The Beju Prayer

“This episode is gonna go crazy!” was the first thing Ivie the animator said to me about The Beju Prayer. And it did. Boats as taxis, rooftops as bus stops, and the city just carrying on. And that was just the opening scene.

This episode looks wild, especially when compared with the pilot; and we wanted it to sound wild. The goal was simple - borderline sensory overload. We knew that by layering the audio just right, we could increase replay value - as there's always something new to catch. The soundscape was designed to build a world that feels immersive, making the audience feel like this is just another "day in the life" in Lagos and more specifically as we go through the episode, for Beju.

Character Voices: Keeping it Raw, with a Twist
For the characters, we aimed to keep their voices as grounded as possible while still tweaking them just enough to fit their personalities or quirks.

Creating the world of The Beju Prayer meant going all out on the environmental sound. Lagos floods don’t just bring water—they bring noise, chaos, and a sense of unpredictability, and that’s exactly what we wanted to capture.

In each scene, the soundscape and ambiences/backgrounds had to be thick with life. In transit for example, there’s always something happening—boats splashing, vendors shouting, horns blaring, water sloshing.

The trick was finding the sweet spot between realism and exaggeration, where we can tell it’s chaotic without simply being overloaded with noise. It had to sound interesting, so we layered everything in a way that feels over-the-top, but still immersive. This borderline sensory overload(TM) creates a dynamic backdrop that makes the episode feel alive, with every sound telling a story, hopefully pulling the audience back in for multiple watches.

Sound Effects: Loud, Absurd, Real
The sound effects had to be exaggerated but not so much that they feel out of place. We used real-world sounds but played with them—pushing the envelope or adding effects that made even everyday sounds feel a little unhinged, and foley designed to make you feel present with each character.

For instance, every time Critical Beju enters a scene, the entire atmosphere shifts. The soundscape becomes darker, almost like you can hear and feel his negativity creeping in. We also hear the compounded negative voices whispering in Beju’s ears whenever he begins to drown in anxiety. Meanwhile, when MGO appears, we layer subtle, sharp sounds that build tension, letting you know she’s not to be messed with.

Music/Score: Setting the Mood and Pushing the Story
The music and sound design work hand in hand to set the mood, taking us into the minds and emotions of the characters, placed to highlight key moments and feelings that enhance the story without detracting from it.

The episode is fast-paced and touches across many themes, so the music flows between scenes, subtly switching moods quickly to keep pace with the humour and absurdity on screen.

An example of this would be during Beju’s prayer, when we start to feel spiritual as he starts to truly pray from his heart, during and after which MGO’s disappointment and anger at his prayer is highlighted. (We also introduce MGO with a dark choir chanting her name, both to the symbolise the juxtaposition of her love for the gospel and her innate scary nature, and also because she’s Margaretttt dammit.)

We feel with Beju, and sometimes silence is the score, making us feel present in the space and mind of the character which helps us think with them. Reflecting what’s happening on screen but also driving the story forward ,as the score is a a character.