Nigerian artiste who sang Obama to victory

By FEMI SALAWU
Friday, November 21, 2008

• Dapo and American singer, Brandy Photo: Sun News Publishing

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He was the only male member of the musical quartet known as Kush who stole the hearts of many Nigerians with the hit songs Lets Live Together. Dapo Torimo, multi-talented music producer and song writer is now the toast of American music stars including John Legend, Brandy and David Archuleta among others.

Recently Torimiro worked with two-time Grammy winning producer, Jeffery Weber to record a song for the Obama Campaign called Change. The song is one of the high budget media stunts recorded during the campaign trail and aired on prime time Radio and TV.

The musician who now wears a dreadlock has worked both in the studio and on tour with several American music greats such as ex-refugee artiste, Lauryn Hill, as well as Oscar Brown Jnr., and Lalah Hathaway.

In October, he finished producing new songs for John legend, Brandy and David Archuleta. John legend, a five time Grammy Award winner has his latest song entitled Quickly produced by this versatile Nigerian singer. The single which has been earning rave reviews on musical charts is on the album Evolver which is John Legend’s third studio album hit street on last October 28.

The album features multi-platinum-selling artiste Brandy. Quickly which was produced by Torimiro has received early industry buzz as an inspired, sleek duet featuring R&B/ pop music’s leading artistes.
An excited Torimiro told fans on his website, “it is a great opportunity and dream come true to be able to make the transition from being a travelling and studio musician to becoming a songwriter and producer for artistes who I have always been a fan of. It’s great to go from being a fan to becoming a collaborator”.

Another track entitled Running on David Archuleta’s recently released debut was also produced by Torimiro. Archuleta who emerged runner-up on American Idol Show in June is making his debut as a musician after his success at the talent show.
Another equally scintillating number entitled Torn Down from Brandy’s highly anticipated album entitled Human, which was also produced by Torimiro is due for release on December 9.

In the past couple of months, especially since June, global entertainment industry has been abuzz with the exploits of the Nigerian as news about his work inundates websites of top entertainment media outlets.
“A Yamaha – corporation endorsed artiste, Torimiro has been recognized by many as a talented multi-instrumentalist and musical catalyst and he was previously sought- after by the industry top notch artistes to exhibit his skills as a touring and studio musician as well as to score various television and film project” noted one of such bulletins about Torimiro on the Internet.

Bruce Waynne of Midi Mafia, an award winning production duo based in Los Angeles (US) says of Torimoro “ He brings something different to the table.

You have to do something very special and unique for us to decide to work with you.” He explain further, “He plays multiple instruments, and he is not just a beat guy. He is someone who can also starts from scratch, but he does it his own way, from his own perspective, He brings a lot of musicality and a lot of theory to the mix. You are going to be seeing a lot of us working with him”.

Currently, Dapo lives and works in Los Angeles, California. He continues to produce and write for artists and film projects. He is also working on his debut solo album, which has already drawn comparisons to the music of Sting and Seal. Occasionally, he might be spotted knocking out a killer solo, performing at jazz clubs or on tour with established artiste.

David Archuleta’s “Crush” set to reach platinum status

As of last count David Archuleta’s “Crush” single was just shy of platinum status at 991,657 copies sold. Preliminary survey states that he has possibly sold another 8,000 copies since then.

We will not know the exact number until official stats are released next Wednesday but going platinum is another milestone for the 7th season American Idol runner-up David Archuleta.

Will you be the one to buy the 1 millionth copy and help put his name on the platinum record?

David Archuleta album debuts at #2 on Billboard 200!

David Archuleta at Virgin Megastore, 11/11/08

The Billboard 200 debut, “American Idol” runner-up David Archuleta debuts at No. 2 with his self-titled 19 Recordings/Jive album on sales of 183,000.

The song, “Running” was written by James Fauntleroy, Kevin Risto, Wayne Nugent, Steven Russell, Dapo Torimiro and produced by Dapo Torimiro for Dapomiro Productions and Bruce Waynne and Dirty Swift for MIDI Mafia.

“Everybody Knows” and “Quickly” (featuring Brandy) are John Legend’s next singles

EVOLVER is #6 on Billboards HOT 200 Album Sales chart. In an interview with UrbanBridgez.com, John Legend talks about the next singles.

UrbanBridgez.com: What’s the next single?

John Legend: We just shot the video for Everybody Knows, so we’ll be releasing that next. Then we’re shooting the video for Quickly with Brandy next.

UrbanBridgez.com: Brandy’s actually one of our favorites, how did that collaboration come about and what was it like recording with her?

