Interview: How Show Dem Camp made Palm Wine Music

“This is like the thing they play around Owambe now,” one says. All four bob their heads. The song ends. They enter the studio.

Bass-rich sounds leak out the dark-lit studio, and minutes later, Ajebutter22 strolls out and drives off. He is followed by a crew that includes Boj, Funbi, Poe, Odunsi, Tomi Thomas, Wavy the Creator and Lady Donli. These acts, described by Tec of Show Dem Camp as the Palm Wine Crew, are rehearsing ahead of a pop-up show. You'll find a lot of them in the video for ‘Up to You’, first single from SDC’s Palm Wine Music EP Vol 1. The duo's new project is a mix of rap, soul, highlife and Afropop.

“This is our vibe already. It comes naturally to us,” says Boj, who is back outside the studio with Poe. Both are featured on the EP. Their work with SDC goes back to 2012's ‘Feel Alright’.

“It’s interesting to see where we’ve come since Feel Alright,” says Poe. “It’s a culture shift: The transition from just hip hop music to creating a whole vibe-ish.”

“And the way people took it," Boj cuts in. "You could tell there’s something special about this one. ‘Feel Alright’ is still a jam. It’s timeless.”

'Feel Alright' started with Juls, the Ghanaian producer recognized as creator of the wildly popular strain of slow, catchy, danceable Afropop. He sent Show Dem Camp a tape with a beat originally meant for Efya, but the singer passed it on. “She was the one that actually told us that it’s cool we use the track because she could hear us on it,” says Tec, now sitting with Ghost at Bogobiri, a day after the Ikoyi studio rehearsals.

At the time, the duo were looking to shoot a video for ‘Ogidiga’, a fast-paced song named for an alcoholic herbal drink famed for boosting the sexual prowess of men. That video never happened. ‘Feel Alright’ took its place. The slow paced, groovy tune was promoted with a video focused less on virility than on beach-fun with friends and palm-wine-filled red cups.

It became their most popular song and now Tec hates performing 'Ogidiga'. But where 'Ogidiga' and 'Feel Alright' shopped fun and sex, Palm Wine EP celebrates women. “That was me,” Tec says. “When we started recording, I spoke to Ghost about it: ‘Let’s do something and put it out on Valentine’s Day’.”

“We were in that space,” says Ghost. “I think that energy just transmitted itself unto the Palm Wine EP, because every verse we were recording was just with that vibe.”

“Ghost will tell me, not another babe song. What’s going on?”

Ghost laughs. “I think he was in love then.”

Spax, the album's producer sent SDC some rap beats, but Tec wasn't having it. “A lot of producers see us as hardcore hip hop guys and give us beats in that box."

They ditched the beat sending process and decided to jam together in the studio. The first product of the new method was 'Compose', a track featuring Boj. More artists came in, and by the end Funbi, Poe, Tomi Thomas, Odunsi, and Ajebutter 22 became part of the album. But there was one more person they wanted on the project.

“For 'Feel Alright', the first person we wanted to put on the jam was Burna Boy,” says Tec, leaning forward on his seat; he wants to be clear, it seems. “We’ve been meaning to do a song with Burna Boy for a very long time. Every time I go to his house, I leave in a haze. Something happens. I don’t know how I forget about the track, forget about life. Time stops in Burna’s house.”

The EP was recorded without Burna Boy, and since its release Show Dem Cap has made public appearances, several times alongside a new crop of artists. “I think these young guys have a lot to offer,” says Ghost. “I think it’s our duty to give them an opportunity. As some people paved a way for us, we have to do same for others.”

Show Dem Camp also draws inspiration from these artists. “You don’t have to just release an album, " Ghost says. "These new school guys will release a song, "just vibe of this song for a while". Then they’ll release another one. And even though they’re working on their album, they keep feeding their fan base. That’s what I like about them.”

Tec agrees. “We tried to do something similar with The Collectiv3,” he says. “But I think it’s a fresher approach by these new guys. There’s less egos because they’re all just starting." The entire process of making the Palm Wine EP has suggested to the pair a new model for making music, which might be used in recording an LP.

“For the album it’ll be more than one producer,” says Tec. “We'll be locked in with them, try new sounds, and invite several musicians to come play. It is a layered approach to creating music, and that is what excites us.”

And with that the men of Show Dem Camp go on to join their fellow performers, rapping, vibing, and fine-tuning their act on the Bogobiri stage in preparation for their first palm wine pop-up show.

Buy Show Dem Camp’s Palm Wine Music EP on iTunes.