eLDee

When former US secretary of state Colin Powell controversially stepped up on stage to dance alongside Nigerian artist Olu Maintain at the Africa rising festival ‘08, for a minute the ears and press of the world were focused on the sounds coming out of Africa’s most populated country. Let’s not be mistaken though, this is no new trend, Nigerian Hip Hop has long been paying its dues and no one knows this better than Lanre Dibiri the Nigerian native who, under the name eLDee helped pioneer urban music in Nigeria.

 In 1998, a time when we barely knew Kanye could spit, eLDee was already hard at work forming label Trybe Records which was to become home to some of Nigeria’s greatest urban artists. From then until now, having last year received a long overdue MOBO nomination [which eventually went to fellow Nigerian Nneka] his work ethic has been relentless. Three solo albums down and a number of other projects under his belt, I caught up with eLDee taking a well deserved break in London. This is more of a busman’s holiday though; he’s already been in the studio several times and performed at shows including the Notting Hill Carnival, not to mention interviews and networking with artists whenever he can. As we sit down in a bar off Trafalgar Square he’s so laid back its hard to imagine the levels of success he’s already obtained for himself and others…

First off congratulations on that MOBO nomination, it must be a good thing for Nigerian music in general.

Absolutely, it’s interesting to see that the international community is starting to recognise the fact that there’s a lot of music coming out of Nigeria and we’re making a big impact just worldwide in general.

For those that don’t know, could you just tell us a bit about where you’re from and where you grew up?

Well my name’s eLDee I’m from Nigeria I was born in a city called Zaria in Kaduna State. I grew up in Kaduna, spent about 17years [there]. Kaduna is a very serene place so I guess it helped with creativity, [it’s a] very enabling environment. Then I moved to Lagos when I was going to university and studied Architecture at the University of Lagos. While we were doing that I started a group called Trybsemen, set up a record label, signed up a whole bunch of artists. [I] graduated from Architecture, faced the music professionally for a while, put out a whole bunch of artists, shot a bunch of videos, and I guess in a sense started what could be called urban African music as what it is today mainstream.

For someone that may not have heard your music before can you describe your style?

I would say it’s just a representation of African youth of today. The sound of the music has a whole bunch of different influences which is just a reflection of the mind of African youth. Influences of Hip Hop, Reggae, RnB, just all the different styles, and then the local music as well like Fuji, Juju, and Afro Beat. So there’s just a combination of all these things creatively put together. Some people call it ‘Afro Hip Hop’ I don’t think it’s just Hip Hop so I wouldn’t call it that, I just call it Urban African music…of the 21st Century [laughs].

Is there anyone in particular that you’d say influenced you in music, anyone you really followed when you were younger?

Well both of my parents were enthusiasts, they played and listened to a lot of music so there was so many different styles that I listened to. I guess that also helped me in creating my style because there was a whole bunch of Fela Kuti playing in my house, a whole bunch of Kool and the gang, Sonny Ade, Ebenezer Obey, Salif Keita, Miriam Makeba, so many different genres of music, country music Dolly Parton, we listened to everything from every corner. So in a sense it kind of helped me because I grew up around all these different styles to create what I’d like to call exciting music…for this age.

As you mentioned you went to Lagos and studied for your Masters degree in Architecture. It often seems in Hip Hop that dropping out of education is seen somewhat as a badge of honour, how do you feel that going up to that level of education helped you in life and on the path you’re on now?

I mean it’s definitely helped and I always advise people [of that]. All of the artists that were signed to my label I made sure graduated, regardless of what was going on like I would actually even hold back releases just to make sure that they could focus. It’s always good to have a plan B but not just a plan B sometimes you have to have a sound background in whatever it is that you’re doing. Being educated just gives you a better platform to be creative. Kudos to people who dropped out of school and still managed to create some really beautiful music but I feel like most of them probably would have done better if they had a solid education background. So I’m firm for education, I’m really a firm believer in people going through that process because it’s important especially in this age.

After leaving Lagos you spent several years in Atlanta, what was your main motivation in moving there and what did you feel you could bring back to Nigeria?

Well actually the reason I went to Atlanta was because I felt like I had peaked. In Nigeria I was doing all of these things by myself I was producing music I was shooting videos I was doing websites and all these things. I was self taught in all these different areas and I just felt that I needed to be in a more professional environment to learn these things properly and be able to bring them back to Nigeria. So that’s essentially why I left and as soon as I got in a space where I felt like I’m doing this at the most professional level, I felt it was time to move back home.

 Eldee is always taking photos on his blackberry, it’s just his thing. So as we later take a walk over the Thames it’s a prime opportunity to take some snaps of London, the London eye, the houses of parliament, all good for the man with an eye for Architecture…

So you’re in London at the moment, how do you like London, do you like the vibe?

