Don Jazzy Interview

Don Jazzy, Chief Executive Officer of Mo’ Hits Records, speaks with ADEMOLA OLONILUA about his life and career.

A fulfilled dream
I knew I would be relevant in the music industry, but I did not know I was going to end up at the top. I considered the fact that it would take us quite some time to study the market. I was still studying the market at the time. I did not imagine that I was going to study it faster than expected and get to the top. I would say that I feel honoured to be regarded as one of the biggest music producers in Africa. I thank God for that. At the same time, I think it is very difficult to keep up with the name. They say great power comes with great responsibilities. It is hard to keep up with the standard that we have tried to build for ourselves. We pray that God will give us the grace to sustain what we have achieved so far. There is no day that I do not reflect on my life and thank God for everything he has done.

Scandals
I did not get this far without being well informed. I have made it a point of duty to know what is happening in the entertainment industry, especially things that concern the Mo’ Hits family and I. I pay a lot of people to get informed so they wouldn’t leave my side of the story when any issue comes up. I heard about it. I do not think it is wise to respond to what he said. I have said that I would prefer if someone arranges a meeting for both of us. We should have a debate. Let him state his point and we shall debate it. At the end of the day he will still get the publicity that he wants. God sees my heart. I am not vindictive and I have never repaid other people’s kindness to me with evil. I am loyal to a fault and it gets me into trouble sometimes. Sometimes I am loyal to those who don’t even deserve loyalty just because of the good things they have done in the past. I wouldn’t agree if he says I did any bad thing to him. It would be better if we had a public debate. For now, I will take the blame till we have our little ‘get together’. Let me tell you all the things I have heard about myself that is false. I would start from the small ones before the big ones. I have heard that many people think I am over 30 years-old. It is ridiculous. I keep telling them I was born November 26, 1982. I am going to be 29 years old in November. I keep telling them, but they do not believe me. They say that I lied about my age. Maybe it is because my face looks hard. It is that way because I have experienced many things in this life. Also they think I am old because of the name, Don Jazzy. Some people have said I am the son of Enebeli Elebuwa .My name is Michael Collins Enebeli Ajereh. It so happen I have Enebeli in my name. It is a family name. Enebeli Elebuwa, Elebuwa is my father’s friend. My parents re-married when I was about 16 years old and I was the best man. The late Sam Loco was the master of ceremony at the main event, while Mr. Enebeli Elebuwa was the MC at the party because we were not allowed to enter the club at the time. He was my father’s colleague in the movie industry back in those days. Another rumor I heard was the one they said I owe Wande Coal. I do not know how that is possible. I read an article in a newspaper, which said Mo’ Hits record could be seen as a happy record label. We are happy people and we make good music. We move together and we do not respond to negative comments or music intended to insult or taint our image. We don’t want to be a party of that and people take that for granted. Anytime we sit at home, we read all the craps some people are publishing about us. Wande Coal was worried about the matter concerning borrowed money. He came to me and said, ‘Baba look at what they are saying again. They said you owe me money.’ But I told him not to worry about it and if he needed extra money I would give to him. I learned about the illuminati story. Our affiliation with Kanye West, Jay- Z, G.O.O.D music, to me is a good thing. It is a giant step for contemporary African music, especially Nigerian music. It is a big deal for Mo’ Hits record. I have heard they are affiliated with some people. But you do not expect Nigerians and other Africans to simply go there. It is not something we should discuss. I have not heard them discuss it. So it would be awkward to just start asking questions. Maybe when we get closer, we could discuss it. I am not illuminati and D’banj told me he is not too. We are Christians and God has brought us this far. We did not join Ogboni or any other cult group in Nigeria. The latest gossip in town is that D’banj and I were arrested for being in possession of hard drugs. There was a crazy buzz on twitter, blackberry and facebook that we were caught with 100 kilos of cocaine at J.F Kennedy International Airport in New York, USA. I don’t do drugs, I have never done it. I do not know why people actually do that. Any money I have I got through entertainment.

