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Why African Artists Don't Tour Africa (international labels)
There’s a certain type of hunger that can’t be taught—the kind that drives a kid to build a studio in his head before he ever sees one in real life. How did Chopstix go from secretly making beats on a borrowed computer to producing Burna Boy’s "Last Last" and winning a Grammy on Chris Brown’s 11:11 album?
In this episode of Noble Conversations, Grammy-winning producer Chopstix shares his journey from the church choir to global hits. We explore the mindset that fueled his rise, why curiosity—not access—is a creative’s greatest asset, and the billions African artists are leaving on the table by not touring the continent.
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I've been nominated four times. I've four nominations won me the second time I was nominated. The album that I was nominated on, which is Burner's album, which I thought was going to win didn't win.
Noble:How did you feel when you found out that that song, nightmares, won a Grammy? I never expected it. I never expected it, never expected it. One of the songs right that a lot of people know you for producing is Last Last with Burner Boy, right, what was the process?
Chopstix:of making that record. It was Burner's idea to sample the song. It just happened that he was speaking to the right person. While I was producing, he was already churning out ideas. I've never heard of a Nigerian artist that tours the 36 states in Nigeria. I've never heard of it. One of the reasons why we're missing out on a lot of money that we've been making as musicians as African musicians or Nigerian musicians is the fact that most of the big artists that we have in Nigeria are Few producers have shaped the sound of Afro beats like Chopsticks.
Speaker 3:From crafting Burner Boyz' Last Last to producing on Chris Brown's 11-11, which won the Best R&B Album at the 2025 Grammy Awards, chopsticks has consistently proven that it's not just making music. It's shaping the future of sound.
Noble:Who is Chopsticks? When you think about yourself, Like how do you define yourself?
Chopstix:Yeah, so if I would describe myself to someone who's never met me before or who has no idea who I am, I would say I'm just a creative person, you know. And I'm an all-around creative. You know because I figured I tap into all forms and all levels of creativity, Be it music, be it art, be it film, whatever it is. As long as it's a channel and an avenue for you to be able to express yourself creatively, I seem to easily resonate with that. So I would say I'm just a crazy person. It just happens that music is is the one of the creative arm that people know more about me for. But with time I'm sure people will get to know, like other things, that I'm capable of yeah, so okay.
Noble:So you talked, you talked about art movies, all those things. So what made you lean into like music, like when it comes to creativity, as opposed to those other areas?
Chopstix:yeah, I mean, I was an artist before I became a musician like I was. I was into art. I studied art in school, I studied fine and applied art in school and, um, I started doing graphic art as well and motion art as well. So, but my um, early in in my in my life, I, my brother, used to listen to a lot of music. My family is just listening. Nobody does music in my family. They just love music, they listen to music. And then I happen to have friends who, um, who are music lovers and who to music, and I happened to have friends who were music lovers and who make music as well and were able to just connect. So music connected us, connected me to my friends and the people that I met early in the stage of my career.
Chopstix:We just started creating from then. So we just wanted to just express ourselves musically and just make beautiful sounds, you know, because it just makes you feel good. We're just kids just making music. We didn't think we're making music to be stars or to be supposed. We're just making music to be happy, you know. But the older you go, you grow, the more you begin to realize that you have a career in your hands and you can make something out of it. And then from there, you start to see, you start to create a vision for yourself and a goal for yourself, you know, and it starts to shape into something much bigger than even you, you know. So that's how you know, that's how it all started.
Noble:Okay. So do you feel like that process, like when it started becoming a career, right? Do you feel like it, in a way, um, took the I don't want to say playfulness out of it, but I think that's better to describe? Do you think it took the playfulness and the enjoyment side out of it? Or maybe diminish it? Because I know, like you know, for me, I enjoyed playing soccer growing up, right like I played defense in secondary school, uh, in nigeria, and I feel like I at some point I wanted to go pro, but as I started like okay, this is what pros do, and I started like okay, like really focusing on it, it became less enjoyable in that way, like it wasn't as playful as okay, guys just meeting up, so like became work. Yeah, do you feel like that has happened for you?
Chopstix:uh well, for me I don't. I don't think so. Maybe in one or two instances where you know it was, I was in a situation where I did not like, maybe enjoy what I was working with, or maybe I just encountered one of those industry uh work hazards, you know. But entirely, I would say, my entire career I've I don't think I've ever been in a situation where I've I don't enjoy what I'm doing. You know, the playfulness is still there. I think my inner child is still very much alive and that's where the creativity comes from, you know, because I genuinely love what I do, so it gives me joy every time I do it, you know, and that's where and that's what sustains the playfulness. Because when I play, that's where, you know, I the leeway to just create, just express myself freely. You know that freedom, that playfulness is what allows the freedom, you know. But once the playfulness is gone, you box yourself in and just turn it into work and it just becomes work for you, and work can be boring you know yeah.
Chopstix:Yeah, and that's why a lot of people don't want to work, because work is actually work. It's just boring stuff. Yeah, but because work is actually work. It's just boring stuff. Yeah, I try to make my work as playful as I can and as enjoyable as possible.
Noble:When was the first moment where you said, huh, actually, let me try this thing out. And what prompted that? Was it maybe a friend, or YouTube, or like, how did you? At what age were you at that time?
Chopstix:Yeah, I was. Just I was in my teenage years. I was probably like 12, 13 years old at the time, or even younger maybe, before I started creating, playing music or even producing music. I already I fell in love with music. Like I would listen to songs and I can remember my brother and I would have we used to like ruin a lot of my mom's tapes, like the audio tapes, cause she had, she had Christian songs, christian albums. So we'll take. So what we'll do is but cause I grew up, I kinda I kinda like grew up in Joss and part of like earlier part of my childhood and there's in Joss they have this radio show where, um, it's like a hip-hop radio show where they play hip-hop songs and there's a section of the show where they just play instrumentals. So what my brother and I would do is I would take one of my mom's tapes and record their instrumentals from on air. Like you just record it, tape it into the cassette, and then we would get another radio play the instrumentals. We would play back the instrumentals from the first radio and then record ourselves into the second radio, just rapping and freestyling. Ah, okay, so I used to rap and freestyle at the time with my brother and that's how the love for music just started growing and coming up.
Chopstix:And then I met up with a friend of mine we were just kids at the time and he used to play the keyboard in in the church choir and so I thought I told bro, I would love to learn this shit man, like I would love to learn how to play piano, because he was really good at it and he plays. He plays the piano, guitar, uh, lead guitar, bass guitar and he plays some drums as well. So I just told him, bro, I just want to learn how to play the piano for now. And I was like cool, I'll teach you, but I don't have the piano myself. The only way I can teach you is if you join the church band. So whenever we rehearse you can watch me play or I can, and I can show you some stuff and I can let you play as well and like cool.
