What 2019 dragged in: ‘Echos’ of consistency.

– Titilope Adesanya

Let me introduce you to Echo The Guru, a producer who spent 2019 making & uploading one beat per day. 365 beats in total!

Echo, born Emmanuel Nwachukwu Ejidike-26, works from a studio in Ebute-Metta, Lagos Nigeria. He’s soft-spoken, thoughtful, weird and crazy enough to be called “Echo The Guru”. As we sat and talked in his dimly lit studio- the walls dressed up with a large framed image of Echo in his mask and another framed image of the cover art of his debut single ‘Ajuru’-, one thing was clear; the journey of one beat a day for a year, left Echo better than it found him.

The first time I heard of Echo, he had just produced the song Killah for OBT  in 2017 and I have kept my eye on him ever since. He would ever so often, post up a clip of just instrumentals and each time, I’d give each one I quick listen. The day he shared ‘Nightmare’ in 2018 was the day I signed up as a cheerleader and a fan. The simplicity yet somewhat dark feel of the beat runs so deeply it captivates and keeps you stuck on repeat and share.  I was hooked and I wanted more…

So, when he announced at the beginning of the year that he would be uploading one song each day, for the whole year, I was both excited and worried. Excited because wow! no small feat to make however many beats a day, choose one to upload and then do that for 365 days and worried that he might not actually be able to see it through.

Well here we are, it’s the end of the year and by my count, he’s uploaded exactly 365 beats this year alone, even Sarz recognizes.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BzaGkdKHSOs/

Echo would often create sounds even he couldn’t place into a definitive genre. The first beat of the year was called ‘Afropolio‘;  a tantalizing fusion of electro, Afrohouse and dance.  The other 364 tracks explore a varying selection of sounds that inspire warm, dark, deep and carefree emotions all at once.

It’s pretty clear to anyone that a project like this would teach you discipline, focus consistency and patience.  For someone like Echo it will also sharpen your creative senses while burning them out at the same time. Echo might have done it for all these reasons and more but the ripple effect of his consistent creativity he couldn’t have foreseen.

Of all the short beautiful stories that have come from this challenge, the story around the making of the Fireboy’s King is one I consider a propelling one and Echo agrees that it inspired in him a little more belief in what he was doing. The instrumental was uploaded earlier in the year as part of this personal challenge he had taken up, Fireboy found it, downloaded it from his page and then reached out to clear it when he had made ‘King’ and here we are.

Sitting with Echo, it’s easy to pick up on his confidence about what he posses and what he might achieve with it. It’s also very easy to see that he’s clear that his journey has just begun and there’s much more for him to learn.

Echo’s discography includes tunes with Skales, Yemi Alade, OBT, Fireboy DML and he intends to grow the list in the coming year.

Do your ears a favour, put this to play into the new year and then every day after that.