Passion for trendy clothes
At first, I used to dress like 50 cents, with a base ball cap, big t-shirt, and baggy jeans trousers. At some point, I felt that the fez cap was in vogue . Then I moved to something I never saw anybody do before. I like to stand out in a crowd. I decided to wear Indian robes. It is actually the kind of clothes that grooms wear to their wedding ceremonies in India. When I travel to London and Dubai, people greet me and ask if the ‘wedding’ went well. I decided to quit that dress style for a reason. It was because somebody told me on twitter that there was bad news. I asked him what it was about and he said there was somebody else in Enugu nicknamed Don Jazzy because he dressed like me. He said the fellow was caught stealing somewhere and he was set on fire. I was shocked. He said that from what they gathered he was trying to ‘live the life,’ but that the lacked the means to sustain it. It made me realize that we had reached the stage where some Nigerians wanted to be like us. I decided to tone down my dressing in such a way that anybody can afford to look like us. I decided to put on comfortable pants. People call it Pyjamas, but I think it is very comfortable. I can wear it anywhere and it is quite cheap. I bought it for $10. I don’t advise any one to wear it to work. You can wear it when you want to hang out with your friends. I don’t like to mingle in a crowd. So I tend to do things my way. Think differently.

D’banj and the Mo’Hits as spokesmen
I have stopped that now. At first, I was too shy to speak in front of a large crowd because I did not like the sound of my voice. I preferred to sing instead. I used to whisper to D’banj. We tried it once and people liked it. It worked out and we stuck to it. It was a fluke. It’s not as if we planned it. We did it once and Soundcity got it on tape. We saw the result and decided to continue with it. I didn’t have much to say then. Anything I wanted to say D’banj, Wande Coal, Dr. Sid, one of the Mo’ Hits would have said it in an interview. So I decided to shut up. I did not see the need for me to come out and take the shine off an artiste that needs publicity.

How Mo’ Hits made G.O.O.D music happen
D’banj ran into Kanye West in Dubai when he went for a birthday performance. On his way back to Nigeria, he met Kanye West. He asked to be introduced to the American rap star. The latter learnt that D’banj, one of the biggest singers in Africa at present, had collaborated with Snoop Dogg and was poised to break into the international market. He said no problem. We gave him some songs to listen to on an Ipod. He was impressed and when he asked who produced it, he was told that I did. He said he would love to work with us. When to visit New York? We told him we were going to Los Angeles to shoot the video of Mr. Endowed remix. He told us to pass through New York so that we could talk more on the possibility of a joint project. We thought it was a joke or he was one of those celebrities that played people off. We called him up and he said he was serious. Before we knew it, he was introducing us as his new sign-on. He made his intention clear and we told him we appreciated it. We got our lawyers and that was it.

Working with Kanye West
I would say he became my boss when he signed me on to his record label as one of his producers. He said he had many projects in view and he would not be able to handle them all on his own. Also he said he liked the quality of my sound and would love to use it in his work. Already we are working on D’Banj’s next album. Considering the fact that we were already big in Africa, we could not come in as regular artistes. We are more like partners. We have an agreement to release D’banj’s album. They would help us handle the distribution in the rest of the world, while we handle Africa.

About D Prince and his rap style
There is something about talent. Talents were not meant to be shared equally among men, in the first place. D Prince is my brother, I can’t deny that. Although he has a passion for entertainment, he doesn’t have a great voice or the skill to deliver lyrically. Yet, whatever he delivers gets accepted. He has his own audience. It is not every song that would appeal to everyone. The sky is very big for every bird to fly. Those who would listen to him will always do so. He has own followership. Apart from D Prince, everybody in Mo’ Hits does not brag to be the best. We just want to make money and feed our families. It is good enough that people appreciate what we do. We do not want medals for being the greatest lyricists. D’banj is not a great singer, but he is the most successful. Anybody that is complaining now is actually very late because if he is as bad as people say he wouldn’t become as big as he is. There are people out there that like him. We know this. Even within, we make jest of ourselves before other people hear it outside. We know we can not rap, we know we can not sing; but we know we can entertain you in our own way.