Don Jazzy reveals how he started music, his inspirations

Michael Collins Ajereh, better known by his stage name Don Jazzy, is a veteran Nigerian producer and singer who has disclosed that Daddy Showkey, a great musician, was his hero as a little boy in Ajegunle, Lagos.

He stated that Daddy Showkey, and Baba Fryo served as his musical inspirations.

Don Jazzy revealed that he began his musical career as an instrumentalist in the church because he couldn’t afford studio sessions at the time.

The music executive revealed this as a guest on the most recent episode of the Leaderboard podcast, presented by Fisayo Fosudo.

He said, “My music inspiration started from Ajegunle because dem Daddy Showkey, dem Baba Fryo, a lot of all these Ajegunle musicians that we looked up to.

“I used to tell my guys that when I started making music, I pretty much just wanted to blow and be Daddy Showkey because anywhere you went to in the country, you will hear, ‘If you see my mama, hosanna’ or ‘Somebody call my name, Showkey.’

“Trust me, the lyrics are national anthems. I pretty much wanted to do that. So, I used to go to church and play instruments. It was the only place that you can…Unless you want to go to studios which would cost money. At that time, we couldn’t afford to have sessions. So, the best place that you can get free equipment is the church. Instead of doing the ragga, the reggae, you go and do gospel first.”