Larry Gaaga: How is he making hits without actually doing anything?

Is he an artist? producer? label owner? what exactly does Larry Gaaga do? These are questions many keep asking when they see the man behind a number of bangers.

Charm, a good listening ear, a mob boss look and a strong industry network comes to mind when you think of Larry Gaaga, the man that inspired the hit single, 'Gaaga Shuffle', but who exactly is Larry Gaaga and what exactly does he do?

It is a common feature these days to hear the name 'Larry Gaaga' on a number of records, especially the ones that feature 2face Idibia.

Larry Gaaga even has a dance in his honour, one that is the inspiration behind 2face's hit song, 'Gaga Shuffle', and the bearded one has recently elevated his status, adding the 'artist' tag to his robust CV with two major hit records in 'Doe' featuring Davido and the recent 'Baba Nla' that packs a stellar cast in 2face Idibia, D'Banj and Burna Boy credited to his name.

It takes some form of music sixth sense to orchestrate songs like that or identify artists who fit on a track, something like what a DJ Khaled offers. So what exactly is Larry Gaaga's job description on a record outside the constant chant of 'bri, bang bang?'

 

A quick online check shows Larry Ndianefo, popularly known as Larry Gaaga, is an industry entrepreneur, comedian, influencer, producer, singer and business mogul with the company KL Oil and Gas linked to his name.

He also owns Gaaga Muzik, but outside these skeletal information, Larry Gaaga is as innonimate as Spiderman without the suit, a move that many say is deliberate.

My very first encounter with the name was in the 2011 hit single, 'Get Down' by Vector featuring 2face, where in his verse, 2face said, ''Keep up the spending like Larry Gaaga King eh.''

Speaking to a number of industry insiders, they establish that Gaaga has been around long before 'Gaaga Shuffle' introduced him to the public.

An affiliate of Larry who prefers to be anonymous traces Larry Gaaga's steps into the industry, ''I personally first heard about him when we needed to get 2face on Vector's 'Get Down' record,'' he says.

 

Apparently, we met through Biggie. The CEO of YSG Entertainment had met Larry and he helped us secure the feature, that was in 2010 around August.

He then formally joined YSG Entertainment as General Manager/Head of Vector's management team in February of 2011.''

He also explained how the hit song, 'Gaaga Shuffle' was created,

''Gaaga Shuffle was created when producer DaPiano was at OUK Records with a studio in Elegushi area of Lagos.

Apparently, 2face and Larry went to work on some other song then DaPiano took the opportunity to play that beat for him. The tune came out based off of a dance move Larry likes to do.

The song was actually in the studio for about eight months before it's release, because it was basically done playfully and wasn't really seen as something serious.''

 

A statement that the producer, DaPiano corroborates in a separate interview, ''So basically what happened is 2face and Gaaga came to the studio to actually record another song, so while they were in the studio, they heard the beat for 'Gaga Shuffle' and they liked the beat, and started vibing to the beat, it was so spontaneous.''

He further states that he has known Gaaga for a long time during their days working together at YSG, describing him as an interesting character.

Over the last one year, Larry Gaaga has released a number of records including 'Man No Be God' featuring Charass, 'Shoja' with Wande Cole and BaseOne and worked with DJ Neptune on 'Shawa Shawa' featuring Olamide, Slimcase and CDQ, with DaPiano hinting that a full body of work is dropping anytime soon.

''He has an EP in the works and will be releasing an album sometime in the future also,'' he added.

Larry Gaaga's gradual influence in the music scene can be attributed to one name considerably and that is 2face Idibia and the affiliate shares the story of how they met.

''Larry met Blackface through Biggie who used to run with Plantashun Boiz back in the day when he moved to Lakeview Estate Amuwo Odofin.

That led to him meeting 2face and they have been friends ever since.'' he concluded.

 

In an era where disc jockeys and producers are gravitating into earning credits as singers/performers, releasing albums without directly contributing vocally or through song-writing, Larry Gaaga is seizing an opportunity to move from behind the scenes to the front pages, making a career out of his ability to recognize a good hit record.

Larry Gaaga has an endorsement deal and recently penned a contract with Universal Records. Even though details of the contract were not exactly stated, it is a major move and he is fast proving to be able to fit in where required.

His steady rise and 'loud' presence tells a charming story of a man who doesn't need to be able to write a verse, break a vocal chord or rhyme a sixteen to dominate the scene. It is Larry Gaaga season and the 'Baba Nla' is laying a readymade template of yet another path to notable success in the music industry.