Written by: Joel Campbell
CONTINUING TO innovate and bring new talent to the fore, Grime music trailblazer Jammer launched online show, Top Producer, shot from his legendary ‘basement’ last month.
It’s long been the opinion that producers of great music, on the whole, don’t get the shine they deserve.
Jammer told the Voice that between himself and his team, including co-founder Neron Power and Creative Director Ella Dror, they developed a format for a show that would give a platform to both untapped and up and coming producers, shining the light on their artform and connecting them with like-minded individuals.
A competition format pits three producers each show against each other.
Producers who specialise in different genres of music are selected to take part in the same
challenges with the same materials. In one episode, a producer that specialises in Afrobeats goes up against a producer that specialises in drill, and another who predominantly works on garage sounds.
Each of these individuals is given the same beat pack, samples and references to see who can really adapt and show skill. The shows bosses say they also want to see who listens to other types of genres and knows how to conform, in order to be crowned Top Producer.
At the pre-launch screening Jammer and Neron spoke candidly about why they felt this show had to exist.
“Top Producer originated two decades ago in the basement when I was producing music for a lot of the underground UK scene,” Jammer said.
He added: “A lot of those artists have gone on to be pivotal and have done monumental things in the scene. But at the time I was producing that music the scene wasn’t where it is today.
“So, the basement has given a lot of artists a platform to develop their creativity and given them a voice and a space to express themselves.
“With Top Producer I felt that as a producer myself in the beginning, I’m a very recognisable guy and even then, it was hard for people to understand who I was and how much things I’ve done.
“A lot of artists weren’t quite taking the recognition, but they were very much at the forefront of the situation, so me and Neron wanted to make something that gave the producer the recognition for what they do in-depth.
“Give them respect for how much they contribute to the industry and to the scene. So, we shot Top Producer.”
Neron added: “I’m a video director. I run my own video production company called Rich Power Films and my background comes from music videos, so I know a lot about music videos and music creation.
“When I was sitting down with Jammer and I thought about Top Producer, I thought about Lord Of The Mics and that whole thing and how that changed the game and then what it is that we can do together in that same sort of vain but for producers.
“We want to give producers their limelight, basically.”
Neron said the lightbulb moment led to constructive discussions which in turn brought about a show format.
There are three tasks per episode with five episodes per series including a finale.
Each task will be judged by Jammer and his co-hosts out of 10, the TPP will be added up at the end of each episode to define who the top producer is of that week. The series will operate in league scoring, meaning that each episode will have a TPP leaderboard.
By the end of the series the show will have all the winners included in a championship round where the best of the best go at it for the Top Producer spot.
Round one sees producers send in their ‘hardest’ beat of any genre for review. The team has collated sounds creating a beat pack. Aspiring producers are tasked to use and manipulate these sounds only, whilst adding their own synths, base sounds and melodies to create something special.
Round two sees them using the sound pack provided with five sounds to create a beat. Judges want to challenge the producers to create and manipulate the samples supplied to the best of their ability.
Not just using it as a loop and adding drums, but creating something special out of the sample i.e pitching, sample mapping and chopping.
In round three each contestant will make an instrumental away from their speciality.
They may be placed in a situation where they may have to create something on the spot based on a vibe or reference that an artist has given to them. The producer will have one chance, using this reference to make their best beat.
Episodes are already up online and fans of music, specifically the production aspect, are catered for in a very unique way.
There are few shows that pull the elements together like this, if any.
There definitely aren’t any that are able to draw on the expertise and star power of the likes of Catfish UK host and video producer Julie Adenuga, who co-hosts episode one with Jammer. ‘Grime God’ D Double sits in on episode two, while episode three and four sees amazing instrumentalist and saxophonist Ckntrl and Kiss 100 DJ RudeKid offer pearls of wisdom respectively.
As well as the competition Jammer and Neron felt compelled to ensure there was an educational value to the show for wider viewers.
The jargon used by producers is broken down throughout episodes with ‘Top Producer Tips, brief descriptions which flash up on the screen once they are mentioned in chat between Jammer and his co-hosts.
The insight offered by the experts will be a rich resource of information for those just entering the music space and could no doubt enable the next generation to take their first step into music production.
The search is on, who will be the Top Producer?
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The Voice Newspaper is committed to celebrating black excellence, campaigning for positive change and informing the black community on important issues. Your financial contributions are essential to protect the future of the publication as we strive to help raise the profile of the black communities across the UK. Any size donation is welcome and we thank you for your continued support.
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