Chopstix:So I linked up with him, but I didn't join officially, like I didn't sign any form. I just started attending and I just became part of the church band and nobody, people didn't really notice because there were a lot of non-boys, so they didn't really notice my addition to the band, but it got to a point where every Sunday they would play they always just play one genre of music, which was high life every Sunday, and every Sunday after the service choir would meet and they will have a meeting and talk about like how the performance was, what they can do to improve what they're playing next sunday, when is when the next rehearsal will be? And, uh, the band leader was speaking and, um, he asked the question I think he was asking for like suggestions and stuff, and then I raised my hand and I stood up to speak and I said at first, when he asked me to speak, there was a look on his face like who's this guy? I knew he couldn't. I've never seen him before, I've never seen his face yet.
Chopstix:So I was like yo, we always play High Life every Sunday. Why don't we try other genres of music, like Calypso, of music like calypso, like I feel like just something. I was like reggae, you know. And then he was like wait, who are you first? Um, what's your name? So I told him my name. It's like when did you join this band? Um, he wasn't asking some questions like if I, if I signed the official form or if I paid the fee to join, like, like how are you here? Why? Who allowed you in? And then I got kicked out of the band you know I would have shut my mouth up.
Chopstix:I'll just be there learning what I need to learn, you know. But I got kicked out of the church band and then, um, but luckily for me, at the time when that was happening, my, I was in a secondary school, uh, san marumba college. You know, I was about to end going to san marumba college and the new principal then that didn't, because when I was like a couple of months after I joined, after I joined, um enrolled, we got a new principal who was like a brother and father and he was like a music lover. You know, I was so lucky and he built us a studio. He built a studio in the school. So, and then through the studio, we created a.
Chopstix:They created a music and drama club in the school. So I joined the music and drama club in the school. So I joined the music and drama club. And the story of how I joined the music and drama club is another different story. But to cut it short, every Friday in Semarumba at the time, we have what we call Labor Day, where they make you come to school with cutlass and brooms Cut grass yeah.
Chopstix:Yeah, you cut grass and you clean the school and do all that. You know shenanigans and obviously our seniors in the time would bully us, would flog us and you know, just treat us badly. So my escape was music. You know, the way to escape all that bullying and flogging was every Friday was our rehearsal. You know what? Just happened that God just made it that every Friday after school, when we're supposed to be doing, doing label. That was when the music and drama you know rehearsals were happening so.
Chopstix:I joined. I joined the music club in school and started, you know, rehearsing again, but this time around I wasn't playing the keyboard, I was playing the bass guitar. So our principal had built us a school, a studio. I didn't. We had a live studio and a digital studio. I didn't know about the digital studio because they never let they never, ever let any of the students go in there to record. So um p square were my like three years senior at the time, or two years senior at the time in that school, so they always used to rehearse in the studio.
Chopstix:So sometimes we'll go to watch them rehearse, or, you know, just sit sitting and, just, you know, learn one or two things. So one day, while I was uh, I think I went to rehearsals early, I got, I got in the room before anyone else came in there. I was just setting up like the instrument and so I could hear music from the next room, the digital studio. No one had ever gone into that room. I never even cared to even know what was going on there. So I was wondering if there was another live studio in there, if we had to see this. So I peeped All this, while I used to think that was like a room, like a guest room or something. So I opened the door and I just peeped through the door and I saw someone like an older guy sitting in front of a computer with two speakers. In front of him had a mixer you know sets and keyboard, two speakers in front of him had a mixer you know sets and keyboard and he was programming music by himself Drums, snares, keyboard, whatever. And I used to think to myself at the time like to program music, to make music, to produce music, you need to gather all the instrumentalists in one room and record them. That was the idea I had of how music was created, you know, and you know. And I just saw this man doing this same thing all by himself. So, and then he looked back and saw me peek him. Luckily for me, he didn't chase me away, he just told me oh, come inside, come in and close the door. So I came in, closed the door and sat behind him. I was just watching him work. I was just in so much awe, you know.
Chopstix:And before then I had graduated from the previous school that I transferred from as the best computer student. I came out best computer student, best art student, so I knew a lot about computers, you know. So he was explaining the softwares for me and, like this is free to live, this is what I used to produce, I'm just programming the drones and blah, blah, blah. He explained it to me and he gave me a free copy of the software Free To Loops 3 at the time and burnt it on a CD for me. So I took it and took it home, took it to a friend of mine.
Chopstix:His name is Daily. He used to dance for Peace Square. It was one of their music videos that they shot in our school hall. So Daily was my best friend at the time. We were in same class, same school together. So I told the software to him and told him yo, this software is magic. Basically, you know, most times whenever we get like software to install, it's usually like games, like PC games, that we install and play. You know. But this time around.
Chopstix:This is like a music production software. It's new, brand new stuff, you know. And then his mom. I didn't have a computer system at the time. His mom had a computer in his room, in her room, in their house, and his mom was a lecturer. So what we'll do is whenever we close from school, we would rush home to get home early before the mom gets back home. So we'll get home, break. It broke into the mom's room, installed the software on her computer and we both started just figuring, just self-teaching out, just figuring it out, you know, just rehearsing, wait would you be like timing?
Noble:okay, she's going to come back at this time, so let's go at this time.
Chopstix:Yeah, his brother would literally, you know, watch out for us and be at the window Immediately. He sights a car coming from a distance. We shut everything down and close the door and then go to the city and just be watching you know, movies or something whatever, just play video games, whatever we do as kids and then she would come in, she wouldn't suspect anything. So we kept doing that for months. It got to a point where my interest kept growing. You know, he just figured that this guy's interested in this thing and we're getting better and he just left it for me. He just left it for me. He was a dancer and that was what he was focusing on at the time. So I kept rehearsing. But I figured this wasn't sustainable. You know, just sneak and sneaking into my friend's mom's room and, you know, learning free-to-lose. It wasn't a sustainable method. So I went back home, told my mom about it.
Chopstix:Then I was already making art myself and I was able to get some some extra funds from my mom and I added, added it to what I had and I built my, my first computer set that I had. So I just I just got the case, got a motherboard, got ram, got hard drives. I just pieced it together. So I bought it gradually, though, and when I had the complete system, I pieced it together and built my first studio. You know, and um, that was when I had the liberty to just start creating. So I would come back from school, I wouldn't go anywhere, I would just be in my room just making noise, banging, you know, just banging out beats, and my room was literally opposite my mom's room. You know, luckily for me, she was like she was a supportive parent. You know, she wouldn't come and complain that I was making noise. Sometimes she would even come in the room and sit with me and be like, because she was amazed to see what I was doing. Like, what is this? What is like? Explain it to me, what's going on?
