Once upon a time, afrobeats was a genre that couldn’t survive on its own; a culture that was created by and (only) for Africans. Fast forward to 2024, this genre now boasts of a catalog of songs that include an all time number 3 spot on the Billboard’s Global 200 Chart, Grammy nominated and award winning records and a special award category at the most prestigious music award, The Grammys.
As afrobeats reaps the labour of its veterans, we boast of a handful of polished music producers; London, Kel P, Sarz and Don Jazzy to mention a few. But unfortunately, in such a mainstream space with an unending list of globally identified music producers, the women barely ever get into the necessary conversations. This is not a locally identified issue, but a global cause of concern as shown in a 2020 study carried out by the Annenberg Inclusion Initiative at the University of Southern California which stated that women represented less than 3% of credited producers of songs on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart from 2012-2019.
Irrespective of the “dominance” of their male counterparts, some accredited women have found and are finding their stance in the music industry, not just by writing and releasing hit songs but also overseeing the entire music production process. Some of these women ventured into the field owing to their interest, whilst some pivoted after facing scores of huddles as growing women in music.
Here is a list of 5 female music producers making waves in afrobeats:
Tems
Tems born Temilade Openiyi is a Nigerian singer, songwriter and record producer. She is a self-taught music producer who began honing her production skills through Youtube after facing several rejections from music producers. Her career kicked off in 2018 with the release of her debut single ‘Mr Rebel’ which she produced herself. This was followed by her debut EP ‘For Broken Ears’ which was primarily produced by her. The EP contained popular hits like ‘Try Me’ and ‘Damages’. She received wider prominence after featuring on Wizkid’s 2020 Grammy Award nominated single ‘Essence’ which was off his fourth studio album, Made In Lagos.
Dunnie
Dunnie can sell off as one of the most recognised female producers in afrobeats. She is an alumnus of The Sarz Academy, a music training program for artists, producers and creatives in the industry, instituted by award winning record producer, Sarz. Dunnie’s journey as a recording artist and music producer is an inspiring one owing to the fact that she had to face her career head on in the absence of female role models or mentors in the industry.
“For a guy who wants to be a producer, you have Sarz, Masterkraft to look up to. But for women, they do not have many women to look up to”, she said at an interview with NewswireNG.
Her impressive portfolio includes credited production with local and international artists such as Yemi Alade, Wande Coal, Busiswa, Focaslistic, Niniola amongst others. Apart from producing records for fellow artists, Dunnie’s catalog as a singer/songwriter is just as applauding. Basking with songs which have garnered millions of streams across all platforms and with features with household names like Chike and Oxlade.
Simi
Simi is popularly known as a singer/songwriter but her artistry also flows into music production and sound engineering. She is a credited producer and sound engineer on Adekunle Gold’s debut album ‘Gold’, she also anchors the production and engineering of most of her songs.
Bloody Civilian
Bloody Civilian blew off as the new artist on Black Panther soundtrack. She was profiled as ‘The Top Emerging Artist of 2023’ by several media houses. The track ‘Wake Up’ featuring Rema which was an official soundtrack for the Marvel blockbuster movie, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever was written and produced by Bloody.
Her career kicked off as a music producer before heading in fully as a recording artist in 2022 with the release of her debut single ‘How To Kill A Man’ which was written and produced by her. Her debut EP ‘Anger Management’ which contained some of her biggest hits yet like ‘I Don’t Like You’ and the former was released in 2023. The entire production credits on this EP went to Bloody Civilian.
Yimeeka
Yimeeka is a rising wave in afrobeats. But one thing that makes her a woman of potential is her spearheading the production of her songs. She recently released her eponymous sophomore project which featured singer and producer, Pheelz and all the tracks on this project were produced by her.
