Dr Sid: Mavins singer says he hasn't given Nigeria 10% of what he can offer

Dr Sid dropped by the Pulse office recently where he reflected on joining Mo Hits Record and his time with Da Trybe.

Dr Sid in an interview with Pulse explained why he is never in a rush to release an album and recounts his time with Da Trybe and Mo Hits Records.

The Mavin Records artist who recently put out two new singles in celebration of his birthday says he has recorded a number of songs and there will be many more dropping soon.

ALSO READ: 6 Years of Mavin Records

On the music market being a singles market

''Globally, this is a singles market, but I think every artist wants to still put out a body of work, at least for the accolades, but it is clearly a singles market, the listeners' attention span is short.

So what you do is you have a lot of singles and get them on as many playlists as possible.''

For an artist who has been in the game for almost two decades, Dr Sid has released only two solo albums and this he attributes to wanting to give his best at all times.

''For me, I am not in a hurry to put out albums, the most important thing is to put out the right kind of music.

When I put out the ''Turning Point'' album, it was my first project, from an artist perspective, your debut album has to be right, my second project, ''Siduction'' was a themed album around a particular topic.

I have put out about 10 singles since then, the idea of a body of work is something I am working on, but what is important to me is to have music out there for people to listen to and appreciate.'' he says.

Recollecting his time with popular group, Da Trybe

Dr Sid was a member of the early rap collective known as Da Trybe, an assemble of hip-hop acts put together by the Trybesmen to include other rappers like Del, 2Shotz, Double O, Timi, Sasha, Blaise and himself.

''For me, it was a good experience, as that was my first time forging into being an entertainer and an artist as well, the Trybe was me transitioning from being a dancer in a group in school called 'Rockforce' to being a backup dancer to the Trybesmen, to having the worst freestyle ever.

He shares memories of the freestyle session that earned him a spot on the epic posse cut, 'Oya'.

''It was in a Boys quarters in Ozolua, it was myself, Freestyle, KB, Sound Sultan, Eldee and Lekushe, we were all in Eldee's BQ and there was a freestyle going on and they taunted me to rap and I kicked one very wack freestyle back then.

I was expecting them to laugh at me, but they encouraged me that there was something there if I could work on it, then like two or three years later, I got a shot on the song, 'Oya', which is one of the songs that I think revolutionised Nigerian hip-hop.''

On being the only member of the Trybe clique still relevant on the scene he says;

''I just realized that for some reasons, I have been blessed to be surrounded by extremely talented people that have constantly given me the ability to grow and motivation and ginger to keep going on.

I think I still have a lot to offer in music, I know this is weird to say after almost 20 years, but I don't think I have given Nigeria 10% of Dr Sid, and that is me being honest, I realised I have actually been too shy to express myself.''

Dr Sid on how he joined Mo-hits

''It was very interesting, because we had met when I was still in Da Trybe and went to London. I was in school doing an elective at the Kings College, Dentistry, in the UK and met up with JJC and the 419 Squad, and at that time, they were doing big things with Big Brovas, and we bonded on several levels.

So the 419 squad split up and Don Jazzy and D'banj returned and they obviously needed someone who was on the ground, so we rolled together, worked together, and the music took the country by storm.

When I was in Da Trybe, I was recording an hip-hop album, called the ''Prognosis'', which never came out, so then I joined Mo-Hits Records, D'banj was like I should come through but Don Jazzy did not want me to join in the first place.

Don Jazzy used to do shakara for me that year, he is generally a shy guy, so if you don't take time to know him, he can come across as being arrogant, but we bonded quite well overtime and became very close.

It was D'banj who felt there was a lot of benefit to have someone already familiar with the industry join the team.'' he added.

It was under Don Jazzy's direction while with Mo Hits, that he transitioned from just being a rapper to a singer, which he says led to the success of his debut album, Turning Point.