Cracker Mallo: Introducing The Saund [Pulse Interview]
Cracker Mallo tells Pulse Nigeria about producing for Tiwa Savage, Ice Prince, Olamide and new EP, 'A Friendly Introduction To Sound.'
On September 19, 2020, Nigerian producer, Cracker Mallo finally released, ‘A Friendly Introduction To Sound EP.’ This comes about a year after he mooted a body of work during a conversation with Pulse Nigeria.
“I don’t have a reason why I’m dropping this EP now, but at first I wanted to drop an album titled, ‘Saund’ in May. I thought I was done with it, but then I went for a German artist’s camp,” he says “When I came back, I thought my album wasn’t sounding dope anymore. I felt I had to work on it again.”
For Cracker, moments like that writing camp give you more insight into expansive creativity. Such environments and the camaraderie they produce infuse creatives another level of energy as well as the joy of great insight.
ALSO READ: Cracker Mallo - A Friendly Introduction To Sound [EP Review]
“I can’t even classify the kind of music we were creating in that space - it was on another level for me. We mixed Congolese music with Electronic... I also listened to ‘Mad’ by Sarz and Wurld and just changed course entirely [laughs],” he says.
Cracker notes that creatives are not an island and they need synergy to produce their best work - he’s grateful to that camp.
Catalogue or Passion?
In the past, producers were given a free pass on bodies of work. But these days, conversations of ‘greatness’ glean bodies of work for producers. That’s why every producer wants a body of work these days. For Cracker, it goes a little more than that though.
“I think eventually, it will be about a catalogue. But what really drives me is that I have this music inside me and I create it. It’s no use if people don’t get to hear the music,” he continues. “The album wasn’t created as an album, it’s just the result recordings that I have created overtime. I only just mix and fine-tune some of those songs. For me, I can’t help but create music.”
Genre description
When this writer had that conversation with Cracker, ‘Jealous’ which he produced for YBNL act, Fireboy DML about in 2018 had become a hit.
In January 2019, he had just gotten noticed as a super-talented producer. Some months into the year, he had become so busy that he stopped posting on his SoundCloud page. Soon after, well-received songs like 'Azaman' by Slimcase, 'Issa Banger' by D'Banj and 'Pawon' by Olamide followed.
While Cracker used ‘Afrobeats’ to describe his sound in 2019, he has since evolved as a producer and as a person.
“These days, I think we just like making ‘Afrobeats’ a blanket genre description. But in the real sense, our music is more expansive than that,” he says. “I think we are actually moving into a genreless future.”
He continues, “That’s why I describe my genre as ‘Saund,’ not ‘Afrobeats.’ When I make music, I just know that drums and patterns, but sound can come from anywhere.”
Tags and Producer Identity
This year alone, he has produced ‘Dangerous Love’ for Tiwa Savage and ‘Pim Pim’ for Dice Ailes and Olamide. But in-between all that, he was also working on his EP, A Friendly Introduction To Saund - which is a precursor to Saund, his actual debut album. He is not the Cracker Mallo of 2017 anymore, but he doesn’t necessarily agree.
“I think I still approach music the same way - maybe with more impetus these days, but it’s still the same,” he says. “I think my lifestyle has changed slightly though, there’s a bigger market to supply these days [laughs].”
Whatever he says though, he has changed a bit. His tag has even gone from ‘Cracker, Cracker, Cracker’ to ‘Saund!’ Cracker also feels like criticism for producer tags are unnecessary.
He says, “I think those people criticizing producer tags just need to calm down [scoffs]. I mean I get the criticism for how certain tags don’t fit certain songs. There are times where I have to tweak my tag to fit certain songs - it ends up sounding more like an effect.”
He continues, “But tags are about identity for producers and it’s not just a Nigerian thing. We don’t have our faces out there, you just hear us and if you want to know us, we need that identity. I think we producers just need to make sure tags don’t disfigure songs.”
Cracker, The Artist
While Cracker feels producers who like being out there should put themselves out, he thinks tags are an alternative for shy and anti-social producers. But for himself, Cracker is not just a producer, he is also an artist. On his new EP, he performed on ‘Do Better’ the best song on the project.
After Cracker became a producer, he discovered that he could be an artist. He says, “The first song I recorded was in 2013 or 2014 and it sounded good. As a kid, I’d try to record but I never really paid attention till I became a producer. I had started producing in my first year at the University of Lagos.”
“It was a battle at first - producer or artist, but I knew I would have to be a producer first. That battle actually made me nonchalant towards school. Until I was in my final year [in 2016], I just wanted to make music.
“These days though, I’m at peace with being an artist and a producer - no pressure [laughs]. I don’t rap though - I just sing or chant and stuff, weird and dope.” he continued.
The end
Cracker was part of Tiwa Savage’s camp for Celia that was held at Oriental Hotels, Lagos. The aftermath of the camp meant Cracker producer ‘Dangerous Love’ for Tiwa Savage. The vocal adlibs that the song is famous for was initially done by Cracker himself.
Speaking on how smooth the process of clearing the song from the legal perspective as well as signing splits sheets, Cracker says “hell yeah” to how different it was to working with the average Nigerian artist or label.
Of all the unreleased songs that he’s worked on, Cracker is very particular about the one he produced for Ice Prince. He says, “Olorun, Ice Prince we need to drop that jam! [laughs]”
While Cracker humbly admits that he mostly gets gigs from referrals these days, he particularly wants it known that he will reach out to people that he likes - if necessary. Going forward, Cracker says that his ‘P’ will be creating bodies of work with different artists.
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