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Sometimes an artist has a masterpiece sitting on their phone, completely unaware that it is the key to their next massive era. Ghanaian hitmaker Joey B recently stopped by the Sincerely Accra podcast and spilled the tea on how rap royalty Sarkodie stepped in to save his career-defining track, “U x Me,” from gathering digital dust.
According to Joey B, he spent weeks pitching new demos to King Sark, only to get hit with polite, generic feedback. Whatever he sent over usually received a simple “fire” response, which is basically the polite industry equivalent of leaving someone on read.
Everything changed the moment Joey B clicked send on a rough cut of “U x Me.”
“I think whatever I sent him, he wasn’t really reacting to it, or he would just say ‘fire.’ But when I sent him U x Me, he’s like, ‘What the hell? This is the one. This is your comeback. This is what we’re talking about,'” Joey B recalled with a smile.
Sarkodie, who was traveling at the time, was so convinced of the song’s potential that he immediately played it for a Jamaican friend to test the waters. When she completely lost her mind over the track, Joey B realized he needed to take the record seriously.
Still wanting a second opinion, Joey B brought the demo to his uncle, the legendary musician and producer Kwame Yeboah. While his uncle agreed the song had wings, he challenged Joey B to elevate the production before shipping it out to the world. Taking that critique to heart, Joey B called producer Nii Quaye into the studio and brought in a live saxophonist to flush out the instrumental, transforming it into a full-blown masterpiece.
Plot twist: Joey B actually released the finalized hit without sending it back to his uncle for final approval. Kwame Yeboah only heard the upgraded version after it was already tearing up the airwaves, later admitting that his tough love produced pure gold.
It turns out trusting Sarkodie’s golden ears was the ultimate move, turning a forgotten demo into one of the biggest Ghanaian hits of the decade!
