what I'm saying? Mark?
Mark (:Yes. And you know, I, I said adventure, but I'm meant anywhere. That's the song I was referring to. You dropped in June. It sounds fantastic. And you, by the way, I'd love to play a clip in the program anywhere so that people can hear it. So I'll, I'll pretend like I'm playing the song right now. So I'll, I'll insert the song. So I, I love the theme of anywhere. And you've been talking about these global influences and these global connections that you're making. How, how did you reach out to the UK producer? And you got quite a bit of recognition in the UK. You got some airplay on the radio even.
TeeDeeVee (:Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. Lemme say my international break out started in 2019 to be precise when I did the song with a Lebanese producer, his name is Offrum so he is from Lebanon. He, we got connected from Instagram. We did a couple of songs together and those songs were Mark am going to tell you were fire, men, like were fire steamings were, were so high, like were so high in fact there is a song Rodada R.O.D.A.D.A Rodada and Messy. Those two songs were, were disturbing clubs in Lebanon, like were disturbing a series of clubs in Lebanon. And from there I went, I started getting recognition from artists, international artists, from Sudan, from Germany, from France, from different parts of the world. And some of them did some songs together. Some of them did some songs together, but we have not released them yet. You know what I'm saying? So from there, different connections are coming.
TeeDeeVee (:Like when you listen to this song, you like it. And can I work with you, work together, give if I feel the beats. Cause I like to diversify. I like to check different cultures. Like I, I have a song with an Indian, you know, a song with an Indian currently like, we just finished wrapping up the song some weeks ago. Like I have something different culture. Like I try to make people know that I'm not this kinda person[ inaudible] like I'm dynamic and versatile. I can work with you and your culture. I like to test different cultures. You know what I'm saying? So the UK producer, reach out to me like we did a song, let's say we did a song last year and we released it this year. I released it this year. So because when you release it, when you record a song like that, there are different other stuff that is going to release this song before you release the song, they have a mixing and mastering process. They have the promotion process, the marketing, and the publishing process. So all this takes a long time. And, and so over the years, I've been trying to work with. What we actually tried to do with that is I’d prefer
Yeah. It's great. That, that you're able to borrow from these cultures. Do, do you find yourself? I mean, let's very logistics thinking about the songwriting and production process. There's quite a bit of controversy these days on what is sampling, you know, what is inspiration? What is I borrow to be? You know, I bought a be, yeah. Where do you gather these different influences for your music?
TeeDeeVee (:Okay. before, before you start a piece of music before a piece of music can become a whole, you start with the, for example, me, I have my own beat production process, you know what I'm saying? I have a producer, I have an in-house producer. his nam,e is {inaudible}.
Mark (:I see.
TeeDeeVee (:I inhouse producer in Nigeria his name is {inaudible}
Mark (:If I could I'm gonna stop you for one second. We're breaking up a little bit. So I was losing your audio. Okay. So maybe you can, can you lemme know?
TeeDeeVee (:Can you hear me now?
Mark (:Yeah. A little bit better. So stay,
TeeDeeVee (:Can you hear me now?
Mark (:yeah. Stay close.
TeeDeeVee (:Yeah.
Mark (:So we were talking about where you gather some of your beats.
TeeDeeVee (:Yes. Yes. As I was saying before I start my whole music process, I start with the beat. Are you getting me? I start with instrumental and, and sometimes I, I just have an idea. It just comes to my head and I call my producer. Leke On The Beat and tell him how far? Look here. I have this idea in my head and let's work something out available. But most times he gives me the beat. And when, when it gives me the beat, I value to round the beat to create a melody first. That's the first thing I do. I don't write lyrics first. Are you getting what I'm saying? I don't write my lyrics first. I create a melody first. I create a kind of melody. Like I can hum. Like I can start on humming like that. You know what I'm saying? Just to run with the beat first.
TeeDeeVee (:Now, once I get a particular melody that is very nice for me. I now start inserting lyrics in those melodies you get what I'm saying?
Mark (:I do.
TeeDeeVee (:I find certain lyrics. Cause the lyrics to make sense, you have to connect you have to, from a kinda colocation that when people hear it, they know that this person is coming from here is going here, is going here. Not that you just give a line, you give a lyric, no. And the next lyric is not connecting with the initial lyric. You get what I'm saying?
Mark (:Yes.
TeeDeeVee (:So all those processes need your, thinking, your intuition when you're writing. So once I get the beat, I form the melody. I start writing, writing, does not take me much time. Cause melody is the most important thing to me. Once I get a supple melody, tune once I get a tune in my head, writing is not going to be hard for me. So once I write I hit the studio and complete, the whole job now.
Mark (:That's wonderful. Well, they've come together nicely. And as you said, I mean the stories, it may be driven by the beat, but the story within the lyrics. Yeah. About your life. Yeah. about the culture about, you know, what's going on in the world. Very powerful.
TeeDeeVee (:Yeah. Very powerful. Very powerful. And when I write, my music, I write based on circumstances that have happened. Like most times the fiction in, in my music, in my lyric are not so much like I put fiction, but there are not so much because I am kind of expressing that, have a lot of stories to tell the world. Yeah. So I'm the only tool I have, I don't travel a lot. But the only tool I have to pass my message across to people is music. You know what I'm saying, Mark?
Mark (:Yes. And it's a, it's a powerful story indeed. And what, you know, in your own words, do you feel like that story is that you're trying to tell? What do people need to hear from you?
TeeDeeVee (:Look, I actually think that what I try to pass across to people? Most sense is the fact that in this part of the world, things do not get rosier every time. You know what I'm saying? Things do not get rosier every time that you don't get what you want at the time you want it. And before you get what you want, there are some obstacles, there are some challenges you need to cross. There are some hurdles you need to pass. There are some hurdles you need to, pass through before you could get some things in this part of the world, like, things don't come easy for example, I'm a lawyer now. But before I could become a lawyer, I was, merging music with the law for, many years And I was trying to do both at the same time I was trying to do law to do music at the same and, you and law is the kind of jealous course that you don't merge with some other career, you know what I'm saying? That’s the kinda jealous course I don't merge with another career like you must be focused on law, but I was so stubborn. I was so stubborn even when I had challenged my parents trying to disown me for merging both careers together, I was so stubborn and I was able to get what I wanted. Like I was able to get exactly what I wanted. Exactly what I wanted. I was able to excel in the law and I'm excelling in the music. I have not gotten to mainstream music yet But am on the path to getting to the mainstream.
Mark (:Yes.
TeeDeeVee (:You get what am saying?
Mark (:Yes. And TeeDeeVee, I'm so curious about how you continue to pursue the law career while doing the music. Is it optimism is it persistence or do you feel stubborn? What, what drove you to continue to pursue a legal career?
TeeDeeVee (:Okay. actually drove me to pursue music and law at the same time, I won’t lie to you, it was stubbornness like stubbornness was at the forefront. I was so stubborn. Because if even not for stubbornness and the grace of God. The grace of God is a separate one. If not for the grace of God and stubbornness, I would’ve stopped music for a very long time. Like I would have stopped music for a very long time. So to say like, I would have stopped. Challenges were there. Like challenges, financial challenges while I was starting up the financial challenge while I was starting up challenges, from friends that didn't believe in me. That guy, there's no way you could make these two things together. They don't work together. Like they don't work together. They can never work together. Challenge from parents. Like challenge from my parents saying that I sent you to school to study law.
TeeDeeVee (:Why should you mix it with music? Like they don't work together. You can never do that thing together. So I was so stubborn like, I was like, I can do this thing. I was like, I can, I can. I can, from more than seven years Mark, I was like, I can, I can't, I cant I can. I can't. And from this year, I was able to get my law degree and I was able to get my call to bar certificate. And everything was also great at the end of the day, cause I didn’t stop the music and I stop law and I was able to do both at the same time.
Mark (:Well, congratulations. Yeah. You know,, some people will look back on the last two years and say, wow, it's the worst year in the world. But for you, a couple of great things came together. Didn't they?
TeeDeeVee (:Yeah, yeah. A couple of great things, man. Like a couple of great things. I was able to spread my tentacles in and music. Like I was able to spread my tentacles so wide and I was able to get what I've been wanting for the past several years. What I've been looking for this called to bar, like to be called a lawyer and I can boldly say now that I am a lawyer, but now I'm at the point where I have to choose one. You get what I am saying? But hopefully, I'll cross that bridge very soon.
Mark (:There you go. Well, and what do you see for yourself in the future?
TeeDeeVee (:Okay. I, the only thing I see for myself is I'm going to be at, the level of Drake cause to me, I count Drake as, as the most successful artist in the world currently, and I'm open to, to surpass his records, hopefully.
Mark (:Wow. It's fantastic.
TeeDeeVee (:So that's who I actually see myself. [inaudible].
Mark (:Yeah. Well, I'm so excited to be able to share your story TeeDeeVee and your music. So thanks for sharing this with us. Yeah. Yeah. I'm gonna put all the links that you have from your Instagram link tree. There are all sorts of places that people can hear your music and I’ve been glad to talk to you today and share.
TeeDeeVee (:I really appreciate that. Nice one Mark. God bless you
Mark (:Well, I hope to keep in touch with you and let us know the next time you're dropping some new music.
TeeDeeVee (:No problem. No problem. A hundred percent. A hundred percent.
Mark (:Alright. Well, you take care. Great talking to you.
TeeDeeVee (:Yeah. Nice one. Mark.
Mark (:Yeah. And listeners, oh, it's been so great to be in Lagos, Nigeria with our friend TeeDeeVee and as I said, that's links in the show notes to all the new music and he's got a great career in the making in music, but now in the law profession as well. And we wish you all the best.
TeeDeeVee (:Yeah. Yeah.Nice one Mark Nice one everybody
Mark (:Come again for our next episode where we'll continue our around-the-world journey to talk to creative professionals on how they get inspired and how they organize their work. And most of all, how they gain the confidence and the connections to get their work launched out into the world until next time I'm Mark Stinson and we're unlocking your world of creativity. Take care.
