Sarz is a popular Nigerian record producer and Musician born Osabuohien Osaretin. Sarz is one of Nigeria’s prominent producers and he has worked with the top musicians both locally and internationally. He is more known by his moniker “Sarz on the beat” which is also one way to identify a song produced by Sarz as his moniker will be said at the beginning and towards the end of the song.
Sarz is very talented and hardworking, he is good at what he does, he has been in the entertainment industry for almost two decades and he is still very much relevant. Sarz produces songs from different genres like Afrobeat, R&B, hip-hop, pop, and contemporary. He is known to have distinctive ears for sounds and he is also an excellent instrumentalist as he plays the guitar, keyboards, shekere, drums, synthesizer, and sampler.
Sarz is a god at his craft, the reason why he has produced beats for almost half of Nigerian musicians. Are you an aspiring musician or somehow who just likes good music, or you would just love to stare at Sarz’s gorgeous face? You can follow him on Instagram @only1sarz and Twitter @beatsbysarz.
EARLY LIFE
Growing Up.
Osabuohien Osaretin was born on the 17th of March 1989 in Edo State, Nigeria. He was born into a family of three. He was raised in the same state.
Education
Sarz went to All Saints Primary School and for his secondary school education, he attended Goodwill Secondary School, whether or not the producer went to a tertiary institution is not known.
How Sarz’s Career Started.
Sarz did not set out to be a producer, production wasn’t a career path he envisions rather it happened by mistake, he attributes it to his love for music and his distinct talent to remember a beat in detail after listening to it lead him to record production.
In 2007 Sarz produced his first full credit production work for Lord of Ajasa’s song “See Drama”. He went on to produce songs for many other top artists in the industry, the likes of Naeto C, Wizkid, Eldee, Reminisce, Skales, Niniola, Banky W, Jahbless among others. In 2013 he was officially signed into a record label, ‘Trybe Records’ he left the record label when his contract expired in 2013. Currently, Sarz is a signee under the 1789 Entertainment record label.
IMPORTANT LIFE EVENTS
Career Breakthrough
Sarz produced the hit song “Jor oh” remix by Jahbless in 2010, the song also featured other artists Durella, RuggedMan, Reminisce, Ice Prince, and eLDee. The music was a hit and it won the “Best Street Hop” award and was nominated for “Best Collaboration” at The Headies in 2011. Consequently, after that, he produced singer Shank’s ‘Salute’ Skales ‘Mukulu, Eldee’s album “Undeniable” which he solely produced except the song “We made it”, Reminisce “Kako bi Chicken” which was nominated for the best street Hop at 2012 Headies Awards.
By 2012, Sarz had become a force to reckon with, he was nominated for the Nigerian Entertainment Awards that year in the category of “producer of the year” side by side with Don Jazzy. Don Jazzy ended up winning the award but he couldn’t help not acknowledging the newcomer who is very good at what he does.
Sarz is a hitmaker and has made a great impact in the Nigerian music industry.
Notable Achievements.
Sarz has achieved a lot since he started producing music in 2007, listed below are some of his hit songs;
- Ruggedman: Banging (2007)
- Lord Of Ajasa: See drama (2007)
- Skank: King Kong (2008)
- Dagrin: Kondo (2009)
- Goldie: Don’t Touch (2010)
- Iceberg Slim ft Da Grin: I Made It (2010)
- Jahbless: Jor oh! Remix Feat Ice Prince, Reminisce, Durella, Ruggedman, Eldee.(2010)
- Banky W: Lowkey (2011)
- Skales: Mukulu (2011)
- Michael Word: Pop Sugar feat Muna (2011)
- Naeto C: Super C Season (2011)
- Reminisce: Kako bi chicken (2011)
- Minjin: So beautiful (2011)
- DJ Neptune ft Phyno, Ruggedman, Pope, Reminisce, Uzi & Dagrin – Emi Ni Oba (The King) (2012)
- Wizkid: Sound It (2014)
- Niniola: Ibadi (2014)
- Tekno: Anything (2013)
- Burna Boy: Trance (2015)
- Wizkid: Come Closer ft. Drake ( 2017)
- Shirazee X Sting: English Man, African Man In New York (2020)
- Nao: Antidote ft. Adekunle Gold (2021)
- Niniola: Omo Rapala (2020)
- The Sarz Academy: Hold Me ft. Wizkid (2020)
- Reminisce: Ogaranya ft. Fireboy DML (2020)
- Shirazee: African Man In New York ft. Sarz (2021)
- Wizkid: Longtime ft. Skepta (2021)
AWARDS/RECOGNITIONS
The producer has been nominated for a series of awards and he has won a few of them, the following are the list of awards nominations Sarz has received;
- Dynamix Awards, Music Producer Of The Year, 2012
- City People Awards, Music Producer Of The Year, 2012
- Nigerian Entertainment Awards, Music Producer Of The Year and also “Beat Of Life (Samba)” featuring Wizkid, 2013
- South South Music Awards, Producer Of The Year, 2013
- The Headies, Producer Of The Year, 2018
- SoundCity MVP Awards, African Producer Of The Year, 2018
- AFRIMA, Music Producer Of The Year and Songwriter Of The Year, and Best RnB Duo for the song “Trobül” (Sarz & Wurld), 2019.
INTERESTING FACTS.
Net Worth.
Sarz’s net worth is approximately over $200,000. He is ranked among the richest music producers in Africa.
Other Interesting Facts.
Sarz has a music production academy named “The Sarz Academy”. Producers like Tempoe, Dunnni, STG were from the first set of producers from the Academy. Sarz is a great producer and loves to teach and pass knowledge to the upcoming generation, he is a mentor to many other people.
Sarz named his EP ” Sarz is not your mate” if one is that good at what they do surely isn’t anyone’s mate.