KSA
Juju music maestro, King Sunny Ade, shares
his life experiences in this interview with
ADEOLA BALOGUN
A lot of people might find it very
difficult to believe that you are 67 with
your looks; what is the magic?
There is no magic; I just find myself like
this. It’s true people tell me that I don’t
look my age and whenever they say so, I
get back home and look at myself in the
mirror. But within myself, I know I am old.
Truth is, I don’t have any magic than to
give God the glory for a good health.
Maybe you do sports to keep you in
shape.
Well, I wouldn’t call myself a sports man in
that sense but I love sports. Within my
compound, I have a squash court, tennis
court, small basketball court and other
outdoor sports but that doesn’t mean I do
sports often. The stage alone is enough
sport where I dance and jump all over the
place. I think that I am just lucky because I
don’t wake up in the morning and do any
exercise like a workout.
Before some artistes go on stage, they
either drink some stuff or smoke to be
able to perform very well. What do you
depend on that makes you do what you
do on stage?
Let me just put it this way that I am just
lucky. I don’t drink and I don’t smoke. I
don’t do drugs and I don’t like people who
do drugs. Even within my band, ordinary
cigarette smoking irritates me; I don’t like
it. I believe that music on its own is enough
to make me high because I love doing it
with passion. I don’t need any drug to
make me high on stage. I am addicted to
music without necessarily taking anything
to make me high.
Do you have a particular eating habit or
diet to keep you in this athletic shape?
No, I tell people now that I have put on
weight but they don’t believe me especially
when I watch my past videos. I just don’t
know why I have this shape because I don’t
have a specific time of eating. As I am
talking to you now, I have not eaten
anything since yesterday. Occasionally, I eat
late and anytime I wake up is when I have
my breakfast no matter the time of the day.
I don’t have any eating pattern and
whenever I want to eat, I don’t eat much
because I would be thinking that I would
not be able to sleep.
What was your dream as a young boy?
When I was young, I wanted to be an
engineer and at the same time, I wanted to
be a lawyer. At another time, I wanted to
be a doctor. In fact, there was no time I
wanted to be a musician because being
born into royalty, it was unthinkable to
think that way. But I loved music; I loved
dancing and people who danced. I loved to
dance to any kind of music. Then as a
young boy of seven or eight, I used to pray
for branded vans promoting new products
like Michelin, to come to my community
where I could listen to music and watch
people dance. At times, I would just join to
dance and people would be clapping for
me. I would forget myself so much until
one relative came along to pull my ears or
beat me for dancing around. So, when I
realised that nobody in the family wanted
me to dance or watch those who danced or
played music, it did not occur to me to
wish to become a musician. I thought I
would be a good lawyer because nobody
won me over in any argument. At the same
time too, I thought I would be an engineer
because then, you would find me at any
refuse dump where I would be looking for
used wire and batteries which I coupled
together to produce light. Then I would like
to know what was doing the talking in the
radio and people thought I would end up
as an engineer. I learnt carpentry and
painting.
How? What of school?
I was going to school but anytime I closed,
I went to the carpentry workshop to learn.
During holidays too, I was always at the
workshop working. Again, I had a brother
who repaired motorcycles and his shop
was beside where I was learning carpentry.
I more or less was learning so many things
at the same time.
But why did your parents take you to the
carpentry workshop to learn even when
you were schooling?
No, it was on my own. I was very bright at
school because the little I could read was
enough for me to pass. Once I did my
homework, I would dash across to the
workshop and learn. Despite this, I never
failed in school except once when my
teacher intentionally failed me. I reported
him to the headmaster and the teacher was
sacked. We were 39 in class and the teacher
said I came 14th instead of being in the
first three. Even at that, how could I be
said to have failed in the 14th position out
of 39? It looked very strange to me and I
walked into the headmaster’s office and
reported the teacher. After reporting the
man, the headmaster told me not to tell
anybody and that he knew what to do. I
just discovered that I didn’t see the teacher
again; it was later that I learnt that the
teacher had been sacked.
But as a bright boy, why didn’t you
proceed to the university?