John Legend: Unfortunately I didn’t get the chance to actually record with her in the studio. I thought she would be great for the record and she was. Brandy is one of the best singers of our time. I thought she would fit well on the track so we reached out to her. She sounds so perfect on the song, she killed it! I knew she was about to release her album soon, so we thought this would be a perfect way to get her back out there a little earlier.

Nigerian Songwriter/Producer Dapo Torimiro ”Quickly” Breaks Onto the R&B/Pop Music Scene With Hot New Songs for John Legend, Brandy and David Archuleta

Dapo Torimiro’s musical and production abilities are so diverse that no two songs sound alike. Whether he’s writing and producing a jazz song or a rock song, an R&B song, or a gospel song, one thing remains constant–the end product will be both absolutely unique and yet authentic to its genre.

Los Angeles, CA (PRWEB) October 22, 2008 — You probably haven’t heard of Nigerian-born songwriter/producer Dapo Torimiro, but that is about to change with the recent placement of high-profile singles on various top R&B/pop artists’ albums. The album release dates fall within weeks of each other, but Torimiro’s first break is placing the song ”Quickly” on five-time Grammy winner John Legend’s third studio album, EVOLVER, which will hit the streets on October 28. Featuring multi-platinum-selling artist Brandy, ”Quickly” has received early industry buzz as not only an inspired, sleek duet featuring R&B/pop music’s leading artists, but also as one of the album’s stand-out gems. Later this Fall 2008, Torimiro will also enjoy credit for other upcoming tracks, including ”Running” on David Archuleta’s self-titled debut album (11/11/08) — his first since becoming runner-up on American Idol in June 2008 — and ”Torn Down” from Brandy’s highly-anticipated album, HUMAN (12/9/08), which she describes as her most personal album to date.

Dapo Torimiro

It’s a great opportunity and a dream come true to be able to make the transition from being a touring and studio musician to songwriting and producing for artists that I’ve always been a fan of. It’s great to go from being a fan to a collaborator

He brings something different to the table. You have to do something very special and unique for us to decide to work with you.

He plays multiple instruments, and he’s not just a beat guy. He’s someone who can also start from scratch, but he does it his own way, from his own perspective. He brings a lot of musicality and a lot of theory to the mix. You’re going to be seeing a lot more of us working with him.

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–> A Yamaha-endorsed artist, Torimiro has been recognized by many as a talented multi-instrumentalist and musical catalyst, and he was previously sought after by the industry’s top-notch artists to exhibit his skills as a touring and studio musician as well as to score various television and film projects. In 2006, Lauryn Hill selected him to tour with her as her keyboardist for several months, and he also had the opportunity to tour with Lalah Hathaway and perform with the legendary Stevie Wonder. Leaving his role as a touring musician behind him, Torimiro enthusiastically embraces the realization of his ultimate goal: songwriting and producing for major artists.

“It’s a great opportunity and a dream come true to be able to make the transition from being a touring and studio musician to songwriting and producing for artists that I’ve always been a fan of. It’s great to go from being a fan to a collaborator,” he expresses.

Torimiro’s musical and production abilities are so diverse that no two songs sound alike. Whether he’s writing and producing a jazz song or a rock song, an R&B song, or a gospel song, one thing remains constant–the end product will be both absolutely unique and yet authentic to its genre.

In the midst of being pursued by various respected artists with whom he has cultivated relationships, Torimiro also recognizes the value of collaborating with other talented producers. The gifted musician has recently teamed up with the award-winning production duo Midi Mafia (50 Cent, Fantasia) in Los Angeles to collaborate on various projects.

Of the super-producers’ recent collaboration with Torimiro, Bruce Waynne of Midi Mafia says, “He brings something different to the table. You have to do something very special and unique for us to decide to work with you.” Elaborating further, he explains, “He plays multiple instruments, and he’s not just a beat guy. He’s someone who can also start from scratch, but he does it his own way, from his own perspective. He brings a lot of musicality and a lot of theory to the mix. You’re going to be seeing a lot more of us working with him.”

Most recently, Torimiro worked with two-time Grammy-winning producer Jeffrey Weber to record a song for the Obama campaign called “Change.” For more recent news on Dapo Torimiro, including ”in the studio” blog posts (recent post: ”Joss Stone in the studio”), or videos of his amazing instrumentation at impromptu mini-performances, visit http://www.dapomiroworks.com.

Media Contact:
Ngozi Mba
MINC Media
323.544.1450
info @ mincmedia.com

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