Noble:Is that because she was hearing your raps on the tapes, like the ones that you were?
Chopstix:Yeah, she knew about that before then, Although she used to complain destroying our tapes, but after a while she stopped complaining. She would just, she would just buy new ones and replace it. You know, yeah. So she, as soon as she saw that I was, you know, taking it serious, before I even bought the computer system, she had bought me and my brother a. There's this toy at the time. It's like a keyboard that has a mic attached to it.
Chopstix:So the keyboard the piano keyboard that you just press and it makes sounds and stuff. So we had all that and she was just in awe, man, you know. So I kept making art, you know, kept making money, and I kept upgrading my computer. At some point I was able to buy those two small, small studio speakers. I didn't have a speaker at the time, I just had headphones, or I had, there was this. I took speakers out of like you headphones or, um, I had, um, there was this. I took speakers out of like, you know, car speakers from like car doors. I was very hands-on at the time, so I took those doors and connected it to the system so I could hear the sounds better, better, you know. So it kept working. And then, um, yeah, I just what I would do is I would listen to my favorite producers at the time, which was Timbaland and J Dilla and DJ Premier, and I would try to recreate their music, you know, try to recreate it as close as possible as I can. So I kept doing that as practice, kept doing that for like months, you know years, and you know, and after a while I would meet friends with similar, you know, taste in, you know, in a hobby, and so I met a friend of mine, efe, who's late now, and he came to my house once and he heard my beats. He was like yo, bro, you're really good at this thing. He was a music head the way. He was a hip hop head. He had racks and racks and racks and racks of albums so he would bring them to my house. He'd be like yo, you need to listen to this album, you need to see. He put me on a lot more music and a lot more you know genres of music and rap. So that helped expand my knowledge of beat making, you know, and thanks to him as well.
Chopstix:But I had one problem I couldn't get my sound to sound as good as what I was listening to in those CDs and those tapes. So I figured the reason was because I wasn't using sound. I didn't have sound packs, I didn't have sample packs like drum packs, snares and stuff. So what I started doing is I would listen to, I would listen to their music and just listen for where a snare sound stands on its own or a kickstands on its own and I would chop that part out and save it as one sample. So I did that for all the albums that I had, that he had sent to me.
Chopstix:You know, I kept doing that until I had a library of sound that I had created for myself, you know, and that was how my that was the genesis. I didn't even know I was doing at the time, I didn't even know I was in at the time, I didn't even know it was called something. That was the genesis of my, of my career as a sampling producer, you know. Yeah, after a while, um, uh, I got admission into abu zarya and johnny continued you said you, you would chop that part out.
Noble:Is that the? Was that the origin of your name? Chopsticks? Yeah, chopper, that was how Chopper came about.
Chopstix:Okay so it was even Chopper. It wasn't Chopsticks, it was Chopper like C-H-O-P-P-E-R.
Noble:Yeah.
Chopstix:Like someone that chops. Yeah so, and then he just graduated from Chopper to Chopsticks. That was another story for another day.
Chopstix:But yeah so, then I got admission, I admitted into um abuser this was after I graduated from samaramba college, got admitted into abu university of abu um amanda billy university, and that was when I started continuing to study in arts painting, drawing and stuff and I linked up with other people music lovers, lovers in school and we had um. There's this thing we do every Friday. It's called um Cypher, cypher sessions. So in my department we have like a section of the department as like a garden.
Noble:So it's called a sculpture garden.
Chopstix:Yeah, in the garden it's just a garden with sculptures in there and it's like a. It's like a chill place where people just come and chill and just, you know, chill daytime, even at nighttime. Some guys go there with their girlfriends and just chill and have a good time. You get me.
Chopstix:Yeah so we do that every Friday and then I used to go there and just rap, you know, and just form like a circle where there's like a bunch of people listening to you and you're just rapping, and from there I linked up with other people who were beat makers and we just make beats and we're just growing, basically just, you know, expanding, and I would graduate from ABU and while all this was happening I was also I also linked up with Ice Springs back in Jaws. This is while I was still in school, Linked up with Ice Springs through Abuchi Abuchi, who is currently the CEO of Chocolate City, and Abuchi at the time was a sound engineer. So I linked up with Abuchi because I wanted to do a session with him in their studio in our house at the time Because we wanted to record an artist that I was working with. That I met through Efe, who was the guy that gave me all those CDs to listen to.
Chopstix:So we went to their studio to record and I met Ice Springs through there. Ice Springs heard my music and fell in love with it, you know, and that that's we've connected from then till now. We've just connected and it's just been instant connection and friendship since then. And yeah, I don't know if I should, it's a longer story, but no, no no, I'm focused was that when you?
Noble:is that, when you guys like, worked on the Aboki? No, no.
Chopstix:Ab Is that when you guys like worked on the Aboki? No, no, aboki didn't happen until like even a couple of years after we met, because I was still in uni.
Noble:Oh, okay, okay.
Chopstix:Aboki happened after I graduated, after I left uni, after I graduated from uni and moved to Lagos. Yes, I moved to Lagos in 2012, december and even first year after I even moved to Lagos, I wasn't producing music, I wasn't making anything, I was just learning, I was just studying. You know the industry in Lagos. It's a different industry. Back in Jaws we're big stars. We had songs on no radio number one songs for weeks and we're already big stars.
Speaker 3:But you can't be a big star in a small city.
Chopstix:If you want to do things and grow your career, you have to move out and just go conquer the world. You get me so um. So do you still write? Do you still like rap? No, I don't rap anymore, sometimes in a session. If I'm in a session with an artist and they need help writing, I also kind of like help contribute as well sometimes.
Noble:Okay.
Chopstix:Okay as well sometimes. Okay, okay, I, I stopped. I stopped rapping because I figured I just enjoyed making, I enjoyed producing more than I did rapping because I don't love to do. What you know comes from within, where you know why I can enjoy it. You get me. I don't want to be rapping because it's just cool, because I want to sing cool. Nah, you know, I want to do it because I actually love doing it. Yeah, you get me yeah, no, definitely, definitely.
