Between 2010 and 2013, Mr Leo spent every single day writing at least 2 songs every day. Let me repeat: Over the course of 3 years, Mr Leo didn't go a day without writing at least 2 songs.
That is what he revealed in an in an interview with Clarisse Ndinge of Beta Tinz in a Beta Torpoh interview.
Now as a typical Cameroonian, your knee jerk reaction to this bit of information might be to say that Mr Leo is lying. Or on a lighter note, that perhaps he is exaggerating a little bit and no doubt went a good number of days without writing any songs at all.
Even if we work with the plausibility of the second scenario, our focus should not be on if at all he did write those songs every day but rather on the mindset that pushed him to write those songs.
In that interview he states that period was a period of learning for him. He really wanted to learn how to write songs and be good at it. And so he understood that the best way to challenge himself and actually do so was by creating a system where he would have to put his mind to work. And so he challenged himself to write songs every day.
This reminds me of a quote from Bruce Lee who said he did not fear a man who has practiced a thousand kicks, but a man who had practiced one kick a thousand times.
Did Mr Leo actually write at least 2 songs every day? Perhaps not. Did he actually write full songs every day? That is, verse-chorus-verse-verse-bridge-chorus? Also perhaps not. But the discipline and the consistency over that period of time, and the fact that he woke up every morning doing his best to not let 24 hours slip past without writing at least 2 songs, made him a better writer at the end of 2013 than he was at the start of 2010.
The most interesting part is that Mr Leo said that thanks to this, he came up with a writing mechanism - his very own song writing and composition blueprint - that he uses until this very day.
And it shows in his music. Mr Leo's song has one of the best pens in the industry and unbeknownst to many, has written a lot of hit songs, notably for Daphne.
Locko's 'Supporter' was written by Mr Leo Daphne's 'Promets-moi' was written by Mr Leo Daphne's 'Ne laches pas' was written by Mr Leo Daphne's 'Doucement' was written by Mr Leo. Ewube's 'PourToi' was written by Mr Leo
He also has writing credits on Salatiel's 'Anita' and Daphne's 'Calée', and has written many other popular songs for many other artists.
This just goes to say that as a musician you have to put in the work to become better at what you want to be. Today it is easy to get distracted by all the glamour on social media that music supposedly brings and forget that the real work is behind the scenes. And that sometimes you have to spend long months and years developing yourself on a personal level as an artist by learning to become better at your craft before stepping out into the world
And this goes for every other job, profession, and other aspects in life. Be a Mr Leo. Look at what areas of your life you want to work on. Build a system of accountability and focus on working on that one day at a time. The reward won't be far off if you do so.
- Wandji Wilfred.