CELEBRATING DBF: DA BEATFREAKZ
From humble beginnings recording in their makeshift home studio in the early 2000s, to working with some of the biggest names in music, Da Beatfreakz have grown into one of the dominant production forces in the UK rap landscape. The duo, made up of brothers Obi ‘O1” and Uche “U1” Ebele, cut their teeth working with emerging grime era MCs, quickly rising the ranks before linking up with US production powerhouses Cool & Dre, and later The Trak Starz.
As far as big breaks come, that early move from South London to the United States was a momentous opportunity, and one that DBF seized with both hands. These days the multi-platinum duo continue to stack impressive songwriting and production credits atop a glittering and diverse catalogue of work that recently boasts music with Giggs, Skepta, D-Block Europe, Dutchavelli and Krept & Konan, to name a few. One of their fondest collaborations is with prolific dancehall icon, cult hero and transcendent hot boy, Sean Paul.
This year, they had a big hand in one of 2020’s standout projects, Insomnia, a collaborative record by Skepta, Chip and Young Adz which was recorded in their London studio and features two DBF productions in ‘Insomnia Interlude’ and ‘Star In The Hood’. They’ve also kept a few heaters for themselves and released a pair of singles in 2020 under Da Beatfreakz flag including their most recent release ‘808’ featuring Digdat, Dutchavelli and B Young.
With enviable efficacy and inspired workrate, Da Beatfreakz pride themselves on their pedigree as ‘real producers’. That is to say they do more than make beats, with an all inclusive approach to writing, production, visual direction and release strategy. Eager to hear about their latest release, how they kept busy during lockdown, and what they’ve got coming next, we linked up for a cross-continental interview with hitmakers and long-time friends of Tirade, Da Beatfreakz.
Read on for our full conversation and enjoy our movie from when we caught up with DBF in their ends!
Interview By DECLAN WHELAN
PHOTO ABOVE: DBF wearing, all garments, PUMA
What are you up to right now?
Uche: We’re just working on our next project now. Obviously our new single just released, ‘808’ and went top 20 in the UK. Still in the top 40 in its third week so the response has been amazing. Now we’re just on the next project and taking things from there.
100%. Congrats of course on the new release with Dutchavelli, Dig Dat and B Young. You just mentioned that you’re already focused on the next one. How are you working at the moment? Did you feel any impact to your work or creativity during lockdown?
Uche: I think for us naturally, in terms of shows and stuff like that, it’s obviously affected that side of things but in terms of going to the studio, thankfully it hasn’t had as big an impact. Maybe in terms of the number of people you can have in at once, but besides that we’re still able to create, whether from home or sending people beats and they can send things back. So yeah, luckily, it’s not affected that side of things as much.
Obi: Exactly.
That’s good to hear. It’s cool that you guys are comfortable working that way as well as ideally having everyone in the studio together.
Obi: Yeah, man. Whatever it takes to make the project happen. Same way we did with ‘808’. Because that was put together during the time of corona - like when things actually started here - so we had to figure out ways to make it work, to still be hands on and how to approach artists to change certain things. But we’re lucky that we were able to do that via email and conversations online and everything. Any way to make it work, we make sure that it does.
During that time did you pick up any unexpected hobbies or interests?
Obi: We started to do a lot of exercise. We tried to eat healthier, exercise more. At one point we were running every day but also skyping and video calling each other every day. It’s one of those things you know. Being in the studio we’re there til like two or three most nights so we’re obviously eating junk food. Like every single day. So for once, me and my brother were eating healthier and exercising a lot. So that was one good side to it actually. We lost a lot of weight.
DBF wearing Hoods, CARRE, Tactical Vests, THE ANTI ORDER
My guys. Health is wealth.
Uche: [laughs] That’s right. It’s not easy!
Obi: I’m not trying to say we’ve kept it off!
Uche: A few slips here and there. You get me.
Uche: Yeah as soon as they opened the doors again and you’ve got a little money in your pocket, trust me, we were gone.
I hear you. No before and after photos needed here so don’t sweat. It’s good you were able to take some positives away from it all. What was keeping you motivated or inspiring you through that period?
Uche: Just to keep things going and keep building for us and our family. Really you know, no matter what, we don’t have a plan B. We can’t stop. If you look at our releases, we’ve always released like once a year but this year we’ve got two releases in already. The D Block one at the top of the year and just recently ‘808’. For us that’s something we want to keep consistent moving forward. This whole lockdown thing has really been a blessing in disguise in a lot of ways.
Obviously we have our barbershop too and DBF Cuts was affected by the lockdown. Hopefully now it’s back in a great place. We’ve also been able to set up other businesses that we wouldn’t have done if it wasn’t for that time in lockdown.
That’s really interesting and I’m keen to circle back to hear more about those other business ventures. I want to backtrack a bit first though and I’m curious about something really at the core of your identity and success as a duo. Tell me a bit about your working relationship as a production duo and as brothers. How do you push and get the best out of each other?