Noble:So it seems like your journey is like has the theme of curiosity right, like initially, just like I'm very like curious, like I saw this guy in this room doing this thing, um, and I want to learn it, um, and from curiosity to, okay, you're building your own thing, right, like your own studio, your own setup at home, to okay, like working with you know some of these artists right. So it's just it seems like curiosity building and then collaboration building and then collaboration. So one of the songs right that, um, a lot of people uh know you for producing is last last with bonoboy, right, um, what was the process of making that record like? Because, like, what was the process of like sampling that first of all, um, and making it?
Chopstix:so, um, first of all, that's that song just allowed me to show my sorry, my um original uh product music production skills, which was something you know. So that was that was me in my my elements. You get me just doing my thing, full cycle moment yeah, exactly, just from.
Chopstix:That was how I started and that was, you know, it just came back all the way. But it was Bernard's idea to sample the song. You know, it was his idea that he came up with the idea. Oh, I want to sample this song. So it just happened that he was speaking to the right person, which is me, and he just let me do my thing in production wise, and he did his thing um writing lyric writing wise. And it happened that while I was producing, he was already, you know, churning out ideas. He was ready to record even before the beat was done. If he had already laid out his lyrics, I had recorded his vocals before I, before I could finish the beat was done. If he had already laid out his lyrics, I had recorded his vocals before I could finish the beat that's how so that means you were adjusting, like as you were making it.
Noble:You were making it with the context making it around his vocals, yeah, just dueling around his vocals.
Chopstix:Yeah, and usually that's how I enjoy to make music with artists, rather than just send them beats and let them do their thing. I do that as well, but it's better when an artist has an impute in the entire process and when you build the music around them, around their vocals. Because as you're learning, as you're learning instruments you like the kicks, melodies, whatever the vocals is part of the instruments you're playing, so you have to.
Chopstix:The vocals are like an instrument as well you know, um, sometimes I like to send artists and finish beats, you know, and whenever they lay their vocals I'll finish writing. Then I finish the music over, you know, over their vocals. But it just happened that two of the 12 songs, two of some songs that I produced that are not finished, got released, you know. So, you know, before I could, yeah, before I could explain to the artists that, oh shit, this beat is not done, let me finish what they had already prepared and released it. You know, and, and funny enough, those two tracks now actually doing really, really, really good, you know, one got placed in the movie, the other one just won a grammy what was the?
Noble:what was the?
Chopstix:one that got placed in the movie London Town by Mr Easy by Mr Easy.
Noble:okay, and then the Grammy one is Nightmares yeah, Nightmares with Chris Burnham and Byron Missard okay, okay. So what was working with Burnham like, especially like studio energy, like collaboration, like what was that? What was that like?
Chopstix:I mean. So before I even started working with him, I I used to. I I usually choose who I want to work with because I believe as a producer, you can't produce every artist and as an artist you can't work with every producer. You have to to, just you have to move or align with people who align with your type of sound. You know, and align with people who you know that if you collaborate with, even if it's a different sound, wherever you guys are going to birth would be something amazing. You know so and you should be able to at least tell to a certain extent if I'm, if I work with this person because you know their sound, you know for a fact that you guys are going to make something amazing. Yeah, and also because I was lucky enough to just have artists I already work with. I was working with Ice Prince, I was working MI Young L NDR like I already have had a handful of artists that I was building with, you know. And then I met Bonaboy through Ice Prince.
Chopstix:Um, there was a song with Dave. The song was called Gimme that and I think it was. It was supposed to get it caught. It was supposed to make it to Ice Prince's album and he needed a verse and I think he had done a verse with Wanda Cole, but he was trying to get Wanda Cole to finish the verse or something. I don't know if W it wasn't available at the time and we're closing, we're closing up to the deadline of the album release, so we just had to do something. So he hit up burner boy and burner came through, came to the studio, heard the record, just did a one take and killed it. You know, and that's how that record happened and that was how I met burner boy and we just connected. Since from there, you know, and next time I met him, we're in the studio together working and we made um, the first song we made together, I think the first official song that we made that got released. It was his rock star and then from there we just started. We just started working, you know, but it's been amazing.
Chopstix:He's a very, he's a very, very versatile, also very, very talented. I don't, I really don't. I don't even think people have seen the extent of his versatility yet. You know, he might, he might just be keeping it cool and just keeping it. You know, let me just keep it commercial. But yeah, it's just what it is. But I've seen. I've seen what that guy is capable of like. I've seen what he's you know what he can do musically, and it's amazing just goes without saying.
Noble:Yeah, I mean, I'm hoping, I'm hoping we get to see that versatility, more of it soon.
Chopstix:I think it's good he's like he's unleashing it gradually, you know, gradually it's a gradual thing, but it might be overwhelming if you just, you know, come come at you guys like that yeah yeah, I feel, I feel.
Noble:And then you know nightmares. That was on you know the the grammy winning um album. What was making that song like? Because you know, byron um was on that song and when I, when I, when I listened to the song, it sounds similar to tal Taliban, which Byron was on as well. So was there any like inspiration from that?
Chopstix:Yeah, yeah, it was every song that I feel even thinking about it now. Every song that I've created and we've put out there is always very intentional. I'm always very, very intentional with my music. So the song I created this song with Hayley. Hayley is a UK artist used to be part of a team group called Western.
Chopstix:I don't know if you know them, but is it? No, I'm not familiar, okay, so Western is a UK based group and Hayley is a UK based artist, very talented, one of the. He's actually one of the most talented artists I've worked with. You know, I'm a fan of his music as well, and I've always wanted to work with him, or the group, you know so I, which I eventually did. And then, um, this was Nightmare came about, me just doing, just working with him, and we created Nightmare Nightmares and Chris Brown heard it and cut the record you know and go by our Messiah to do a verse on it.
Chopstix:you didn't meet with Chris Cripton, one-on-one I never met with him because I was supposed to fly to Jamaica to do a writing camp with them but, being a Nigerian, with visa issues oh my God, that's sad dude.
Noble:I feel that yeah.
Chopstix:My visa came out late and by the time I had my visa the camp was already done and over with. So that opportunity left, which is another thing I need to even speak about some maybe some other time, but there has to be a solution to this visa thing for nigerian creatives yeah and yeah my music has gone to the, to every ends of the world, to places that I've never even been, you know know places that I might, you know, but for you, as a creative, to go there, as a Nigerian creative, to go to even some African countries, is difficult.
Noble:It's a challenge, you know, and we need to find, we need to just figure that shit out, just find a way around it or just figure out a solution, a permanent solution to that you know because, submission to that, you know, because I think there was this, this country I don't know um is iti, don't know if it's rwanda or kenya or I don't remember the exact country, but there was a, I think one or two african countries that uh rolling out this initiative where, like you know, basically as long as you have an african like like you're from, an african country yeah, you can.
