SOUTH African musician, producer, and musical director Zādok has come a long way since his days making music with Urban Beards. From finessing music instruments at a young age to exercising his Midas touch on the BET Awards stage, the creative’s ascension is one he doesn’t chalk up to dumb luck but hard work and consistently honing his craft.
A man of enviable production credits, his track record includes having produced for some of Mzansi’s finest acts like SAMA-winning artists TRESOR and the late AKA, as well as BET Award-winning musician Sjava. His exploits as a music director and within the live performance atmosphere have seen him share the stage with JR, Mlindo the Vocalist, and Nadia Nakai, to mention a few.
We caught up with Zādok to discuss his journey as a producer, his inspirations, and what makes him the unique entity he has come to be.
Let us start with your origins. You began playing musical instruments at the age of 5 recreationally and turned pro at the cusp of your teenage hood. Between you making music for fun and then doing it for a living, what changed? What were the series of events that led to you taking the journey seriously? There were a few things that happened that gave me a better perspective of my abilities, signs that indicated to me that I have what it takes to be successful in the music industry. One of those few things was going viral a few times. One of my videos went viral and was broadcast on news organisations and things like that. Those were just my remixes at the time. And then a lot of that also came from the engagement that I was getting from the music industry, even though I wasn’t involved in it at the time because I was just creating content online.
From that point on, it was those things, the moments of engagement, that gave me the motivation that I could do this at a high level in the industry and the oomph to take it on.
There’s a great divide that stands between being an unknown and being the go-to guy musically. What was the bridge that closed that gap for you, the breakthrough you needed to take you to the next level of recognition as a producer? As a producer, I don’t think there’s necessarily one level of breakthrough. It’s always a series of events. In terms of reputation, that kind of thing is built over time and not just from an individual event. Yes, you have highlights, but it’s the body of work that is your career. So I’ve had quite a few moments that have led to this point, from your Feel Good Lives and the albums I’ve worked on to the award shows I’ve contributed to. So it’s been a process getting to the point that I am. I’m grateful to be here and for the opportunity to do what I do.
Having produced a number of tracks on AKA’s final album, MASS COUNTRY, “Lemons (Lemonade)” is one of the album’s most successful and you hold co-production credits. Take us through the production process that went into the song and how the sound came about.
“Lemons (Lemonade)” is one of those songs that is very uniquely South African in style and flavour. It’s probably one of the most Mass Country records on the album because it’s also one of the most collaborative joints on the project, even before the inclusion of Nasty C. There were at least eight to nine people that were involved in the creation of this song because of how strong the team spirit was towards building this concept of MASS COUNTRY and how clear the vision AKA painted for us was.
The song started with an idea. We had our first brief at the first camp about what the vision was for the album. Kiernan gave us the samples that he wanted us to break down and flip. The sample of the beat was originally flipped by Oriah [Beats], and then we all started jumping on it and adding different things. Christer added log drums and keys, FDeeeZus added more keys, and Teddy did the guitars. It was extremely collaborative. That song is one of my favourites from the project. It came from a pure moment of honesty and creativity. We weren’t looking for a hit.
Listen to “Lemons (Lemonade)”: AKA & Nasty C – Lemons (Lemonade) (Official Audio) – YouTube
Your production credits are extensive, including Sjava’s Umqhele, TRESOR’s Nostalgia, and JR’s Love Me Now. Given the range of your production know-how, to what do you credit your ability as a producer to be able to step into various genres and be able to create hard-hitting beats? I credit my ear. Having a great ear is what gives you the ability to be flexible and malleable to what different genres need and what the music may want at that moment. Ultimately, if you’re a good producer, you will recognise that music is bigger than all of us. So you have to respect the needs of the music itself.
While still talking about range, how important has it been for you to understand different sounds and genres? Do you feel like the extensive knowledge has been more of a hindrance to creating music pure to a specific genre, or has it helped with thinking outside the box? Knowledge can never be a stumbling block, but the application can be for a lot of people because they don’t know how to use it. The knowledge I have has always been a plus for me, an asset in various scenarios where I may find myself.
Let’s talk about you working with Lil Nas X. Two years ago, you were approached by his team to contribute to his set at the BET Awards. How did that come about, and how did the experience impact you as a producer? It was an exciting and validating experience because these are people that you look up to and that you’ve seen making hit records for years. So it’s an honour for me to be able to be in conversation with people like that and even have the opportunity to work with them.
Watch Lil Nas X’s BET Perfomance:
When it comes to production as artistry, which producers (or perhaps players of instruments in real time) have been of influence to your craft and why that person or those people? In real-time, the names I can give are John Mayer, Prince, and Cory Henry. They have contributed the most to my sonic identity as a musician.
Being a session musician and a music director, how have those aspects shaped the Zādok sound, and in what way do you feel your fingerprint is unique compared to your contemporaries? Ultimately, they’ve given me access to more melodies and made me more flexible in terms of ideas that I have and the harmonies that I use.
With the emergence of new genres and sounds, how do you plan to keep broadening your knowledge as a producer? You never stop learning. The process never stops. You continue growing and ingratiating yourself with what’s happening in our culture around the world. You just never stop. That’s how you never die as a producer.
Connect with Zādok:
Instagram: @zadokza
Twitter: @zadokza
