American Music Producer Gordon Williams Reflects on Seychelles Arts Awards and Industry

VICTORIA, Seychelles — American music producer Gordon Williams, who has worked with major artists including Lauryn Hill and Stephen Marley, attended the weekend’s Seychelles Arts Awards and shared his thoughts on the local music industry during an interview. Williams, who holds a Tony Award won with Russell Simmons’ Def Comedy Jam, said the show was excellent, much better than he expected.

“My business partner, Dr P, watched it from home, and by the time I returned to the hotel, our team at home was already sending messages about how well it came across on YouTube — the sound, the lights. There were certainly some things I could see that could be done a little better, but overall, the show was excellent.” Williams observed that the main area for improvement is the lack of education about the music business and how it operates, a common challenge across Africa.

Williams, who developed a curriculum accredited in America in 2005, is now working to affiliate it with the local university to give Seychellois artists proper education on the business side of things. He said the biggest artists he has worked with are self-driven and incredibly hard workers, noting that producing Lauryn Hill’s Miseducation album took about a year and a half. “Deaf conversations were like a PhD in music. One thing he told me was, ‘Never forget that melody is king.’ If I take away everything in your song, you should be able to sit with me at a piano and let me hear it, and I would know whether it’s a good song or not.”