Obi: I think because we’re brothers, it’s just easy. Before music we were brothers. That’s what we’ve always been, first and foremost. We’ve shared everything from clothes and trainers to suits that we’d wear to church. We’re really close. That just naturally progressed into music where my brother can start something and I’ll add to it. Vice-Versa. It’s just a natural working process.
What’s the vibe like when you’re in the studio and creating together?
Uche: One thing about us is that before we allow a song to leave the studio and we say, “OK, this is a release,” we all collectively have open opinions about it. Everyone is heard and all opinions are respected. So far for us, that’s really worked. Nothing but good vibes. When we’re working with an artist, we’re not just focused on a beat. We’re helping with lyrics and melodies, and there’s so much that goes into it. We think of ourselves as real producers. Not beatmakers. In the sense that from the creative visuals, to the artwork, all the way down to the release campaign, we’re very much hands-on. I don’t think that’s normal. We’re not average.
Obi: Definitely. 100%. The only people we know that are doing that are the people my brother and I look up to and admire; Guys like Pharrell, Chad Hugo, Timberland and Dre. Those that actually get involved in the song on all sides. We could easily get a cheque sending over a beat but we don’t like to do that. We put our souls into it.
PHOTOS ABOVE: Tracksuits, CARRE, Jackets, THE ANTI ORDER
What’s Haze thinking putting me on this assignment? He should have got your Dad to do the interview.
Obi: [Laughs] No! He doesn’t do it anymore. He hasn’t done it for a long, long time!
HOW QUICKLY YOU BOTH JUST ANSWERED THAT, MAKES ME BELIEVE YOU 100%. THAT WAS TELEPATHIC.
Obi: Yeah and that goes back to us being so close as brothers, man. The main goal is always the same thing. We have the same family; our goal is to be successful and leave them a great legacy. So if my brother says to me, “Oh O1, we should change this, or do that,” I’m not going to second guess him. Same as if I say to U1, “Look, we should change that,” we know that if the other one is saying that, it’s for a reason. In saying that, most of the time when he’s thinking something, I’m probably thinking the same thing anyway. We just want to win.
Uche: Yeah, that’s it. There’s no egos here we just want to win and take care of our families.
Obi: [Laughs] And get rich!
Uche: Yeah, and be rich. 100% facts.
Never clashing is something I’ve never heard from any artists. That’s so rare and that’s a blessing for sure.
Obi: Yeah nobody says that. I think it’s the way our parents raised us.
I’m glad you said that because I want to ask about your parents. Your relationship and the way you speak about each other and family values leads me to think they had a big part to play in steering you towards music. Am I right in thinking that?
Obi: Our parents are Nigerian and we used to listen to a lot of Nigerian music in the household. My Dad was a music journalist in Nigeria and when he first came to England with African artists and stuff like that. So we had a lot of musical influence in our household growing up. I don’t want to say forced [laughs] but Mum definitely pushed us to be in the church choir --
Uche: She forced us!
Obi: Yeah she forced us to be in the church choir when we were younger. So me and my brother learned how to play guitar and drums and we learned these things in church. We couldn’t pay for lessons or anything but it was through that community that we built things up over the years to this place.
Tracksuits, CARRE, Jackets, THE ANTI ORDER
Lucky for me. One of the things I admire about you guys is the way you’ve used your voice to spread positivity. Whether that’s for causes at home or abroad you’ve been active on social issues throughout your career, especially recently with the BLM movement.
Uche: Yeah that’s really important to us. We stand up for what we believe in. Black Lives Matter has had a great effect on the industry. If that momentum means that big corporations and organisations create departments that focus on our culture, that’s an important step. The next thing is: “How do we tap into those organisations and build from there?” We’re really straight up about what we stand for and yeah I’d like to say that we are peoples’ people. We’re here for the people.
Obi: Yeah. We don’t do it for hype or nothing. We’ve been told a lot of times in our careers, you know, “Don’t mention God as much”. But we don’t stop because we believe in God. It’s the same thing. We’re black. We’re not going to stop with Black Lives Matter either. One day we’ll have families that benefit from the way we’ve paved. So we’ve got to stand up for what we believe in. Someone’s got to take that on and we’re happy to be a part of that for our culture and our beliefs.
Hopefully that’s inspiring other people to stand up for what they believe in. I think regardless of faith, culture, political beliefs or any other number of things, people really respect and respond to authenticity which comes across in everything you’re saying. Has it ever gone the other way and stood in the way of opportunities or partnerships for you guys?
Both: Never.
Obi: We’ve always been positive about everything we do. So yeah, never.
Positivity over everything.
Uche: That’s it.
Do you think that artists should be considered role models because of the positions they’re in and the platforms they have?
Obi: 100% yes.
Uche: I think all artists should be considered role models, but that said, the pressure shouldn’t necessarily be there because some people don’t do this to be in that spot. They’re just speaking their truth and blew up via that. I think they should be seen as role models for what they do well but maybe not with the pressure on them to be a role model in everything they do.
Say for example you’re a drill rapper. If you start out as a drill rapper, and you blow up off that, you can’t then turn around on that person and tell them they shouldn’t talk about violence. Do you get what I’m saying? I’m not saying it’s right, but there has to be a level of understanding on both ends.
