DJ Klem and other musicians at the workshop

Lagos-based DJ, singer and producer, DJ Klem, last Friday, recalled his experience at the Red Bull Music Academy held in London last year. He did this when participating in a workshop organised in preparation for this year’s edition holding in Madrid, Spain.

According to him, when a friend first called his attention to a call for application for participation at the 2010 edition of the Red Bull Music Academy, he did not initially take the hint very seriously. As a member of the National Youth Service Corps then, he felt he had something to occupy him, at least, for the year. Besides, having been considerably active on the music scene in Nigeria, he probably did not feel immediately intrigued by the remote possibility the Red Bull offer exudes. He obtained the form, eventually, though.

But his passion for the offer was still largely flat. For instance, as it happens to many guys outside there, he did not fill the online application form on time. When he wanted to do so, he almost got put off by its length – it was a 15-page form with 53 questions! His slow drive was compounded by the fact that the questions were indirect ones and not the yes-no type that he could quickly answer. While he continued to dilly-dally, however, the good friend continued to file pressure on him. One could thus imagine the kind of pleasant surprise he got when he got information from the academy that he had been selected to participate at the edition held in London. The experience he got is priceless, he says.

“I met a lot of great guys from different parts of the world,” he says. “Being London, the music scene was rich and diverse. I gathered a lot of influence so that when I got back I started fusing such into my music,” he explains.

Held at Koga Entertainment Centre, Alausa, Lagos, the workshop was anchored by veteran Coll DJ Jimmy Jatt, while reigning crooner, elDee, was the lead speaker. While Jatt taught the younger artistes the need to be painstaking, persevere and share their works with experts before releasing such as albums, elDee stressed the importance of making use of the new media, and of incorporating cultural and popular musical elements into their songs.

At the end of the workshop, some of the up-and-coming folks performed to the delight of the mentors.

Fair-skinned Gee Bee – Adefolake mi Gabriel – opened the floor. The hip hop hopeful, who is also a student of the Lagos State University, Ojo opened the floor with a song that attracted applause. This was the whistle that the male participants too needed to come out in their promising colours. These included Awosika Tosin, who did R&B; Solonz – Solomon Dagat. The Hausa intonation that propelled Solonz’s particularly thrilled El Dee, who stressed the need to retain elements that gives one’s music identity.

Over the years, many artistes from different parts of the world have attended the Red Bull Music Academy held in Berlin, London and some other parts of the world. Among others, international music makers such as Matt The Alien, DJ Fashen, DJ Skip Rip, DJ Shares, DJ Sounds Supreme, DJ Psycho, DJ Mada, DJ Amen, DJ Soup, DJ Magmanimous and DJ Neil Armstrong have been part of it.

While the energy drink’s involvement in the development of art and culture in Nigeria is grounded in making participation at the Red Bull Music Academy open to the country’s artistes, its support for Felabration culminated in its featuring four major artists last year. These are ageless talent and Fela’s drummer, Tony Allen; Theo Parrish, Nneka and Amp Fiddler.