We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Ben Obi a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Ben thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Are you able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen?

Yes, I’ve able to earn a full-time living from my creative work. I’m a British Nigerian and I grew up going to boarding school, and that taught me discipline, structure and consistency. After College in Minneapolis, I teamed up with another Nigerian, Producer/Artist, we became roommates and started charging our musician friends to record their songs and vocals. We started with that business mindset from the get-go. We were creative people, however, we also had a vision of where we wanted to go from the start. We divided up responsibilities and in a few years we had developed a network of friends, colleagues and clients in the Minneapolis area.

It’s difficult to say whether or not I could have sped up the process because there are pro’s and cons about the things I could have done to possibly speed up the process. Early in my career and a few times within my career I’ve thought about moving to a L.A., New York or London however, the cost of living and competition in those areas may have made it harder to make a living. Living in Minneapolis, I’m able to strike a balance and capitalize on being a bigger fish in a smaller market as opposed to being a smaller fish in a bigger market.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I landed in Minneapolis, from London, England as a young teenager to attend the University of Minnesota. In the early ’90s, I was one of 3 music producers at Steven Greenberg’s, Funkytown Studios located in St. Louis Park, MN. Steven is the producer behind the worldwide number one song Funkytown. By the mid ’90s, I and my then music production partner, Dr. Pele, teamed up with the former Head coach of the Minnesota Vikings, Dennis Green, to form Savannah Street Music. Savannah Street Music is a music production, licensing and artist development company. By the mid-2000s after engineering and producing 100’s of artists locally, nationally, and internationally, I was hired by former Timberwolves player, Troy Hudson to be his Director of Music at his Minneapolis-based Record Company. Fast forward another 10 years, and Savannah Street Music is still operational. Being a British Nigerian, I have the distinction of being the first African in the Twin Cities to have had a music production national distribution deal. I had a deal with the now-defunct Navarre Corp. I’ve also had the distinction of working with a majority of the Africans in diaspora in the Twin Cities and a majority of the successful urban artists to emerge from the Twin Cities. Additionally, I served as an Adjunct Instructor at the now-closed nationally accredited music school, The Minneapolis Media Institute. I taught music production, recording and, the music business.
In a music career spanning about 30 years, I’ve mentored, instructed, consulted, engineered and produced several artists and have released 100’s of commercially available songs, selling and streaming 100,000’s of records.

In regards to what problems I solve for my clients, they fall into 3 categories. Category 1: The reliable creative – several creatives often complain about tardiness, emotional wavering and the unreliability of other creatives. When an artist or client comes to Savannah Street Music for a service they can rest assured that if we start we will finish in a timely manner.

Category 2: The knowledgeable and experienced Producer/Consultant – often in the entertainment industry there is a disconnect between people with the knowledge and people seeking the knowledge. Savannah Street Music provides a safe place where an artist can acquire knowledge and direction at little to no financial cost.

Category 3: The cost-effective professional and quality product Producer – being in a U.S. market that has a lower standard of living but still having a global reach and having the expertise and network to create quality products enables Savannah Street Music to offer it’s clients products and services at a competitive rate.

The Savannah Street Music Brand is about developing new unknown talent. Where do new artist go to get put on? Savannah Street Music is where new artist go to be put on. We focus on educating, producing, marketing and introducing new and emerging talent to the entertainment industry. We focus our energies on taking an artist from point A to point B. We meet an artist wherever they are in their development stage and we strive to move them up the ladder. This involves music production, image consultation, stage presence, understanding of basic music business, developing their network, assisting with music choices, business development and life development.

I’m most proud of having the ability to do what I love to do and live in my purpose.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

It hasn’t always been a smooth road. Struggle #1: Money. Over the years, I’ve had the privilege of making a living practicing my passion, however, there have been several bumps along the road. Once, I was working on a project in London, England, when I got back to Minneapolis, my studio had been broken into and robbed. I had gotten 50% of my production fees but couldn’t complete the production work because my equipment had been stolen. I had to sell my car, borrow some money and live in my studio. Shout out to my girlfriend at the time for borrowing me money to buy new equipment. Funny enough, it landed up being a blessing because I was able to buy a new computer and keyboards which fueled my creativity for the next several years.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

Yes, the people that depend on me. Recently I spoke to an artist that I’m working with that I hadn’t spoken to in a month and I discovered they were contemplating taking a break from music. I set up a meeting with them to discuss their plan/vision for this year. In the meeting we discussed several different things that need to be done for their career. That meeting ended with them saying they were re-inspired. I was able to give them some direction and be an accountability partner for them. Everyone needs someone to encourage and assist them on their journey.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://savannahstreetmusic.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/savannahstreetmusic/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SavannahStreetMusic
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-obi-978b099/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/SavannahStreetMusic
• Other: Spotify Music Production Playlist: