(A Must Read) The Industry: A time capsule of contemporary music

Cool DJ Jimmy Jatt is the single most important factor behind the wheels of steel nationwide. Back when nobody wanted their children considering a career in flipping turntables, he staked his claim, poured his entire being into his craft – and business – and 25 years later, is now head honcho of a thriving mini-industry. On his second collaboration album cheekily entitled, ‘The Industry Volume 1’, Cool DJ Jimmy Jatt makes it crystal clear that when it comes to assembling top tier talent for any project, he is the industry. Almost everyone owes him a favour and so, when he places a call to you – veteran or starlet – you find your way to the nearest studio. The disc is an embarrassment of riches, a gathering of more than 50 recording artistes, producers and music industry-related persons on one record. Continue...

Cool DJ Jimmy Jatt has paid his dues and wants you to know it. On the intro, the audience is immediately attacked by the over-the-top trio of On-Air-Personalities, Olisa Adibua, Do2dtun and Toolz fighting among themselves to hand Jimmy Jatt the title of legend. Just in case you never realized it all these years. His friends appear on their various guest verses and the message is the same. He. Is. Legend. But the chemistry of the artistes who appear on ‘The Industry’ isn’t quite as unforced as the attempts at burnishing his legend. Mode 9, M.anifest, Navio and Femi Kuti meld seamlessly on the chest thumping album opener entitled, ‘The Greatest’. It is old school hip hop meets Afrobeat, tied to a perfect sing along chorus. The next track, the Spellz’ produced ‘Mo’bottles’ does not keep up with the energy of the opener and struggles with Spellz’ stuttering rap verse and Dammy Krane mimicking his mentor, Tuface. The action picks up considerably on the next one, ‘E Tobe’, where Banky W sings, then raps, then out-raps Phyno easily enough. And so the beat goes on. ‘Moneybags’ is a worthy follow up to ‘Too Much’ from the last album and once again features a murderess row of some of the most talented up and coming femcees. Eedris Abdulkareem (remember him?) returns big time and on ‘Onile’, he takes us back to that moment on the plane when his career began to unravel. His bust up with US rapper, 50 Cent may be music history now, but Abdulkareem acts like it happened only yesterday and proceeds to address it squarely. On the stadium arena cheese fest, ‘Legend’, Jimmy Jatt assembles three names who hold the forte for three different eras of Nigerian rap music. Abdulkareem, Ruggedman and M.I do not go at each other’s throat immediately but find common ground to pay their respects to the man who brought them together. M.I even acknowledges the elderly two as his senior colleagues and makes a case for joining them in the hip hop hall of fame. Waje is the female voice that comes in between the trio with a vengeance and she hits notes that are impossible for anyone else.

Not everyone brought his or her A-game to ‘The Industry’ though. D’banj is the biggest culprit in this regard. He is handed a solo number on ‘Gifted’ but he flunks it big time and presents ‘Gifted’ as a 4th grade rip off of every mediocre song he has ever made. Between ‘Limpopo’ and ‘Pull Over’, we must have heard every Kcee pseudo-highlife pop impression. The world can, indeed, do without another Kcee attempt at a crowd pleaser and so can this record. Perhaps for logistic reasons, Jimmy Jatt breaks the project piecemeal and hands portions to producers who in turn work with artistes they are familiar with. Thus, apart from the M.I-Ruggedman-Eedris union, there are no groundbreaking collaborations among the lot. What obtains instead is a cluster of artistes and soul mates basking in their own familiar glow. Which is why D’tunes would think nothing of rehashing his ‘Mama Eh’ beat for his muse, Sean Tizzle on the otherwise boring ‘Bugatti’. The same fate befalls the Ice Prince-headlined, Chopstix-produced ‘Victory’ song. But when this formula works, as it does on the irresistible ‘Shoki Dancefest’, ‘Dan Yan Mo’, with Olamide and Kesh, the importance of superb chemistry is fully on display. This record may not muster enough heat to last beyond the present music cycle but it plays as a potent state of the industry address, hewing closely to proven, popular trends. It instructs that there is nothing wrong with dance music when it is taken down to its most basic, primal form.

We say a big thank you DJ. Jim Is Jatt.