Hello Steem! It is my pleasure to release this new self-produced single titled “Zosi”, shared on Soundcloud, with private links shared exclusively in this post. Valid to say it is “exclusive to Steem” 😉
Accompanying this release is also a free download link to the instrumental of this particular piece of music and I will also briefly analyse some very basic elements of the music. I am just an upcoming music producer and it is my dream that I only get better in this field every day. This happens to be my very first project and it only makes me glad that I am first sharing it with this community. Constructive criticism and reviews will very much be appreciated. Like I already said, the Soundcloud links attached are private links which means it can only be streamed by those I share the links with, and I am only sharing it on this platform.
About the Song
This is a very simple and basic Afrobeat track that also doubles as an ode to a very beautiful East African lady whom I call “Zosi”. The text or lyrics of this piece is in the English language, Nigerian Pidgin English and some very few Yoruba word(s) of western Nigeria. The instrumentation is basically a fusion of Afrobeat, Fuji, and traditional African music instrumentation. The Udu which is an aerophone/idiophone of the Igbo people of South Eastern Nigeria comes together with some other African percussion instruments and the western drum set to create a solid and steady flowing traditional African rhythm section. The trombones provide a melodic support to the vocals and the harmonic section of the music while the organ and the electric wah guitar provides a very simple but solid harmonic accompaniment to the whole piece of music. Most of the portions of the instrumental were sequenced with Reason which is always my DAW of choice when trying to create this kind of musical genre. Other parts of the music like the live bass guitar, the second piano, and the vocals were all recorded with Cubase 5. Below is a brief outline of the song:
Tonal center: C major
Time signature: 4/4
Tempo: 102 bpm
Length: 3 min 9 secs
The Rhythm Section
In African music, rhythm is always the most paramount and this explains why our music is always greatly rhythmic and not melodic. The idea for the entire rhythm of this song came from a loop I stumbled upon on Reason’s Dr. OctoRex loop playback machine. It is basically an “Udu” loop which I altered the sound and arrangement by tweaking some knobs on the virtual loop machine. I created another percussion section to add depth and originality to the loop. I used the claves and woodblocks as the pulse marker, congas and some other ethnic and native percussion instruments. Below is the rhythm I got after fusing the loop and my own rhythmic idea together. It starts with the traditional African rhythm which is later joined by the loop. The combination of these two creates a complex polyrhythm which is somewhat a necessity in African music.
https://soundcloud.com/udeme-minority-klan/african-percussion-with-udu-loop/s-JWAUS
The Harmonic Section
The ideas to build the most important sections of this songs came from playing around with loops (thanks to Reason’s Dr. OctoRex virtual loop machine). The electric wah guitar loop was the skeleton upon which I created the harmonic section. I played the organ accompaniment to complement the rhythm of the electric wah guitar. I chose the organ specifically because of the timbre and texture of its sound and also for some reasons it's always the most suitable for this genre of music. The chordal movement is simply from one to five with some variations in voicings and inversions. Below is the electric guitar loop accompanied by the organ. Also because of the dryness and lack of depth of the guitar sound, I had to saturate it a bit with very warm and mild distortion. I also added a little bit of reverb and delay to add character and uniqueness to the sound. The electric wah guitar loop by itself sounds very jazzy and revolves around very few chords and this only makes it very suitable for a fusion genre with elements of Afrobeat music. You can take a listen to some Afrobeat tunes and specifically listen out for the roles of the electric guitars, then compare it with this particular electric guitar groove.
https://soundcloud.com/udeme-minority-klan/zosi-1/s-jGfEb
The Trombone Section
This was the simplest and also a very important section of the music as I just wanted this section to play a phrase that will add melodic and very subtle harmonic support to both the instrumental and vocals. I chose the trombone mainly because of its low pitch sound as I wanted a not very high pitch instrument in order to avoid a clash with my vocals and the electric guitar in the high frequencies. There is always a space for one instrument in every frequency even though most times two or more instruments just have to share a frequency space. Below is the trombone section with organ and electric guitar accompaniment
https://soundcloud.com/udeme-minority-klan/zosi-2/s-d2E2a
Other musical sections like the bass guitar and the second piano were recorded with Cubase which is a different DAW from what I used to sequence the main instrumental. Below is a downloadable link to the full instrumental of this song (without the bass guitar).
https://soundcloud.com/udeme-minority-klan/full-instrumental-of-zosi/s-ai9cb
Saving the very best for the last, here’s the full track, with lyrics beneath it.
Lyric
VERSE ONE
You’re star
You’re awesome
You’re a superwoman
Your name Zosi and you so sweet just like papaya
You got a lot going on in my mind now
African star baby
Are you from Ghana or from Kigali
Cos you’re a star baby
Tell your bra tell your sister
I’m gon put a ring on your finger
Let your mama know say
Let your papa know say
Let your pastor know
If possible let your uncle know
Before them kpariwo say you like me
Say lie lie I no go carry you go
Better let them know say
Me I no go leave u away
CHORUS
Zosi Zosi Zosi Zosi
Zosi Zosi
Nakupenda Zosi
(Interlude)
VERSE TWO
Have you heard bout Bonnie and Clyde dem
Girl you fine pass Jennifer Lopez
Anytime I see you my body dey shake
We can be the modern day Bonnie and Clyde
Oh girl! take my hands don't say no
Na beg I dey beg oh girl no say no
Good girl wey sabi pray for me
A very good girl wey sabi pray for me plus
Fine girl she like my mummy
A very fine girl I go carry show mummy
Thunder fire anybody (wey talk say)
I no go love my baby (wey talk say)
I no go hold you close
Na you be my Iyawo
Before them kpariwo say you like me
Say lie lie I no go carry you go
Better let them know to say
Me I no go leave you away
Chorus repeat.
OUTRO
Oh ma Zosi
Oh ma Zosi
I say na you
I go carry go show
Mama mama
My Zosi
My Zosi
I hope you enjoyed this. The tenor saxophone was also played by me. Your feedback will be very much helpful. I am just a growing musician, I have a dream of becoming a seasoned music Producer someday and maybe get to further my studies in sound production in Berklee College of Music someday.
Much love from this part of the world.
Nakupenda means “I love you".