Noble:you can visit the country like you don't need a visa. So visa-free entry, yeah, a lot of African countries.
Chopstix:Yeah, I think Kenya has done that now. Ghana has done that now as well. Yeah, A few, a few African countries are opening up their country to the rest of Africa which is how I see it.
Speaker 3:To be honest, yeah, and then all the countries in africa are states.
Chopstix:That's how it should be, you know. We should be open, we should be allow each other, we should collaborate, we should connect with each other and just grow as africans, because that way you bring.
Noble:It's almost like collaboration, like you said, like it's a power in numbers, because Africa is like 1.4 billion people, exactly, compared to like 100 million here, 5 million here, 10 million. So, yeah, okay. And so how did you feel when you found out that that song, nightmares, won a Grammy? Like how was like?
Chopstix:It felt different. It felt, I mean, it just felt I felt amazing because I've been nominated four times. That's four nominations, one win. You get me. Yeah, even the first time I was nominated. The second time I was nominated, the album that I was nominated on, which is Boner's album, didn't win, you know, but it happens, it's one of those things and you, just you don't have to feel any type of way about it, you're just grateful that you're ever nominated in the first place. You know, and at least they recognize the fact that this, this body of work, is Grammy worthy like it's. It's good enough to be in that category.
Chopstix:You get me yeah and yeah, but finally winning it on an album, on the best global R&B album, I feel like it's an icing on the cake.
Noble:It was just a blessing. Who would have expected that it would?
Chopstix:turn out that way On a Chris Brown album. Yeah, to be honest, this one I didn't see coming.
Noble:I didn't see it coming, but God has his ways of doing things, man, so okay, so you're saying you didn't see this one coming.
Chopstix:I never. I never expected it, I never expected it.
Noble:You never expected it.
Chopstix:I never. I didn't see it coming at all, at all but, I knew.
Chopstix:I knew we had a very powerful piece of body of work, because 11.11 album is such an amazing, you know, album, because the 11.11 album is such an amazing album. I don't know what Chris Brown was on, but he you can tell. I mean every piece of work he's put out, every piece of body of work that he's put out. Chris Brown is such a passionate artist that he puts so much into his work and I love to work with, I'm just glad to work with, I would love to work with those kind of artists, because that's how I work as well. Whenever I make music, I try as much as possible to put, you know, passion into what I do.
Noble:You know, and that's the reason why the music come out sounding the way it sounds, yeah, it sounds like that passion has always been there, like right from the beginning. You know of when you even like, started learning Definitely, definitely.
Noble:Yeah, you know, when it comes to producing, right, um, usually the public tends to focus more on the artist and sometimes misses, like that the artist is not moving alone, like the artist is moving with a team of people producers, dancers, you know, engineers, mixers, like all of that. So for you, like, how do you navigate that, especially when it comes to your work being recognized?
Chopstix:So, yeah, I mean for producers, it might be a bit of a challenge to get the type of visibility that you want as a music producer, because it's easy for the fans to get lost in just the superstardom of the artist, which is still fine, which is still something that you know you should be happy about. You know, sometimes you're just happy to be a part. Maybe it's just me, let me speak for myself.
Chopstix:I'm just happy to be a part of something big and I'm happy to be a major contributor of someone's success, which is going to be my success at the end of the day as well. You know so. But on the other hand, it's left for you now, as a producer who's assumed to be the backbencher, or someone that behind the scene, to just figure out how to position yourself in a way where you have the right kind of light shine on your work and on yourself as well, you know. But also, at the same time, you have to give it time, because I didn't start shouting or blowing my horn when I started. You know. I knew for a fact that if I, you know, if I did my work, if I show up and do a good job and just keep doing that, after a while the work is going to speak for itself. You, I wouldn't have to say anything. I would have to come out today and say, oh, I'm the best producer, I'm the day like. The work is going to speak for itself. You know people, yeah, whoever hears that work and wants that quality of work will look for who. Who's done that work, you know, and and that's how it usually happens they find me, you know.
Chopstix:And but I, I can understand when producers struggle to get visibility or to even have the right type of credits assigned to them. And it's been that way globally for so long that even certain artists don't care about crediting producers properly in the proper way. Once the music is done, once everything is done, we're good, let's keep it moving. You know they don't care about. You know credit properly crediting the people who are involved in the creative process, the writers, the producers and everything else. You know the artist is as much of a piece of the puzzle as as everyone else who's on that body of work or on the project yeah, yeah, no, definitely, definitely.
Noble:And so, with that, like, what would you say to producers who are just starting in terms of advice on how they should approach their careers?
Chopstix:Yeah, I would say just don't be in a hurry, you know, just take your time and look at me here today. Now I'm a Grammy winning producer, but how I started, I didn't. I didn't start to, I didn't, I didn't start off going to look and look for a Grammy. I just started off just making what I love, just just making music and making what keeps me happy. You know, I'm just, I'm just making music anyways, just making it at the best way that I can make it. You know, and you have to be patient with yourself and you have to discover yourself before april. I always say that just discover yourself before you present yourself, you know, because if you present yourself too early, the market is just going to eat you up. You get lost in the noise. You know, the music industry is not, it's not, it's no game, it's not where you come and just play games and do whatever you want and go. If you enter, anyhow, you, that's how you leave, anyhow, you have to, you have to know exactly what you're doing.
Chopstix:Yeah, yeah, give yourself time, grow yourself, make sure you, because how it is is it's like a ring, it's like a boxing ring. Yeah, you see, maybe let's say you see four people in a boxing ring boxing like you know, going at each other, and you're outside the ring watching and you're like I want to get in there, I want to get in there. But you're saying you want to get in there, but are you rehearsing? Do you have your gloves on? Because once you get in that ring you're fighting, you're ready. Like no one is going to say gloves on, let me, let me be, let me be a lenient, or let me? Oh, you don't have your boxing shoes on now. You're in the ring, you're here to box, that's it. You know it was you have to play the game for in there.
Chopstix:So you have to give yourself time to prepare and be ready for the music industry, just be ready for the market before you get in there, you know. So just be patient with yourself, grow, find someone, even if it's not a big artist, just find an artist artist. It might be your friend, you know it might be. If your friend who's talented, who can sing, start working with them, grow with them. Build your sound with them. You know they might even turn out to be successful artists tomorrow and be big and win awards and you can be proud to say that's someone you've grown and built. You know something with. You know, and that's on the producer side. On the thing with you know, and that's on the producer side. On the artist side, do the same thing. Find a producer. He's a young guy, he might not make the best beats.
