P.Priime Takes Us Through His Daily and Production Routine in Today’s “Doing Life With…”

Doing Life With… is a BellaNaija Features series that showcases how people live, work, travel, care for their families and… everything in between. We are documenting the lives of all people and ensuring everyone is well-represented at BN.

Did you miss last week’s conversation with Theo Okafor? You can catch up here. 

This week, we’re doing life with P.Priime, a Grammy nominee and one of the most prolific music producers in the Nigerian music industry today. P! produced some of the biggest songs in recent times like “Anoti”, “Bandana”, “Ozumba Mbadiwe” and others. Enjoy the conversation!

Hello P.Priime. How are you feeling today?

I’m feeling super good. I’m working on some amazing music, so I’m in a good place. Thank you.

Give me a peep into your musical background and what part of your childhood influenced who you are today

I come from a musical background. All my siblings were in the church choir and we all had to learn one instrument or the other. So I learnt how to play the drums, piano, and some other instruments. Mainly, the church influenced who I am today.

That’s great. How instrumental was Sarz Academy in your journey?

I’m grateful for the Sarz Academy because that’s where I met my current manager and also met my mentor, Sarz. Definitely contributed to what I have become.

Your signature tune is “P!” or “Giddem”. Can you tell me how these two came about?

“P!” actually came from my friend, HushMix. He was always with me in the studio, and when I was making music, he usually freestyled on my beats. One day, he did a freestyle and just gave me a shout-out that “P.Priime”. I used to use the whole “P.Priime” but I cut it short to just “P!”. For “Giddem”, I was working on a big pack for Olamide and I just put that there, like in one of the beats I sent to him and I used it several times after that. Olamide really liked it and he was one of the people that gingered to keep using it as my tag.

You’ve produced some hit songs in recent years. Which of them was easy to make and which took a while to put into proper shape?

None of my songs are easy to make, I’m going to be very honest because I put time into whatever I’m working on. But I do enjoy the process for all the songs I’ve made and every one of them requires time to put into proper shape. I’m a semi-perfectionist and the song has to sound right in my ears. I don’t like to call myself a perfectionist because that’s an illusion.

Tell me about the creation of “Electricity” and “Bandana”

Like I always say, I’m always having fun producing songs. I never understood why Fireboy DML wanted to put out Bandana because I feel like we have harder songs, but the way God works is different. That actually turns out to be one of my biggest songs today. For Electricity, Pheelz just hit me up like he has this song and he wants me to do a production. I was like, “Bet, send it over.” I think this was even before Davido jumped on it. I worked on it, then he put Davido on it. And it’s fire.

If you could produce a song with just an instrument, which would you choose and why?

The guitar, because most of the biggest hit songs today have it. Not even the hit songs only, songs that actually hit the soul, and [relates] to this stage I am in life, are usually songs with guitars in them. They just strike and hit the emotion.

What song made you go “damn, I made that!”?

“Anoti” by Wizkid or “Ozumba Mbadiwe” by Reekado Banks. Ozumba is one of those crazy songs for me, mehn.

What’s a typical day in your life? You know, what you’d do from when you wake up in the morning till night?

Let me talk about today: I woke up, said my prayers, checked my phone for notifications, went into the bathroom to brush my teeth, and then did my workout. I was on the phone with my boys and we literally played FIFA from 12 pm to 3 pm when I had to go to the studio. Now I’m at the studio. I had Wizkid come over for a session and he left not so long ago. I was watching Game of Thrones when I remembered that, “Oh, I have this with you.” It goes on after this, I might continue GOT or talk to someone or go to sleep.

What are the little things in your everyday life that bring you joy, get you excited, or make you feel alive?

Seeing my people happy really makes me happy. Like, just the other day, my sister put to bed and that’s a blessing. I’ve learnt to appreciate the simple things of life and also seeing improvement in myself makes me happy. It points out that I’m doing something right. Just growing and becoming a better person as each day comes and goes by.

If you weren’t a music producer, what do you think you’d be doing instead?

I will still be doing music one way or the other. If I’m not doing music production, I will probably be playing the instrument for someone. But I’m happy making music, man.

How did you come up with your stage name

My friend gave me the name, P.Priime because I told him I needed a name.

Describe P.Priime in three words

I don’t know if there’s a word for always pushing boundaries but I’m innovative. In three words: fly as (the f-word).

A song you really wished you produced?

What’s the biggest song in the world? Lol, I’m kidding. I really like “Smooth Criminal” by Michael Jackson. That’s such a beautiful record, man. Definitely that song. I really love it.

Thank you for being on Doing Life With…, Priime

Thank you so much for having me, BellaNaija. Love.

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Many thanks to P.Priime for having this conversation with us and answering all our questions – and swiftly too, we must add.

Do you love this content, have any feedback for us or want to be a BellaNaija Features contributor? We’d love to read from you. Shoot us an email: [email protected]. Join us on Saturday for the next episode!