Obi: Exactly. It’s what they see everyday and what they’ve lived. They can only talk about their own experiences. My brother is right.
So with someone like Sean Paul or Jay Park who I know you’ve worked with, how does your approach change jumping between genres? And what things do you notice are always the same no matter who you’re working with or what you’re working on?
Uche: One thing that is always the same is that a great record is always a great record, no matter what genre you’re in. A hit is a hit. That’s one thing you can’t deny. Whether we’re working on hip-hop, pop, rock, country or dance music, that’s our formula for success.
DBF wearing, all garments, PUMA
In the same breath, good business is good business. And you touched on this earlier but DBF isn’t just a production powerhouse. Can you tell us about some of the ways you’ve diversified Da Beatfreakz as a business?
Obi: Yeah. We’ve got a lot of businesses. We’ve just set up a property business in Nigeria and we’ve got a new business in the UK that my brother can tell you about.
Uche: DBF Cutz is our barbershop and we aim to make that a chain by God’s grace across the UK and into other countries. Like my brother said, we’ve got a property business that we’re setting up in Nigeria. We also set up a new business called ‘Connecting the Culture’ with Krept and Konan. That business connects brands from the likes of Puma and Nike, to Mercedes, with acts specifically from our culture. That’s been amazing and that’s something we set up in this whole corona lockdown. Among other things, we’ve also got ‘Freaky Crunch Clothing’ to come very soon.
Obi: And DBF Management. We manage artists.
Uche: Plus DBF Records, DBF Publishing and DBF Sports coming soon.
Obi: [Laughs] Trying to make those Jay-Z moves.
Literally took the words out of my mouth. It sounds like you’ve got that Bad Boy, Roc Nation type mentality. I understand you have a publisher but you pretty much handle everything else yourselves? Is that right?
Obi: Now it’s basically our own publishing company. We haven’t got a publisher. So everything is handled by me and my brother, and our team. That’s it.
You had credits on one of the standout releases of the year in Insomnia. What can you tell us about that experience? Is there a certain studio moment that stands out in your memory?
Uche: Insomnia. That was crazy. First of all, that was all done at our studio. Young Adz just hit us up saying he wanted to do something crazy and it was going to be him, Chip and Skepta. At first we thought: “Are they really going to do it?” Because in the past when big names try to come together, there’s so much room for issues and stuff. But we just locked like a week back to back in the studio, working non-stop. The whole thing was a crazy experience. We produced two songs on the record. We produced ‘Star In The Hood’ and ‘Insomnia Interlude’. At the time, we knew ‘Star in the Hood’ was a big one. Creating it, everyone in the studio was going crazy. The energy was mad.
I saw the mini doc that came out alongside the release and obviously didn’t realise that was all shot in your studio but that non-stop, laser focus for back to back sessions is something I took away. There’s a moment I think where Skepta is arguing with Young Adz that goats sleep on the side of a mountain and that ‘even goats need sleep’. Did you guys get much sleep that week?
Both: [Laughs} Nah, nah. Definitely not.
You’ve also managed to maintain a really strong visual identity over the course of your career, manifested especially through your cover art. What was the inspiration behind those animated characters and why is it important to you to keep them going?
Obi: My brother and I have always been interested in animation, from ever since we were young. We designed our logo when we were kids - basically - starting out doing music. It was a long time ago now [laughs] but we’ve always kept it, thinking, “this is our brand”. No matter how hard the song is we want to keep it and bring others into that world. You know what I mean? And that’s going to transcend our clothing brand and the cartoon that we’re building out. We’ve got so many things coming that are intertwined with that style of artwork.
Does 2020 have any more to offer? Do you have anything else for us before the year is out?
Uche: Yeah! We’ve got a few records we’ve produced for big acts coming next. For us, we’re focusing on working on and finishing off our own project. But yeah we’ve got a couple big bangers coming. Some hits. We’re excited about that.
Obi: We’ve got our documentary coming as well! Coming soon.
Any details you can share on that front or is that all confidential for the moment?
Obi: So that’s mostly about me and my brother’s lives, where we’re from, who we’ve worked with and we’ve got interviews from back in the day. There’s a lot of artists that people don’t realise me and my brother were there and helping build a lot of their careers when we were kids. I was a teenager and U1 was even younger. A lot of people don’t know what we’ve done so the documentary covers a lot of that. Who we are, what we’ve done, and where we’re from.
Uche: #FamilyBusiness. That’s the name of the project: ‘Family Business’.
Art Direction — SAM SMART & FELICITY GILBERT @625worldwide
Video & Editing — STUART RAWLINGS & OSAMA HASSABALLA @rocktheboatpictures
Photography — GUY CROSS @g.pjc | Photography Assistant — TYRUS HILL
GROOMING — ZANA MOSES @zxana_moses | Logistics Coordinator — AARON WATT
CREATIVE DIRECTOR — HAZE ALIEU
SHOOT PRODUCER — SERING SAMBOU
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