When SSSoundGawd began stepping out from behind the decks, he has said, the verdict came quickly: the worst at rapping, the worst at producing, the worst at making the move at all. He named his debut EP The Worst and called it “the comeback story.”
The title is the standard in miniature. Behora Braveheart spent years as a DJ and hypeman in Mavo’s camp, headlining events and supporting shows, and before that worked as a graphic designer in Dubai while making music privately. His name points at the role he never gave up: the man behind the music.
“Aura Salad,” released with Mavo on 20 February, forced the wider hearing. He co-produced the record and took a verse that held its own on bounce, rhyme scheme and confidence. It became one of the most-streamed songs in Nigeria and stayed in circulation. A year earlier, “YA STRATA” had marked his first solo move, and online profiles credit it with a placement in a Hennessy Nigeria advertisement featuring Tems. As of early October he had spent eight weeks at No. 1 on the NXT Top Emerging Artistes Chart, with around 1.6 million monthly listeners on Spotify.
“Aura Salad” was the catalyst. The Worst is the statement. Announced for September, the six-track EP arrived in mid-October on Kilogbede Records, his first project as a lead artist. It features Jeriq the Hussla and Loony Q, and it holds a 32-bar stretch of straight rapping, a deliberate choice for a producer who wants to be heard on the mic.
The recognition is still early and the results are still forming. What is on record is the standard: a producer’s ear, full bars, and a project released when he was ready.
