Beatmenace believes only the loop makes Lasmid’s Biggest Nathaniel stand out
Grammy-nominated audio engineer Kofi Boachie-Ansah, popularly known as Beatmenace, has shared his thoughts on why Lasmid’s hit song ‘Biggest Nathaniel’ could struggle to maintain its appeal among listeners over time.
According to the sound engineer, while the song’s simplicity is one of its greatest strengths, it could also become the reason audiences eventually lose interest in it.
Speaking on Joy FM’s Showbiz A-Z during a discussion themed “Music Lap: The science behind the sound”, where the production and musical elements of ‘Biggest Nathaniel’ were analysed, Beatmenace explained that the song relies heavily on a loop that does not develop enough throughout its duration.
“The biggest strength of the song is also its biggest weakness. Yes, which is a paradox, but if there’s such a thing. It’s overly simplistic. They establish the basic idea fairly early in the song and it fails to evolve.
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“The entire song is just the loop, which was why you couldn’t keep playing the instrumentation for too long. At some point, you just have the same thing because you hear the first 45 seconds and you’ve pretty much heard the entire instrumental,” he said.
He noted that although the song’s main musical idea is effective and memorable, the production could have introduced more variations to keep listeners engaged beyond the initial excitement.
“The basic instrumental motif has been established at a certain point. It would have been better to still maintain a connection between the various parts of the song while still maintaining that identity, and there were several ways they could have done it,” he stated.
Beatmenace suggested that subtle production adjustments could have added more depth to the record without taking away from its original identity.
“There could have been a slight variation in the percussion, maybe an added counterpoint. What I mean by counterpoint is a melody, like a top-line melody or a major melody, placed somewhere else. In Ghana, we call it call and response, but this time it is the communication between instruments. That could have been a really amazing way of doing it.
“Or perhaps, if maintain the same chords, maybe in certain sections you invert the same chords. So it’s similar, but it’s different, and it’s subtle. Sometimes those subtleties can make humongous differences,” he noted.
While acknowledging the success of ‘Biggest Nathaniel’, Beatmenance stressed that the bigger challenge for any hit song is maintaining relevance after the initial buzz fades.
“I know it’s a popular song and I’m super happy for it. The question ultimately is longevity. After the hype and the razzmatazz, how do you sustain its relevance after a while when people get fed up and tired of hearing it. That’s the problem with songs like that,” he said.
He added that although commercial songs often rely on catchy hooks and memorable elements, overusing those elements can affect a song’s ability to stand the test of time.
“However, most commercially successful songs prioritise creating memorable hooks. It was evident in the chorus, it was evident in the production, but I think they stretched it too thin, and that can actually undo the longevity of the song,” he added.
“Biggest Nathaniel,” by Lasmid is currently one of the popular Ghanaian songs doing well digitally and the lyrics of the song reflects the musician’s journey, acknowledges the obstacles he has overcome, and expresses confidence in achieving greater accomplishments.
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