ATTENTION!!! The Formula To Make A Hit Song – Case Study – YBNL Nation

YBNL Nation is a well acclaimed
record label which has been in
existence for about 6 years now. The
label has steadily risen and has gone
from having one artist to having
more than 3 artists and 2 producers.
Olamide , the CEO Of YBNL Nation ,
was the first artist under this label.
He is currently one of the biggest
artists in Nigeria as he is the most
successful of the so-called local
rappers. I’m not here to give you a
history of YBNL Nation or tell you
about their rise to the top, I am here
to talk about what i call “The
Formula“.
I have studied the Nigerian Music
Industry and I must tell you that
there is actually an unidentified
mechanism, a technique, a
combination of certain elements
which a song needs to be successful.
The YBNL Nation team is one which
has mastered these elements and put
them to good use because at the
moment it seems like they can’t go
wrong. I would briefly talk about
these elements while using YBNL
Nation as a case study.
I have summarised all these
techniques into three:
UNIQUE PRODUCTION
In Nigerian music, production
determines almost 60% of the songs
success because the beat of the song
is one of the first things that catches
a listeners attention in this part of
the world especially. Most producers
have a unique sound attributed to
them and most times any song they
use the sound for works.
Sarz had it in the “Kako Bi Chicken’
phase, Don Jazzy had it with his beats
always having certain traditional
sounds and now, I must tell you that
Young John the wicked producer has
it. I can’t explain the sound to you
but I bet you have noticed yourself.
The success of YBNL Nation’s songs
currently, can partly be attributed to
Young John’s amazing beats. He just
keeps getting it right and as such
always making jams.
A CATCHY HOOK
This is an area that a lot of artistes
in Nigeria get it wrong. A good hook
is never enough but a catchy hook,
one that would register in the
listeners mind once he or she hears
it, now that is what is needed.
Haven’t you wondered why everyone
regardless of tribe knows Olamide’s
choruses.
They don’t even want to know the
meaning, why? Because they’ve been
caught. Look at all the songs they
have churned out since last year,
from ‘Story For The gods’, ‘Shoki’,
Gbese, Bobo, the hooks and choruses
of these songs are so catchy you just
have to like the songs. It’s like YBNL
Nation have a chorus machine
somewhere because they don’t seem
to get it wrong ever.
HOW RELATABLE THE SONG IS
Now this is one element that nobody
seems to identify. For your song to
be successful in Nigeria, someway
somehow the listener should be able
to relate. The listener must have an
emotion rising as he listens to the
song, whether pain, sorrow,
happiness, nostalgia , or just plain
old excitement. The song must be
able to make the person feel like you
had him in mind.
This is quite hard but this is why the
local rappers get it easily. People
relate with their native language on
a far higher level and YBNL Nation
has mounted on this wave and
surfed their way to the top of the
charts. Olamide even found another
way to ensure that his songs sink in
by recycling old folk sings and slangs
he did this in Bobo even in Lagos
Boys. This has worked perfectly and
i can’t wait to see he would do next.
Im sure you can see that these are
the elements which necessitate
success for a song and if you are an
artist reading this then hopefully its
not too late.ElviaDesign.Ent