{"id":122478,"date":"2023-05-19T11:10:27","date_gmt":"2023-05-19T09:10:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/?p=122478"},"modified":"2023-05-19T11:10:34","modified_gmt":"2023-05-19T09:10:34","slug":"show-dem-camps-tec","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/show-dem-camps-tec\/","title":{"rendered":"Show Dem Camp\u2019s Tec breaks down the African frequency"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

PAM had a conversation with Tec in Accra, Ghana about his experiences through his career and his life.  Known by the stage name Tec, Wale Davies is one-half of Nigerian rap duo Show Dem Camp, an artist, music manager for Grammy winning artist Tems<\/a> and the Head A&R for Sony Music Publishing Africa. He is known mainly as being part of SDC which includes rapper Olumide Ayemi aka Ghost. The rap duo are credited for leading the charge for the Nigerian alt\u00e9<\/a> scene and thus Africa as a whole. Born in Nigeria, their parents moved to the United States for greener pastures. The duo met in the UK after moving from America separately and it\u2019s been a journey full of twists since. They helped spearhead a new wave of underground music and took their careers into their own hands as artists and label owners. Show Dem Camp have dropped back to back classic projects including Palm Wine Express<\/a><\/em>, The Clone Wars <\/em>series, and most recently Palm Wine 3<\/em>. They have also undeniably helped shine a light on a whole generation of young talent in Nigeria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe would rap in school, go to clubs in Dublin and rap and people were like they\u2019d never seen anything like that. We became local champions,<\/em>\u201d Tec says on a calm afternoon in Accra, where he\u2019s leading a Sony writing camp, the first of its kind in Ghana. Tec grew up in Nigeria up until high school. Eager to travel out of the country, he followed his cousin to school in Ireland although he had no idea what the place was like. \u201cIt was a very strange place for me at the time with almost no black people in sight.<\/em>\u201d He had developed a love for hip-hop earlier through older siblings who schooled in the UK and brought back rap albums. Now in Ireland, he realized rap music brought him a lot of attention among his peers and suddenly made him cool to hang with, so he started developing his own rap lyrics. In high school he had listened to TLC, Ice Cube, NWA, Ice Tee, Snoop Dogg and 2Pac which would become his formative influences. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was later at Coventry University in the UK that he met another Nigerian rapper who coincidentally had the same rap name as him. They were both called \u201cGolden Child\u201d at the time. This rapper who later became \u201cGhost\u201d was a year ahead of him in school and had already made a name for himself for his hard punching raps and lyrical dexterity. They started a small rivalry as both rappers also belonged to competing rap groups in the school. This rivalry slowly developed into a close friendship. Tec and Ghost became the last men standing among their colleagues to stick to the rap game. Tec says \u201chip-hop is something I would do for free in this life regardless of the job I\u2019m doing<\/em>\u201d so even after university, he always found time to record some music at a friend\u2019s studio as he worked in finance to pay his bills. This wouldn\u2019t last long though as he later moved back to Nigeria in 2008 and reconnected with Ghost who had moved there a year earlier. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cAt that point Nigerian music was just beginning to kick off, D banj and 2 face were already doing things,<\/em>\u201d Tec speaks with a calm confidence as he narrates how things began for SDC in Nigeria. A friend organized a tour in Nigeria for 2face and put Tec and Ghost on. Through this 2face tour, they got to meet Sound Sultan, Ikechukwu, Nneka, Mo Hits, and P Square who were all on the come up at the time. Seeing what they were achieving in Nigeria motivated Tec and Ghost to stay and fully pursue music in Nigeria despite their families\u2019 protests against their career path.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whenever they went out to the clubs in Nigeria, Everybody else called them \u201cShow Dem\u201d because they (members of the crew) were loud and made their presence felt wherever they went. Old friend and close colleague Shalala recounts that \u201cat the time, Tolu Williams, Femi Dojoes, Wale (Tec) and Ghost started calling themselves Show Dem Camp because they wanted to prove all doubters wrong.<\/em>\u201d That, and coming back from abroad, leaving a career in finance, going through multiple interventions and trying to prove that this dream was possible unearthed the name Show Dem Camp. Things weren\u2019t so smooth though, \u201cAt the time we were trying to figure out a sound for Nigeria, we had put out a hip-hop record and it didn\u2019t really do well.<\/em>\u201d The duo tried so many different things at a time in Nigeria when the music was quick with a fast BPM. According to Tec, they met Ghanaian singer Efya in a studio in Nigeria and quickly hit it off with the whole crew. Efya upon her return to Ghana suggested the crew come to Ghana with her to support a series of shows she had. That trip to Ghana became monumental, meeting an array of Ghanaian artistes including R2bees<\/a>, Wanlov, Yaa PONO, and Panji<\/a> and during one session with Xo Senavoe, they met a young producer called Juls. The beats Wale got from Juls became their first hit song in Nigeria titled \u201cFeel Alright\u201d. A song which Tec says \u201cchanged our lives<\/em>\u201d. \u201cFeel Alright\u201d is a mix of highlife rhythms that blends perfectly with the raps of the duo and Ladipoe. This song helped kick start both Boj<\/a> and Ladipoe\u2019s careers as well being their first big hit<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tec explains that conversations with Panji Anhoff about resonance and musical frequency helped him understand a theoretical meaning for how African music makes you feel. \u201cI realized that instead of trying to take Nigerians to a different place musically, it was for me to create at their own frequency, Hip-hop was just like the unwelcome cousin your parents force you to invite to family functions,<\/em>\u201d Tec explains on how most Nigerians viewed hip-hop. This song made SDC start getting paid gigs and national recognition. They had finally found their blueprint and there was no stopping them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fans sometimes forget SDC are a rap group because of how effortlessly they blend their rap with pan-African subjects laced with soulful vocals. They talk about societal issues and the results are purely musical. When asked about their thought process when making their projects, Tec explained that \u201cevery album is a reflection of where our mind is at, at that time and as we learn and grow as individuals, we find ways to share what we have learnt into our projects.<\/em>\u201d He also explained that the inspiration behind SDC\u2019s features which have become legendary and the fact that they have helped shine a light on various new talents who are making waves worldwide now, Tems and Boj just to name a few, he said, \u201cmy love for music has always urged me to search for new artistes, new voices or new perspectives, trying to find out what is their reality and connecting mostly with artists who are giving me a piece of themselves through their music. I have always believed in calling musicians together, and creating a community to project their craft.<\/em>\u201d Now, as Head A&R for Sony publishing Africa, he says the only thing that has changed is being able to fund these camps and being able to amplify the music they produce. \u201cConnecting in a communal manner will enable African artists to dictate where our music goes. Most of these American artists are signed to terrible deals\u2026 Why don\u2019t we create our own music village? Why don\u2019t we figure out our own deals because music is the quickest way for me to open doors?<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SDC\u2019s most recent project, Palm Wine 3<\/em> encompasses the African reality.  In fact in the intro, Folu Storms talks about the \u201cshow\u201d referring to the project and pointing out the subject. In her own words she says, \u201cwe\u2019re going to be talking about love, how it makes us, how it breaks us<\/em>\u201d and \u201chow living in a city like Lagos may not be easy and sometimes get really hard.<\/em>\u201d She urges listeners to keep the faith and trust that in the end everything will be okay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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