Terry Tha Rapman
and his Boys Are Not Smiling henchmen, including childhood friend and
many times collaborator Pherowshuz, real name David Torkuma Joshua, and
their in-house DJ, DJ XChris, dropped by the NEXT News Room at Oregun,
Ikeja, last Tuesday. It’s been just five months after Tha Rapman, real
name Terry Madaki, released his highly anticipated and critical
acclaimed sophomore album, ‘Boys Are Not Smilin’ which took well over
three years to make.
Terry coined the
now popular phrase, “Boys are not smiling” (BANS) many years ago and it
has gone ahead to become a widely accepted lingo. To this he said,
“BANS is a movement and not a record label as many people think. It is
a state of mind that has nothing to do with the facial expression. We
do smile, however we remain focused and serious about whatever we set
our minds to do to get us to that pinnacle.” And on his just released
album, Terry said “it is doing very well; I think I was just lucky
because the slogan actually helped people, especially Nigerian youth,
connect to the movement. Whether you are rich or not, you are always
striving to achieve something and that is what BANS is all about and
people identify with it. Right now BANS have over 5000 members on
Facebook and it is amazing how a lot of young people come to the group
to ask for guidance and other stuff.”
The alliance
Pherowshuz, who
also released his sophomore album, ‘Return of Phero The Great’, late
last year as well, is one half of the production outfit, Ill Touch
which he co-owned with a producer known as Tommy Ill Fingerz. Speaking
about his affiliations to BANS, he revealed it was an unconscious
thing. “I have known Terry for years, so I got into the BANS even when
it was still a mind thing from day one. We’ve been working together
since his days at Payback Tyme Records; so when he started the BANS
movement, I was a part of it even before it was known as BANS.” Even
though Pherowshuz has achieved prominence both as a music producer and
as a rapper, the erstwhile KD World artist sees himself more as a
rapper.“I started out with rapping first; I released my first album in
2006 whereas I started producing just some years ago. I believe I am a
rapper with production skills,” the soft spoken rapper said.
Pherowshuz also
revealed his foray into music production, an ability he said was birth
out of the desire to create his own sounds. “While I was recording my
debut album, I go always to the studio with something in mind; I used
to tell the producers how I wanted the drums to sound and so on. At the
back of my mind, I knew I was going to become a producer someday.”
Back to Terry
Although Terry’s
album, which he said took the better part of three years to produce,
has dropped to critical acclaim, the Hip-Hop World Award winning rapper
revealed that, it is just a sign to work even harder. “Right now my
hands are full and we are extending the brand into other things. We are
into merchandising; our T-Shirt is very popular now. I am also working
on shooting videos for some tracks before embarking on a BANS tour
which we expect to kick off after the April general election,” he said.
He also went ahead to reveal other long term dreams which include
merchandising of jackets, cologne, shirts and even movie making.
“We are starting
small, but we hope one day that [BANS] will be as big as Roc-A-Wear and
Sean John. We are looking to go into the movie angle too because I feel
there is not enough Hip-Hop movies or movies that infuse Hip-Hop in
them.”
Speaking about the
challenges of recording the album, Terry revealed how financial
constraints, working around the different schedules of featured artists
and producers pose a challenge. “I worked with a lot of producers
because I want my album to have a different feel, so paying studio
sessions wasn’t easy. Recording with MI, we basically had to wait a
long period because he was always on tour but he kept calling me to
reassure he’s still interested.” On the reduced hard-core element the
album displays, Terry believes he had to do what he did to show how
versatile he is. “I think what made the album special is the varieties
it offered. The truth is I don’t go to the studio with a premeditated
type of song in mind; I just vibe with people and get inspired by the
beat I hear. Most of my songs are inspired by true stories; be it mine
or from others, that way I help to connect with my fans more.”
Although they ply
as two individual artists, both emcees seem to have formed a form of
synergy. It was ‘Sample Remix’, the track Pherowshuz produced for Terry
(which he also blessed with a verse), that won Terry his Hip-Hop World
statuette last year. The distinction in their acts is clear however
they together champion a course that frowns at failure.
