For some it takes a day, week, month or year to put together a song and release it.
However, for popular radio presenters and club DJs, Sphectacula and Naves, it took them five years to work on their latest single called Okokoko.
The duo said they had been in and out of the studio to ensure their offering was of a good standard.
Their latest single is currently enjoying massive airplay on various radio stations, from community to national radio.
The duo featured some industry veterans on their latest single, such as the legendary Thebe and Unathi, while respected producers arranged the lyrical content of the song and put on the final touches.
They have also recently dropped a music video.
DJ Sphectaula says the inspiration behind their song was the fact that they had been working together for the past 10 years and people rely on them to provide entertainment, whether on television, radio or just through music.
Describing their latest offering, he says this song conjures up a nostalgic feeling with a classic sound.
He says they released a debut album in 2015 and have dropped countless singles over the years.
DJ Naves says even if they don’t win awards now, in the future people must say they should have been recognised while they were still alive.
But most importantly, he says they wanted to make good quality music over and over again and not just produce music for the sake of making it.
He says it took them a good five years to put the song together. There were about eight or nine versions of the song and they needed to choose the one they felt strongly about to work on more.
But he says they could not release it at that time as they felt it was not going to work and the timing was not right and the music was not coming together. At one time, he says, he thought they had it and it was good to go but later on he realised it was not up to standard.“In this song we have poured our heart and soul. We have poured in our passion in this song, in fact, we have given it our all. It’s one of those records if it does not become the biggest song in the country, I will be okay with it because I gave it my all,” he says.
When asked the reason behind releasing the album at this particular time, Naves says there is a rush in September to drop songs and they wanted to avoid that. He says they had already had the song for five years and didn’t feel holding the song back for three months would hurt. “Your release, it its fresh and different from the popular songs on the market from amapiono and gqom. There is room for everybody in the market. The song was ready in January 2019 and we were like no, let’s wait and bear in mind we have four singles that we are working on already.”
When asked about challenges they have faced, DJ Sphectacula says it has been very simple for them because one thing is for certain, that they want to work together for a long time.
So, he says, when that is the bigger picture it becomes easier as there is no issues of jealousy or competition.
In addition, he says they were aware of each other’s strengths and weaknesses. And there is no disagreement but there are issues when maybe one feels more stronger about a certain issue.
“We kinda knew each other but when the opportunity came in 2010 to host the show together on Metro FM, we became the official duo. We discovered that we had similarities and the same vision. What keeps us together is brotherhood,” he says. Their advice to upcoming artists is to take your time with your music and create your own style, not mimic others.