Meet the Man Making the Music

Little is known about the playmakers behind the hits we love dancing and singing to.

They lurk in the beats, hide between the tracks and only reveal themselves in tags, short audio recordings of their producer names at the beginning and/or end of a song.

We talked to Solani Zulu, also known as Glo, a songwriter, vocalist and music producer originally from Luanda, Angola, but raised in Windhoek. He has been an important driving force in the Namibian music industry, making beats and producing tracks for musicians since 2001, having started with the group Inspire.

Initially, he meant to be a vocalist and began producing to explain to mixers what he wanted, but then found himself attached to the whole process.

Since then, he has been (in part) responsible for PDK’s ‘We Cele’, ‘Wanna Love You’, King Tee Dee’s ‘Deception’, Gazza’s ‘Seelima’, Sunny Boy’s ‘Young, Wild and Free’, Tate Buti’s ‘Aina’ and ‘No Beer’, Promise’s ‘Kumangoma’, ‘TopCheri’s ‘Victoria’, Lioness’ ‘Meme’ and countless others that have made lasting impacts.

Glo’s process starts with playing keys to get a melody, or with the drumline if he is creating a dance song, then he adds the rest of the instruments.

“Once the beat is done, I record the vocals with the artist,” he says.

Mixing and mastering is done a day after because he considers it an art on its own. This involves balancing the vocals and instruments, as well as other elements to blend the sounds together.

When you hear “Mr Glo on the beat”, his popular tag, it is a result of these factors. The song would then be ready and the artist can have a unique and personalised product.

The key to making a hit song, he says, is having a passion for music and willingness to learn and grow. After all these years, he still rates his own skills seven out of 10 as he feels he has a lot to learn.

“Picking up an instrument and improving your computer skills is vital. If you are able to put music together in your own way, it’s a start.”

Glo always makes it his responsibility to get the best quality sound out of a song, regardless of how it started, and this, he says, adds to the success of his music and keeps hitmakers coming back to him. “My productions speak volumes to the people.”

Being a producer isn’t without its issues, though. “We have challenges getting royalties as not all artists give the correct information to Nascam. Also, we cannot always charge the artists what we actually deserve as the Namibian music industry is still growing.”

When Glo isn’t making music, he enjoys travelling, cooking, reading and surfing the net for deeper knowledge of his trade.

He attributes his success to growing up with many siblings and a mother with a warm heart. Lucky enough for fans, he says he won’t be slowing down anytime soon. He has a list of productions waiting on their releases, including a collaboration between TopCheri and Lioness. “Expect more music you can dance to, move your soul, and something new and different.”