Di'ja Opens Up On Her Relationship With Don Jazzy

 In this new interview, the Mavin star, Aphrodija talked about the first time she met Don Jazzy and more. Read the interesting excerpts from the interview below

Meeting Don Jazzy, I felt like I was reborn. I met him through my manager. He told we were going to see a producer, I didn’t know where we were going so we ended up in Don Jazzy’s house. I didn’t even know where I was. I ended up meeting Baby Fresh, Altims and a few others. They started listening to songs that I had done before and I had this nervousness in me. Not long after, I saw a shadow behind me and when I turned around to see who it was at the door, it was Don Jazzy and I almost fainted, I just told myself to stay composed. It even got worse when Don Jazzy started listening to my songs, I just got so nervous. 1 thing I love about Don Jazzy is that he won’t promise you anything; rather he would tell you that he would do his best. He told us he would get back to us and the next day he pulled a call through and that was it. We started recording and we recorded quite a few tracks. At that time nobody was bothered about a contract or papers, we just wanted to work. From there I met Reekado and then Korede Bello. We didn’t even know there was a plan; we were just happy working and enjoying each others company. We recorded for about 8 to 9 months at that time before Don Jazzy even considered giving us a contract.

How did you choose your kind of music?
I didn’t, like I said I just became myself. I can write a song for 5 years. I still have songs that I haven’t finished writing since 2008. This is because there’s just this thing about been yourself. They won’t sound the same again. Some people kill themselves when they try to be like someone else. Some artistes go to a producer and say I love that Woju beat that Kiss Daniel sang on, I want something like that and then they don’t make a hit out of it like Kiss Daniel did. This is because you don’t know what mood Kiss Daniel was in when he was writing and recording Woju. So why not just be yourself and write your songs as they come from your heart. I like been crazy and I experiment my craziness while recording. Sometimes I would be like Altims or BabyFresh please commot that thing and they would be like they love it and I should do it again. Sometimes I would beg them to take it off and when Don Jazzy walks in I would be like a little disturbed and he would encourage me to be crazy, be free and be myself, he would say be silly, it is actually trying to be silly you find your smartest moment. Because it is during that moment of been silly you would realize something that would pay off. I think Music comes with a form of madness. You just have to be free, crazy, silly and yourself. Don’t try to please everyone, please yourself even if it takes you to be crazy.

How were you able to convince your parents on you doing music?
I never really did, I always got into trouble doing it and when I went to school in Canada, I was doing it because I was far and my brother would encourage me to keep doing it. One of my friends put me in a competition, it was the Beat Music Award and we were about 200 that put in for the award and that was my first time singing to a crowd judging me. I know that I sang my best but it wasn’t my best that came out. I think it was the passion and everything in me. I ended up winning the competition to my surprise. From then on, this was in 2008, I started letting my mom and dad know. At that point I started understanding my dream. When I met Don Jazzy, I was at a point where I almost felt like going back away from music. At that point, we didn’t have a house in Lagos so I was staying with my aunt. Imagine waking up and leaving the house at 4am in the morning and telling her that you are going to the studio? She’ll be like, who does gospel music in the studio at 4am? I explained to my aunt. At that time I had met my manager, he even interviewed me and I was like “which one be this again’. He really took his time and I’m grateful for that. If you are really doing something you love, it might take a long time. Some people think I just kind of popped out. My professional life started in 2008.