Tee-Y Mix: An unsung hero of Afrobeats’ global domination

From his deft production behind the consoles to mentoring the new generation of stars, Nigerian producer, Temitayo Ibitoye, popularly known as Tee-Y Mix who is content to operate behind-the-scenes, has etched a reputation as a versatile talent and one of the shining lights that laid the groundwork for Afrobeats’ global revolution.

While the 2000s laid the building blocks of what was then known as Nigerian hip hop, Tee-Y Mix’s award-winning music credits can easily be seen as one of the strong pillars of his era. He started out as a young, passionate creative in the Federal Capital City of Nigeria.

In retrospect, he recalls his early sojourn, “the city shaped my music career and inspired me a lot before I moved to Lagos. Those days, my Abuja journey was about creativity, not fame or money. It was just about being inspired by the environment and staying true to the craft and the art. We did it for the love of art for art sake.”

Starry-eyed and yearning for his first big break, Tee-Y Mix struck a creative bromance with a young rapper at the time, Naeto C. Together, they journeyed, and their synergy birthed chart-topping that propelled them both to stardom.

He had his first big break in 2008 with Naeto C’s magnum opus, Kini Big Deal shaping his sound and breaking the rapper into the bourgeoning Nigerian pop landscape. Tee-Y Mix went on to produce most of the tracks in the award-winning rapper’s 17 track debut album, U Know My “P” thus also stamping his name as a force to reckon with within the cultural space.

His repertoire includes productions for some of the biggest Nigerian artists, such as M.I Abaga, Praiz, 9ice, Temi Dollface, Burna Boy, Kiss Daniel, Seyi Shay, Sound Sultan, Kefee and Nikki Laoye among others.

Tee-Y Mix’s production genius did not go unnoticed by award organizers. He won The Headies Award Producer of the Year in 2012 on his third consecutive nomination by the organizers, making the list in two previous editions, 2009 and 2010, respectively. He also bagged three nominations for the same category by The Future Awards in 2009, 2010, and 2011. This is in addition to nominations in 2015, 2016 and 2018 by the organizers of The Beatz Award.

Music production alone is not all there is to Tee-Y Mix. He belongs to an exclusive group of versatile and multi-disciplinary producers who also combine other skills such as audio mixing and master engineering, as well as sound design for video productions.

Unknown to many, Tee-Y Mix’s song mixing credits, according to his Wikipedia page, include popular songs by Afrobeats star, Davido during his early years. They include hits that propelled the singer’s career into global dominance, including ‘Skelewu’ (2013), ‘Gobe’ (2013) and ‘Aye’ (2014). Other include D’Banj’s 2013 hit, ‘Don’t Tell Me Nonsense’ and Dr Sid’s ‘Surulere’ in the same year.

With an eye for detail, his sound design skills propelled him into other audio territories outside of music. This helped him make an inroad into the movie sector of the Nigerian creative landscape, popularly called Nollywood. He received a nomination for Achievement in Soundtrack by organizers at the 9th Africa Movie Award (AMAA) for his work in the multiple award-winning movie, ‘A Journey To Self.’ He also worked on the entire soundtrack of the 2018 movie, ‘Lara and the Beat’.

Blessed with excellent communication skills, Tee-Y Mix has carved a niche for himself as a knowledge transfer expert within the music ecosystem. He has been a judge on several musical talent shows.

Tee-Y Mix has established himself as a thought-leader and music subject-matter expert, serving as a jury member on some of the music reality shows where his distinguished professional prowess, experience, intelligence, and empathy have been of exceptional service, adding cutting-edge value to the shows. They include Project Fame West Africa, Access The Stars and God’s Children Got Talent. He was a facilitator on Gidi Creative Center and has produced corporate projects such as the Hennessy Artistry theme song, Coca-Cola EPL theme song, LEGGO among others.