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“They don’t expect something great to come out from someone with a vagina” – Dunnie Lawal

By Editor

23 March 2021   |   2:29 pm

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#TheChallenging series is a collaborative body of work between House Of ZETA and Working Title on the aspiring people who defy stereotypes in their industries.

#TheChallenging series is a collaborative body of work between House Of ZETA and Working Title on the aspiring people who defy stereotypes in their industries.

Our debut is with Dunnie Lawal, who has worked with the likes of Wande Cole, Efya and brands like Oppo and Maggi.

“They don’t expect something great to come out from someone with a vagina” – Dunnie Lawal

Based on the prevalence of female chart-topping whizzes, you’d believe that the music business — customarily the space of men — is progressively being moulded by influential ladies.

However, in the background, it’s an alternate story. Female producers, mixers, engineers, designers, and editors are rare, and the ones who exist are reliably disregarded and limited.

Ladies have been less invited into these more specialized spaces. House of ZETA met with talented music producer, Dunnie Lawal, who is changing predispositions about music careers and effectively reclassifying what it means to be a lady in the music business. She is impassive when belittled and she doesn’t let being the lady in the room keep her from exhibiting her expertise.

“They don’t expect something as great to come out from someone who has a vagina,” Dunnie Lawal says. She says “when I started, people did not take me seriously, they just thought it was cute and adorable”.

Sexism has been a major challenge because most people are of the impression that women are difficult to work with, but to her, they misunderstand wanting nothing but the best for being difficult. It has however gotten easier over the years because now her work speaks for her.

Dunnie pointed out that there are more female producers than we give credit, but the major problem seems to be that there are not as many women getting placements. She urged A&R to be more intentional in bringing more women on board.

According to her, doing something that is tagged as a “man’s thing” opens more doors because people would want to listen and are usually intrigued by the idea.

Watch our full interview with Dunnie here –

#TheChallenging series is a collaborative body of work between House Of ZETA and Working Title on the aspiring people who defy stereotypes in their industries.