When we talk about afrogospel, the conversation usually starts with the artist.

We know the voices. We know the songs. We know the artists whose names appear on our playlists, whose releases we wait for and whose live performances we share.

But behind many of the afrogospel songs we have come to love are producers shaping how the genre sounds. They decide what the beat feels like, which instruments stay in the mix, where the song builds, when it pulls back and how the artist’s voice sits inside the production.

And sometimes, the same producer is behind songs from completely different artists.

This is why you can sometimes hear a few seconds of a song and think, “This sounds like something I’ve heard before.”

It may not be the same artist.

It may be the producer.

Take Holy Drill and Skerz Beatz, for example. They have worked on several afrogospel songs, including Sound of Salem’s “Promise Keeper” and “We Will Be Many.” Holy Drill also produced “Imole” by Sound of Salem featuring Lawrence Oyor and others.

Other producers shaping the sound include Wols, who produced Lawrence Oyor’s “Favour,” and Rotimi Keys, who worked on Gaise Baba’s “No Turning Back Remix”.

A producer can move between gospel, Afrobeats, R&B and other sounds, carrying techniques from one space into another.

The influence of Afrobeats, highlife, amapiano, hip-hop, R&B, fuji and other African and global sounds also means producers have an enormous musical palette to work with.

Artists are usually the public face of a song. Their pictures are on the artwork. Their names appear first in headlines. They perform the songs on stage.

The producer might be mentioned in the credits and then disappear from the conversation.

This is why looking at producers gives us another way of understanding afrogospel’s development. Instead of following only the artists, we can follow the people who have worked across different catalogues and watch how their choices travel from one record to another.

The next time you find yourself replaying an afrogospel song, look beyond the artist’s name.

Check the credits.

Who produced it?

Then check what else that producer has worked on.

You might find that the sound you thought belonged to one artist actually runs through several of your favourite songs.

That is when you start to realise just how much producers contribute to the story of afrogospel.