Chopstix:Now, you know, because even me, when I was coming up, when I linked up with young l, the first set of beats that I sent to him, he didn't like it. He told me to my face, bro, this, this thing is whack, your beats are whack. And that's young girl who's one of my best friends now, who's who I'm still making music with today. But but when he told me that I didn't take it personally, I didn't feel depressed or take it personally. The kind of person I am is, if you tell me my music is whack, I'll go back. I know when I'm hearing constructive criticism and I know when someone is just being an idiot. But I knew that I had more work to do, so I just went back and got better. And the next time I met with him the cd that I gave him that had my beats he recorded everything, all the beats, on there, and that's why we just became friends and we linked.
Chopstix:I just appreciate the fact that he was honest with you, know his views and I've been like that with him as well. Whenever he sends me stuff, I can tell him now this is not good, okay, this is good, like we are very, very honest and truthful with each other that way just you know.
Chopstix:So find a producer. He might never make the best beat now, but learn to, just learn to grow. You know that's the best way. That's the best way to to even perfect your skills. Just grow and master your art. Grow. We learn to grow with people. You know you can't grow alone. You can. You might be. You might never be an artist, maybe another producer. Let's let's grow and connect with people and just grow together, you know that was the best way.
Noble:So you mentioned discovering yourself before presenting yourself. How do you, how do you balance that?
Noble:um, especially when it comes to like, because right now, at least, when it comes to content creation, right yeah I have heard, heard different people have different thoughts on this, but I've heard people say you know, just start now and then you evolve as you go and then you, you know, just put yourself out there and then, as you're learning, you're tweaking and with each video, with each, whatever thing you're doing, you're improving. So how do you balance like discovering yourself before presenting yourself, before presenting yourself, versus presenting yourself and discovering at the same time?
Chopstix:Yeah, when people tell you start now, whoever is telling you start now, they know why they're telling you that they can see that you've like say, for example now I've never made music in my life before. I just want to start making music now. I can't just jump into making music and releasing music now. At least I have to start somewhere. Make music, I know I might never, I might never release, but just practice first. You know, it's like saying I want to become a a race car driver tomorrow. Now I can't just go and buy a sport car tomorrow and go and join the race car. I will crash. I have to learn how to drive the car first, you know.
Chopstix:So imagine you've learned how to drive a car. You you're just driving and someone who knows that you can actually drive. But you might not be really, you might not be the best driver yet, but at least you have some skill. You can drive. You know that person will tell you your stats, you know. So you, you would at least have some level of skill before you can now join a market and now start learning on the job and growing yourself and just be developing and getting better. It doesn't mean that you should just wake up one morning and be like I want to be an artist, and then the first song you record in the studio is the song you want to go and release as your first single.
Chopstix:Now me personally, I wouldn't advise that.
Noble:Yeah.
Chopstix:Just train yourself, you know, because the moment you step out there, everyone in the market is your competition, you know, that's who you're going against.
Chopstix:Everyone that's in your field, you know, and no one is going to look at you like you're a newcomer. No, because someone who just started today can blow up tomorrow and become the biggest artist tomorrow True, quicker than someone who's been there for 12 years. You know. So time, the way time works in the music industry, is almost unrealistic. You have to, you know, grow your skill to some extent before you get into the market.
Noble:Okay, no, definitely, definitely. And for you, having been in the industry for a while, what is your biggest career goal, um, and have you, have you reached it yet?
Chopstix:no, I haven't. My biggest career goal, funny enough, has nothing to do with winning anything in music. The grammy is is a blessing. To be honest, I'm never gonna lie, it's a blessing, but that's that's not even the goal. That's not goal. My goal is to be able to get to the point where I have enough resources to be able to create opportunities for people like myself, to have more than enough resources, you know, just to be able to make things possible, just create possibilities for young and upcoming artists, producers, just all creatives all around.
Chopstix:Yeah, because I'm an all-around creative and I know what the struggle is. I know how I was able to. I know what I went through juggling music production, being in school, making art. I was juggling all that. Sometimes I would travel from school back to Jaws, travel from Jaws back to Lagos, all by myself. You know, looking for money, trying to raise money, is a difficult, is a hard struggle and there's a lot of things that you would have to miss out on as a young kid who just has an ambition, you know. But if the luck I had was someone else created the opportunity for me, built us a studio in school and I was able to have a studio I was able to learn. Imagine that opportunity never happened. It might have been a longer journey for me. So I just want to be able to have enough resources to create those opportunities. Once I'm able to do that, then I can say, okay, cool, I've achieved one of my goals because I have various goals, and so those opportunities would look like.
Noble:you know studios, you know being able to have access to equipment, studios, things like that, yeah, that it will be more than that.
Chopstix:That will be within that. That will be one of the things that would be within, you know, that one opportunity. But you know also, you know, just being just because, not just having studios, just being able to, like, speak to young talents and just reorientate them, give them a different orientation of what the music industry is, because the perception they have or the idea they have of what the music industry is is really not what it is. You know, because most people just feel, if I just drop on something today, I will blow up. It doesn't work that way. It does't work that way. It doesn't work that way.
Chopstix:Consistency over time yeah, there's a reality to how the music business works and a lot of times it takes years, it takes experience to be able to fully understand it and say, okay, cool, now I understand how this thing works. If I release music, sometimes you wonder why an artist is not releasing music. Why is this person not releasing music? But to release music costs money, because it's business. It costs a lot of money.
Chopstix:Sometimes the artist is signed, it has to go through there's stages, there's just. There's just. There's ways. There's um, there's uh. There's this, there's ways these things work and it just doesn't. I can assure you it just doesn't work how people think it works, especially people who are not in the music industry. It just doesn't work that way, you know. That's the reason why a lot of artists, young artists, get in the music industry with that perception of how the music industry works, get in there and then get into trouble where you guys sign a terrible deal, or because I've signed terrible deals in the past myself- sign a terrible deal or get involved with you know people who you shouldn't in, with the wrong orientation, yeah, so imagine you're going into a business with the right orientation and the right knowledge.
Chopstix:You know it will just help you navigate better and make your path to success a bit more easier and just smarter and better.
Noble:Yeah, no, definitely, definitely. Let's talk more about the industry as it relates to like international, like collaborations. So in 2023, vivo mentioned that there's a 56% increase in global views of Afrobeats and Amapiano videos and I think 61% of that came from audiences outside of Africa. So there's no doubt that Afrobeats is taking over the world as a genre. So, for you, how do you approach those kinds, those collaborations, when you're making sounds that like cut across cultures? And the reason I ask that is because I know you mentioned that for you, when you're making music or listening to music, like you see, I watched one of your videos where you said like you see, like you see, like it, like it's yeah, yeah, if it's too busy if it's too busy, you start to lose, so like when it becomes noise.
