‘I want to work so hard, so much so that over time I will release albums that will get to the level of King Sunny Ade; he’s my mentor’ – Shakar El

 

The variety in music genres, style of delivery and a total mash up of various styles is what makes the industry interesting and sustaining. Fela’s Afrobeat is significant because the sound is a fusion of Highlife, Jazz, Funk and conscious message. Shina Peter’s Afrobeat also caught attention because Afrobeat was infused into Juju music. Whenever and wherever such music experimentation is happening, it’s always a welcome idea by me. This is the reason why I find Shakar El’s ‘Orishirishi Music’ appealing. It’s a mixture of Highlife, Afrobeat and Reggae spiced with a bit of Hip-Hop delivered in the Shakar Nwa Mama style.

Since 2008, Emmanuel Ezeagwa a.k.a Shakar El has been on this music journey. It has been an interesting one. He has worked across the globe with quite a number of music producers. ‘I recorded my first single “Orishirishi Swagga” in 2008. The first version of the song was produced by Mlee (he’s late now), a Nigerian student living in Cyprus. While I was trying to perfect the song, I did not do things in the proper way. That affected the sound quality. To make matter worse, the original data crashed with the producer’s PC. So, JJC came to my rescue and we reproduced and relayed the song. That was how the JJC produced version came up in 2009.’ – Shaker EL.

From that moment onward, he has released a number of songs over the years with some of the most respected producers. ‘Jangilover’ was released in 2009, produced by JJC. He also had ‘Any how’ that same year, the video of that single being his debut video. Same year, he had ‘Nzobu Nzobu.’ 2010, he released ‘Got back.’ 2011 saw the release of ‘Onyebuchim’ produced by Shizzi, then ‘Aka’ produced by Terry G. The year after, he had a song produced by Olly Jay, then in 2013, he released ‘Shimbadabo’ produced by Fliptyce. This particular song got
lots of traction; Paul Gambit directed the video in 2014. There was also ‘Ewochimoh’ ft Skales and in 2015, he had ‘Chala Chala’ produced by Young John. 2016 saw the release of ‘Shutdown’ produced by Fliptyce. This song later had a remix featuring Reminisce and Orezi. His most recent single is ‘IDP’ produced by OTYNO.

What should your audience expect from you next?

‘I am working on my album right now. I have been recording a couple of interesting songs that will stand the test of time for the album. Every song will represent something. I want my fans to experience the Shakar Nwa Mama Factor, I want them to experience my Orishirishi music. The only way I can do that is through an album and I believe it will become a success and will blow up by the grace of God. I can tell you that I have finally found my sound and style. For many years I have been trying different stuffs but I finally got that Shakar Nwa Mama Sound. I want to work so hard, so much so that over time I will release albums that will get to the level of King Sunny Ade; he’s my mentor. I don’t want to release albums filled with songs that are just mere fillers; every song in the body of work must speak volumes.’ – He concluded.

– Sesan Adeniji

Culled from Mystreetz Magazine( DJ Neptune edition)