It’s quite interesting that music making, a historically collaborative process, has long relegated a number of the practitioners responsible for its moving parts to the background, placing much of the focus on the recording artist. It’s understandable to see how we got here: artists are expected to bring the charm, charisma, and lyrical prowess that tends to captivate the average listener, while songwriters, engineers, and particularly producers, who are arguably as important as the lead artist in the music creation process, are simply names resigned to the credits.

The turn of the 21st century, however, heralded a noticeable shift in this dynamic, with producers beginning to step into the spotlight, actively asserting their creative authority and establishing themselves as integral, recognisable figures in their own right. While heavyweights like Don Jazzy and the late OJB Jezreel came to the fore in the early noughties, it was Sarz–who began to make a name for himself in the early 2010s– that arguably changed the idea of what a super producer is from these parts. 

The Benin-born maverick’s avant-garde spirit and tastemaking and curatorial skills, as well as his unique ability to bring the best out of his collaborators, have made him perhaps the defining producer of the past decade and a half. His solo 2019 release ‘Sarz Is Not Your Mate,’  as well as collaborative tapes with vocalists WurlD and Obonjayar, demonstrated his prowess in not only crafting individual hits but also in meticulously putting together cohesive bodies of work. He brings this ability and wealth of experience to his long-overdue debut album ‘Protect Sarz At All Costs,’ which arrived this past Friday. 

Along with a host of guest appearances from the likes of WurlD, Gunna, Qing Madi, Joeboy, Fireboy DML, Lojay, and Byron Messia, Sarz delivered a host of sturdy records, many of which showcase the ingenuity in his now-favoured minimalist approach. The album’s strongest offering comes three tracks in on “Getting Paid,” an uber-cool affair that brings together Afropop titans Wizkid and Asake, both of whom seem to have developed a creative synergy of late, and Dancehall act Skillibeng. 

Sarz provides his collaborators with an impeccable background of bouncy percussion, a captivating guitar loop, and some floating synths. Asake’s concise and crucial contribution is applied judiciously across the entire track, almost like perfectly placed punctuation marks, while Skillibeng and Wizkid, who seem to be incapable of making bad music with Sarz, both deliver standout verses that are certain to reverberate through speakers for months to come. 

Even though “Getting Paid” features a couple of A-listers, Sarz’s contribution to the record is just as integral, if not more so, to its entire appeal. His magic fingers manage to conjure a simple, buoyant atmosphere that combines different conspicuous and subtle elements, casually showcasing the type of understated brilliance that has placed him the the illustrious Afropop hall of fame. 

Listen to ‘Protect Sarz At All Costs’ here.