Noble:Yeah, yeah, when you're trying to blend cultural sounds like, how do you maintain that simplicity? That's the question okay.
Chopstix:So basically, I just take elements, elements that stand out in various genres, like Like, let's say, for example, if you're trying to merge R&B and Afro beats, for example, there's elements in R&B that stand out you know, that is undeniable which is the melody. R&b is just melody, it's just music, you know, and that's what a lot of people are doing right now. And Afro beats groove. It does happy vibes, it's yeah, it's the, it's the groove in our drums and in our, you know, in our, in our rhythm. You know, if you're able to merge those two elements together, you're obviously going to have, if your outcome is going to be amazing, you know. So that's basically what I do. I just take elements in each genre or in any culture or whatever I'm trying to fuse, just take elements that stand out, the most prominent elements that stand out. You know, and that's why I merge and create what I create. So it's. I mean, at first it wouldn't be easy, but over a while it's just practice.
Chopstix:After a while. You already know, you just do it. You know it's like second nature to you. You just you already. If you're working with an artist from, let's say, russia, for example, because you've listened to their music, once you listen to their music, or if you're a fan of their music or whatever you will know exactly what to pick from their sound, what they resonate with the most in their music. You know how to pick that and merge it with what we resonate with the most in our music. That way, what you create would be a song or a sound that both countries resonate with, and that's a larger audience. Yeah, so that's how it works.
Noble:Yeah, no, definitely so, picking elements that stand out from each and bringing it together to connect with, okay, a very larger audience.
Noble:Yeah, and so where do you, where do you see afro beats um as a genre going in the next 10 years? Well, yeah, I'm also asking that because I had a conversation with Obi Asika and he mentioned that Nigerian artists are probably leaving billions of dollars on the table by. Well, I don't know if it's billions of dollars or naira probably naira but on the table by. Well, I don't know it's billions of dollars or naira, probably naira, but on the table by. Like, not like focusing on touring within the country in africa, within nigeria.
Chopstix:Yes, yeah, yeah. So what are your thoughts on that? Okay, so I'll answer two questions. The first one where I see afro beats going. Afro beats is just gonna keep evolving.
Chopstix:It's not it's because I hear people saying afro beta is dying, is dead. Keep evolving. It's not because I hear people saying Afrobeats is dying, it's dead. People are not. It's not dying, it's just evolving, because Afrobeats is one of the only genres of music that's easily fused with any other genre of music. That's a gift that we have. That's, that's a blessing.
Chopstix:You can fuse Afrobeats with any, any. If, if, say, for example, if k-pop start popping tomorrow is like the biggest genre tomorrow, afrobeat is still going to be there, right beside it. It's not. It's not going to die or out, shine or whatever. It's going to be there because you can also fuse afrobeat with it. So you just keep see what's happening now with amapiano. Amapiano is one of the biggest genres now in the world, but afrobeat is still there. It doesn't mean that afrobeat is not, it's gone. In fact, afrobeat has somehow fused itself with ama piano. When now nigerians are making ama piano music, ama piano, afrobeat music. You know fusion. So it will just keep fusing. It will just keep fusing. I can just keep evolving. That's what's going to happen to afrobeat. Afrobeat is here to stay forever.
Chopstix:That's how I see it and then, in terms of touring, yes, in terms of touring, I think one of the reasons why we're missing out on a lot of money that we've been making as musicians as African musicians or Nigerian musicians is the fact that most of the big artists that we have in Nigeria are signed to foreign labels. You know, and even if they're signed to Nigerian owned labels, those Nigerian owned labels, those nigerian owned labels, are subsidiaries of a bigger international label yeah, so whenever the chocolate city is chocolate city, a subsidiary of universal oil, is that?
Noble:I think it's one of music now oh what?
Chopstix:oh sorry, one at one at yeah yeah, one of music, yeah, so, and most of these labels have their funding coming through these bigger labels. And if you I mean if, if I'm funding you, I have to tell you what to do. You have to bend to certain rules that I have. Now, if an artist who is signed to any of these labels is supposed to go on tour, obviously the tour is going to be centered around they titled it World Tour and then you check the venues of the tours and the cities of the tours and all American cities or all European cities. There's no African city in the tour. I don't really think that's a world tour, that's just a tour. You're just going on a, just say you're going on a European tour or an American tour.
Chopstix:So they failed to realize that Africa is actually really big. Africa is so big, it's probably one of the second largest continents in the world. It's bigger than you know in terms of even land size, country size. You get me If we have liberals in Nigeria or in Africa that are funded by Africans and Nigerians, that are not subsidiary of any international labels, just independent labels, or just labels that are Nigerian-owned, african-owned and African-funded, african-nigerian-funded, I feel like if those type of labels have enough resources to send an artist on tour's when african tours will start happening. That's what you see, I'm just touring. It might even be a nigerian thing. It might start from nigeria myself, from anywhere, say, for example. It starts from nigeria if a nigerian artist does. I.
Chopstix:I've never heard of a nigerian artist that that tours it at six states in nigeria, because I've never heard of it yeah never, you know, but mean there might be a lot of other factors that might be hindering that, but it's doable, it's not impossible. You get me so, but imagine that happening. That's going to be. That's a lot of money to be made, that's a lot of opportunities to be created. That's a lot of jobs to be created for people. You know, just touring around Nigeria. So imagine just touring around Africa as a continent.
Chopstix:Yeah, it's a bro. You would literally have European and and and and American artists come to tour in Africa. They've already started coming to do shows in South Africa and whatever. But imagine touring Africa as a continent. You know that is a lot of money. We're large in numbers, we. It's a lot of money, we're large in numbers, we're, we're, we're a spending. Uh, people like we would, people would come out like people would like you would. There's a lot of money to be made. So we're literally, we're definitely missing out on that, on that on the angle, but I think that's the major reason. The major reason is because most international labels, you know, and even if they're signed to Nigerian labels, those labels are still subsidiaries of international labels.
Noble:Yeah, do you see that changing anytime soon? Like, do you see a wave of like, maybe more independent, local-owned labels?
