A song begins long before it reaches the recording studio. Behind every finished recording lies a creative process involving ideas, lyrics, melodies and musical decisions.
While audiences often associate songs primarily with the performers, lyricists and composers play equally important roles in shaping the music listeners ultimately experience.
For Bunmi Naomi Oshin, music is increasingly becoming a platform for creative expression beyond vocal performance. Her growing involvement as a lyricist and composer highlights another dimension of her musical career and demonstrates the breadth of her artistic abilities.
From Vocalist to Music Creator
Bunmi Naomi Oshin’s musical journey has been shaped by performance. She gained wider public recognition through her appearance on the second season of The Voice Nigeria, where she showcased her vocal abilities to a broader audience.
The experience marked an important stage in her professional development and opened opportunities for further involvement in the music industry.
Her career subsequently expanded into professional backing-vocal work, allowing her to collaborate with established Nigerian artists and participate in live performances and recorded projects.
These experiences have helped her develop a deeper understanding of music, performance and the creative decisions involved in producing a finished song.
For an artist who has spent years interpreting music through performance, moving into lyric writing and composition represents a natural progression.
Understanding the Art of Lyric Writing
Lyrics are central to how a song communicates with its audience. They can tell stories, express emotions, capture experiences or create memorable phrases that remain with listeners long after the music ends.
The work of a lyricist goes beyond finding the right words. Lyrics must complement the rhythm, fit the melody and communicate effectively when performed.
Oshin’s background as a vocalist gives her a practical understanding of these demands.
Having interpreted other people’s lyrics behind the microphone, she understands how words translate into vocal expression. This experience can influence how she approaches her own songwriting, allowing her to consider not only what the lyrics mean but also how they sound when sung.
The Creative Role of a Composer
Oshin’s involvement as a composer adds another dimension to her musical contribution.
Composition involves developing the melodies, musical ideas and structures that transform creative concepts into complete musical works.
For an artist with vocal performance experience, the relationship between melody and voice can be particularly important.
A vocalist develops an understanding of phrasing, pitch and vocal movement. When combined with songwriting and composition, this knowledge can contribute to music that is expressive, engaging and suitable for performance.
Her development as a composer therefore represents more than an expansion of professional responsibilities. It reflects a growing creative role in the music-making process.
Professional Collaborations and Musical Experience
Collaboration has played an important role in Oshin’s career.
Her work as a professional backing vocalist has exposed her to different musical styles, arrangements and approaches to performance. She has been associated with projects involving Nigerian artists such as Kizz Daniel, 2Baba, Terry Apala, Mayorkun and Eedris Abdulkareem.
A 2021 profile published by PM News Nigeria highlighted her backing-vocal contribution to work with Eedris Abdulkareem at ÀWA Studios, describing how her vocals added depth to the recording.
Such experiences can be valuable for a songwriter and composer, offering practical insight into how songs are interpreted, arranged and performed.
For Oshin, the knowledge gained through collaboration provides an additional foundation for her own creative work.
Exploring Different Stages of Music Production
One notable aspect of Oshin’s development is her growing involvement in different stages of music creation.
As a vocalist, she contributes through performance. As a backing singer, she understands how individual voices complement a larger musical arrangement. As a lyricist, she contributes words and storytelling, while her role as a composer allows her to develop musical ideas.
Together, these experiences provide a broader understanding of songwriting and production.
They also enable her to approach musical projects from different creative perspectives, considering the message of a song, the delivery of its lyrics, the development of its melody and the interpretation of the eventual performer.
Building an Independent Creative Identity
For many musicians, establishing a professional identity is a gradual process shaped by performance opportunities, collaborations and creative experiences.
Oshin’s career reflects this progression.
Her early vocal experience provided a technical foundation, while her backing-vocal work expanded her professional network and exposed her to different musical environments.
Her growing involvement in lyric writing and composition now offers another avenue for creative expression.
This development is significant because it extends her contribution beyond performance and places her increasingly within the creative process behind the music.
Bunmi Naomi Oshin and Nigeria’s Contemporary Music Industry
Oshin’s musical journey reflects the collaborative nature of Nigeria’s contemporary music industry.
Across different genres, performers, producers, composers, vocalists and songwriters increasingly work together to create music.
The distinction between performer and songwriter is becoming more flexible, with artists contributing in multiple capacities across different projects.
Oshin’s experience in vocal performance, backing vocals, lyric writing and composition positions her to participate in music from several creative perspectives.
Why Lyricists and Composers Matter
Although audiences primarily experience the finished recording, the work of lyricists and composers provides much of the foundation for a song.
Lyrics establish the message and storytelling, while composition determines how those words are carried by the music. The vocalist then interprets and communicates the finished work to listeners.
By contributing as both lyricist and composer, Oshin is becoming involved in the creative foundation of the music itself.
Her development highlights the importance of recognising the creative professionals whose work begins long before a song reaches the stage or recording studio.
Looking Ahead
Bunmi Naomi Oshin’s development as a lyricist and composer marks an important stage in her musical journey.
Her experience as a performer provides a strong foundation for songwriting, while professional collaborations have exposed her to different musical approaches and creative environments.
As she continues to write, compose and collaborate, Oshin has the opportunity to establish a broader creative identity—one defined not only by the voice audiences hear on stage or in the studio, but also by the ideas, lyrics and compositions behind the music.
For Oshin, the transition from vocalist to lyricist and composer is not a departure from her musical past.
It is an expansion of it.
With every new composition, she has another opportunity to demonstrate that her contribution to music begins not only with the microphone, but also with the creative idea that comes before it.
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