With the final episode of TurnTable’s Producer On Producer, we witness a rare, intimate conversation between two of Afrobeats’ most defining producers, Telz and Andre Vibez. The series, which has quietly become a home for nuanced conversations about Afrobeats production, closes out on a thoughtful, reflective note as both producers trace their origins, challenges, and philosophies.
The episode opens with an unexpected admission: despite crossing paths a few times, this is the first real conversation between Telz and Andre Vibez. Yet, the synergy is immediate. Andre recalls first discovering Telz in 2020, when a beat pack landed in the Mavin inbox, one producer tag stood out. Months later, he heard the same tag on a released song and instantly recognised the brilliance: “That’s the guy!”
For Telz, production began with envy. In 2011, watching a friend gain attention through his brother’s beats in an era when producers were still few and far between, he resolved to be seen too. “I wanted guys to feel me as well,” he admits. What started as envy crystallized into discipline by 2015, and soon, into hits.
Andre’s journey began much earlier, in 2005, when learning to make beats meant more than downloading a DAW, it meant apprenticeship. You ran errands. You cleaned gear. You waited for moments of mentorship. His access came through lineage: his father was the late Sir Victor Uwaifo, Nigeria’s pioneering highlife maestro and the first African artist to win a Golden Record. Uwaifo instructed his studio engineer to teach young Andre the foundations of sound, a privilege that shaped a lifetime in music.
“Back then,” Andre recalls, “just carrying a laptop, an external soundcard, and a hard drive felt like holding the future.” Today, those tools are ubiquitous, but the hunger, the instinct, the ear? Those remain rare.
When Telz asked Andre for advice, the elder producer shared a quiet ritual: every three years, he “reformats his brain”, shedding assumptions, embracing new workflows, and remaining a student of sound. Telz smiles: “I’ll do mine every five… and get a new laptop to match.”
Yet even hitmakers wrestle with limitations. Telz confesses he doesn’t play piano, what might take Andre ten minutes to compose at a keyboard can take him an hour of meticulous digital arranging. His dream? To step away for a year to learn piano and guitar. Andre’s counsel is both gentle and pragmatic: “The industry isn’t going anywhere.” Telz replies with a knowing laugh: “For me to do that, I need my ‘Calm Down.’”
The reference lands with weight. Produced by Andre Vibez, “Calm Down”—Rema’s global phenomenon has amassed over 1.6 billion streams on Spotify, becoming one of the most successful Afrobeats songs in history. “I feel very good,” Andre says. “I feel blessed”.
In turn, Andre offers deep respect for Telz’s catalog, especially his productions for Burna Boy and Patoranking. Telz reveals a twist: the Patoranking track was originally crafted for Phyno. Looking ahead, both men speak with clarity about their futures. At 60, Andre sees himself still in the studio, relaunching his label (Newsflash: He already did), refining his business, and continuing to produce. At 40, Telz envisions a different kind of freedom: making music untethered from metrics, unburdened by trends. “I want to drop projects without checking streams,” he says. “I want to make timeless music.”
Andre closes with a story of his early wishlist as an aspiring artist, one he showed to his father. The only realistic dream on the list, his father said, was owning a studio. Ironically, the studio became his gateway to producing for others, and eventually shifted his entire artistic path.
The episode wraps with simple but powerful to-dos: Andre wants to go out more and network, while Telz hopes to “change the world in his own little way.”
Watch the final episode of Producer on Producer now on TurnTable Charts.