Chopstix:I mean, it's just a matter of time. Okay, yeah, it's just a matter of time. It just takes the problem. One of the biggest challenges we've had with Nigerian investors Nigerian music investors is the fact that I feel like a lot of people, a lot of investors, who put money into Nigerian music might not really get the full scope of what they're investing in. They just understand music from, maybe from a certain angle. But if they understand the full scoop 360 scoop of what they are, the opportunity there it has in front of them, they will know what they're doing. Yeah, it just takes one person to make that change and everyone else is going to see that opportunity and see that loophole and just start putting money in there. Yeah, you know. But yeah, it's just a matter of time, it's gonna happen. It will stay up on one day, it's just a matter of time. Yeah, you know where we're, how we're going.
Noble:That? That? That actually makes me think of something that does happen recently, because, um, so, you know USAID, right? Um, you know a US organization that funds, like, projects across yeah, yeah, and I think in 2023 alone, they funded about $40 billion worth of projects around the world, and recently they decided to shut down the agency, which means like that's approximately no funding approximately $40 billion a year that is gone, typically go to countries around the world not receiving it anymore.
Noble:And I think I know a company in nigeria that was significantly impacted, like close to a million dollars impacted, um, by that. And so I'm just thinking, like, when it comes to relying on foreign investment and aid, like it's not as secure as we think it is.
Chopstix:It's not and it's not sustainable because yeah whoever anybody is giving you money, nobody gives money, anybody money, for free. Nobody gives anybody money without an alternative, you know, and and um, without a uh, ulterior motive, even if he's, even if he's presented as oh, it's just business, you, I'm investing, you make. Anyone who's giving you money wants something that you have, you know. So we need to start figuring out a way to generate our own money and we can do this.
Chopstix:It's not something that we cannot do. I mean, the reason why they're giving us the money is because we can. We were able to generate it back, but we're not generating it into our system, we're generating it out of our system. Yeah, we pay, yeah, but we need to learn how to start generating, you know, inwardly, just to generate funds and grow from the inside out. I think that's the only way, because once that start happening, you, you wouldn't need to look anywhere else to get funds. You, you now start, you'll be able to call your own shots for yourself. You know, because if someone is giving you money, they have to call your shots because you need to protect their money as well yeah, and they could cut, they could, they could decide to like retrieve that funding to cut the for exactly, and it could be.
Chopstix:It could be at the moment where you have a project that can change things for you for good, for the rest of the life, of your life. Yeah, that funding just just gets cut off, and what are you going to do at that time?
Noble:you know so, you see yeah, no, I yeah, it's, it's. Yeah, there's a huge need for for us to develop our own ecosystem when it comes to funding our music in very important africa as a whole, but um bro.
Noble:Okay, so we've come to. We've come to a very important segment which is, which is the rapid fire segment. Uh, okay, so how this, how this is going to work, is I will throw out a question and you answer it as quickly as you can, briefly. Let's go and then move to the next. I will just keep going, keep going till we're done, all right. So first question what project have you enjoyed the most and why?
Chopstix:I would say Juice and Sim with young l okay because it's uh. Yeah, it's just. I just had creative freedom, we just traveled and just created music from my happy place okay, okay, yeah.
Noble:And then who is one artist you have not worked with yet that you want to work with? With Jivion?
Chopstix:okay, yes, I want to dive into why I want to dive into. Why can you a little bit? I just love his, I just love his sound. Man, I'll say Jivion and Don Toliver. I just love their sound. I love how, because when I work with artists I go for how they sound, because they have a sound, not just because that they can sing. You might be able, you might have, you might, you might be, you might have the skill to sing, but you might not have a sound.
Chopstix:You get me, so I feel like they have a sound and that's what I go for okay, yeah, and then favorite your favorite genre outside of afro beats.
Noble:Uh, that would be house music, house music. Okay, why, why, house?
Chopstix:music, yeah, house and hip hop. It's just chill, man, because I'm chill guy. Chill guy and I love hip hop and sorry and dancehall, house music and dancehall actually Okay.
Noble:Yeah. So the thing about these rapid fire segments is, I end up doing rapid fire and I end up like asking.
Chopstix:He tells you about that interview? Yeah, because end up like asking he tells you about that?
Noble:interview. Yeah, because I'm like I want to know, like why you know? But, um, okay, so that's, that's the end of the rapid fire segments, not much questions. But okay, where can people find you and your work? Obviously spotify and the rest, but where can people find you? What's your handle? Spotify?
Chopstix:instagram twitter. Instagram twitter. Chopsticks c-h-o-p-s-t-i-i-i-i-x. Four eyes is anywhere you find, find me. You find you anyway. Type it in you find me. Any social media, any platform, you type that in you find me.
Noble:Also discord instagram, twitter, youtube everywhere chopsticks, so guys go and check it out. Check, check him out on all social media platforms Spotify, everything you know. I think you have a playlist called Produced by Chopsticks, so you could also find that on Spotify. Apple Music are you a Spotify Trav? Ask this are you a Spotify or Apple Music person?
Chopstix:so I used to. I used to have Apple Music, but I switched to Spotify when they finally moved to Nigeria. Okay, when they finally allowed the Nigerian thing to happen.
Noble:Yeah, but.
Chopstix:I have both. Actually, I have a Spotify and a, but I've found myself recently using Spotify more often than Apple Music. Okay, because it's just easier to navigate. It's just the way music is curated on there works for me better.
Noble:Yeah, that's with me too. Me curated on there is works for me better. Yeah, that's me too. Me too, whenever I I find a fellow spotify is I'm like yes yes, yeah, I yeah, thank you very much where I think this has been very interesting. I mean, we could keep going, but for this I want to respect your time and this has been very, very, very interesting and I've enjoyed this conversation. So thank you very much for for joining us, thank you for having me.
Chopstix:It was a pleasure speaking with you yes, sir, yes sir, peace out.
Noble:So yeah, three insights from my conversation with the grammy winning producer and the mastermind behind bonaboy's last class one 1. The African music industry must fund itself to own its future. While foreign investment in the Nigerian music industry is good and is even welcome, I think we need to explore other sources of funding. Second insight African creatives need easier visa access. The Chop 6 is the producer behind Chris Brown's Nightmares. A track on his Grammy-winning 1111 Deluxe album could've met with Chris Brown due to visa delays. This just highlights a barrier for African creatives to collaborate globally and even within the African continent. So visa-free travel within Africa, as we've seen in Kenya, could help break down some of those barriers and encourage more collaboration opportunities within the continent.
Noble:Third insight discover before representing. So the process of creativity is not just about putting stuff out there. That itself is the end result. Creativity is more so about discovering who you are as a creative, understanding why you are creating and understanding who you are creating for, whether that's across music, podcasting, anything. So if you enjoyed this segment, which I'm sure you did, share it with others, subscribe to us and let us know as well. Thank you.