I like London, I like London. I’m actually starting to get into house music I was at a party yesterday where Estelle was DJing. It’s different everywhere where you go partying like South Africa compared to New York compared to Atlanta and then here and I’m loving it in London. The hospitality is interesting it’s a different kind of hospitality from what you’d get in Atlanta but then the people are really nice, yeah you know its fun, and the people like to have fun.So you’ve been in the studio a bit whilst you’ve been over here, can you give us any sneak peaks of anything you’ve been working on?I’m trying to collaborate with a bunch of artists from over here; mainstream artists definitely. So I’ve been in the studio back and forth, done a bunch of songs. I’ve worked with a couple of big name producers and a couple of artists, S.A.S; I worked with Flygerians on a couple of other songs, a bunch of people. Like I said I was at the Estelle party I’m meeting a bunch of people just trying to network get the connection going and get the music out there a little bit more just so people can get into it and vibe with it.

You’ve released a remix of your track ‘Big boy’ with Young Joc and I saw you in that photo with Young Jeezy. How’s it been working with these US artists who have already had huge mainstream success?

I think most importantly just being able to take our music and put it on the table on those platforms, and people being able to recognise the music and wanting to be a part of it is a major success for us. Because all of these artists I was able to walk up to and say “Hey this is what I’m doing” and they listen to it and they like it and they’re like “Hey you know what I’ll do this with you” kind of thing. So it was a fun experience obviously working with Jeezy and Young Joc. Hopefully the next album will have a couple more features, a couple of big names, five or six different artists from the states [and over] here. I’m shooting a bunch of videos, 2010 is going to be exciting I can say that.

You performed at last years Notting Hill carnival and it’s clear you’ve got a big following from Nigerians living in the UK, but do you feel like working with these UK and American artists will help you to reach out to a wider audience?

Absolutely, absolutely; I think we’re at a point right now where in Nigeria the music is as big as it can get. I mean there are 140million people in Nigeria who listen to the same kind of music so you can have fan base of up to 50million people, but these are all Nigerians you see what I’m saying? So to be able to compete on a main stage in the mainstream you have to, I guess play around with having an audience in Italy, having an audience in Germany in France and not neccessairly a Nigerian audience in these places, and this is the reason why we’re trying to do collaborations. Lets collaborate with Americans so we can get a bit of their audience, collaborate with the UK artists so we can do the same thing, so I think like I said 2010 will be a good year because a lot of that is going to manifest and then we’ll see where it goes.

Can you tell us a bit about the other artists you’re working with and artists on your label that you’re helping develop, who else should we be listening to?

Ok yeah right now, Oladele who’s been with me from the very beginning, Oladele is like you know the number 1 artist on Trybe Records. Also I have an artist, a female artist called AiRis. AiRis is a singer she’s fantastic you have to listen to her. Her genres a little leaning towards the pop-ish kind of sound, but then you know we bring it back home with the lyrics and the content and the vibe of it. Also there’s another artist called Proto, “Prototype” and Proto is in the states right now he’s a rapper, he’s like probably one of the best you’ve heard, so I’m working with him as well. For now, that’s pretty much the line up for Trybe records. But we’re doing a whole bunch of things, we put out the AiRis single titled “Without you” that’s online.

Whether he’s in Lagos or Atlanta it’s clear Nigeria is never far from eLDee’s mind. Switching between English, Pidgin and different Nigerian languages in his rhymes his love and concern for Nigeria is obvious. Despite ever growing success one thing eLDee cannot be accused of is forgetting his roots. On the contrary he uses his position as a voice for change…

You’re working very closely with a campaign called “Light up Nigeria” (www.lightupnigeria.org), can you just tell us a bit about what they’re working towards?

Light up Nigeria is basically a campaign to enlighten people about complaining enough for the government to prioritise electricity as a major issue in Nigeria. We feel that a lot of the problems in Nigeria would be solved if there would be constant power. Not having constant power is affecting everything; productivity is like almost at 20-30% just because people can’t have constant power, it costs so much money for companies to run their businesses, a lot of companies are moving out of Nigeria, just because the cost of running the industries are just ridiculous. Too much corruption is eating so deep and we feel like the reason it’s still the way it is, is because people don’t really complain. We have a very resilient people and we need to wake them up to the fact that they need to start talking about these things and making these things big issues so that the government can see them as priority.

What does being recognised at awards like the MOBOs mean for spreading the sound and message of urban music coming out of Nigeria?

I’m really glad that first of all we’re being recognised by international bodies like that and I’m also happy that there’s a lot of support not just from Nigerians but from people outside the Diaspora and people of different cultures and different nationalities who are listening to this music and appreciating it; [it’s] a huge step for Nigeria.

Well it’s been great catching up with you thanks very much and good luck for the future.

Thank you.

Grab a copy of eLDee’s latest album ‘Big Boy’ and the single ‘Big Boy’ remix ft. Young Joc now on iTunes.

Connect with eLDee:    

http://www.facebook.com/eldeethedon
http://www.myspace.com/eldeeonline
http://twitter.com/eLDeethedon

Interview by Cathryn Denney

Photography by Kemdi Oyemogum