That was my dream and intention. You
know, I lost my father when I was young
and I loved my mum so much that I
thought it would be a burden for her to
continue to fund my education alone with
that of my siblings. So, out of pity for her, I
decided to be doing something to help
rather than depending on her to cater for
me. When I was still very young in school,
my mother who used to weave aso oke
always gave me new cloth for my school
uniform every term with different designs. I
joined the Boys Brigade and during the
holidays, we used to go to the white
people’s home like the DO (District Officer)
for any job and sometimes, they would
dash us some money. I used to go to the
farm to look for bamboo to make cages for
the birds that I caught. I would then give
out the birds together with the cage and
asked to be given anything in exchange. I
wanted to go to the university; in fact when
I ran to Lagos from Abeokuta, my people
back home thought I was in the University
of Lagos. When I was leaving Abeokuta for
Lagos, I actually told some colleagues that I
was going to Lagos to try my luck but that if
my family asked of me, they should tell
them that I gained admission to University
of Lagos. For almost three years, my family
thought I was in the university in Lagos. It
was not until I formed my own group that
an uncle came and asked me whether I was
actually Sunny Ade. I said yes and he said
how come; what happened to your
university education? I said well, I had to
take to music when I could no longer pay
myself through school. He almost slapped
me, accusing me of lying to the family that I
was in school. Then I now made him to sit
down and explained to him and he
understood and promised to tell the family
what I was actually doing. My family didn’t
approve of what I was doing for almost 15
years until I really made the name. They
found it difficult to know that I was actually
Sunny Ade instead of Sunday Adeniyi. Again
in those days, they could only hear you on
the radio; the television then, WNTV was
very competitive for everyone to be
featured. My mother insisted that I must go
to school instead of playing music. She
asked me how I wanted my father to feel in
the grave that his son was only good
enough to sing instead of being a lawyer or
an engineer as the case may be.
So how did you convince them to agree?
They finally agreed because I did not smoke
nor drink. In those days, musicians were
considered to be dropouts and drunkards
and never-do-wells. But I promised them
that I would not mess up and I thank God
today that families actually want their
children to sing and become big musicians.
They would not only assist in showing
physical support and encouragement, they
would hire pastors to pray for their success
especially in the various reality shows going
on.
Why did you run to Lagos?
I went to Abeokuta from Osogbo together
with my former boss by name Idowu
Owoeye during the coronation of the then
Oba Gbadebo. Unfortunately, we got
stranded; there was no money to go back
to Osogbo or anything to eat. I had maybe
just one shilling with me and I decided to
come to Lagos to try my luck. I knew a
member of Moses Olaiya’s band back then
who left for Lagos a year earlier. So, when I
got to Lagos, I was looking for Moses Olaiya
but instead of being taken to him, I was
taken to Dr. Victor Olaiya. When I got to
him, he asked what he could do for me and
I explained to him that I was from Osogbo
looking for Moses Olaiya. Until I became
Sunny Ade years later, that was when I told
Dr. Olaiya how I knew him when he was
coming to play in Osogbo. Each time he
came to Osogbo to play, I was the one
holding his trumpet for him. He normally
called me Big Boy which was a way of
sounding nice because as the youngest
member of Moses Olaiya’s band, I was very
tiny. I would hold the trumpet and follow
him to his hotel, asking for nothing. I just
loved the way he played and handled the
instrument. He didn’t want it dirty at all
and he still does so. I went in search of the
band member of Moses Olaiya who I traced
to Lagos originally. His name was Ayodele;
when I got to his house, I was informed
that he went out and I decided to wait for
him. When he came back, he introduced
me to Moses Olaiya and that was the time
they were going for a show. They allowed
me to follow them and luckily for me, the
guy that was playing the konga was a blind
man and my arrival was like coming to help
him. Apart from playing the konga, he also
sang, so when I came, I would play the
konga while he sang. Anytime I played the
konga, my boss was very happy and that
was how I started.
When would you say you had a
breakthrough in music?
I would say it was when I did Challenge
Cup around 1968/70. My music was quite
different from any other and people
started asking: who is this? When I did the
first record, Alaanu Loluwa; it was a
single. I did another one and when I did
the next one for Challenge Cup where
Flaming Flamingos of Chief Adebajo
participated, that was the first time I had a
gold disc because we sold more than
500,000 copies. I would call that the
breakthrough; I did another one and that
was when the media called me Master
Guitarist. From then, there hasn’t been any
stop.
Who taught you how to play the guitar?
God. Nobody taught me how to play guitar;
even drumming, dancing, singing, nobody. I
just found myself doing all those things
because of the passion I had for music. I
was steadfast in teaching myself all of
these because I realised that I had to get it
right more so when the family did not
support it. I also realised that there was no
way I could go to the university without
playing music; so I vowed to excel and
thought that if I eventually went to the
university, I would still be doing music part
time.
But guitar is not something you buy in
the market and start playing
immediately; how did you make it?
I was the youngest member in the band of
Moses Olaiya; I went to Dr. Victor Olaiya’s
shop to buy my first guitar with about three
pounds or so. It was a brand new acoustic
guitar and I put it on continuous practice. I
loved I K Dairo music and the type of music
we were playing in Moses Olaiya’s band
was I K Dairo music, so I started picking
the string one by one and anytime
someone was playing guitar, I would watch
their fingers and how they were doing it. I
also loved the music of now Pastor Dele
Ojo, I would pick something from him on
my guitar. Then my boss could play highlife
guitar and I watched him too. My boss
chose some of us to be in the theatre by
the time we formed theatre group and I
was the one leading the music aspect; then
I would play guitar, sing and dance. I
always liked to hide my guitar from my
boss because I didn’t want him to have
funny ideas about me. Sometimes, I would
play my guitar in the midnight even though
some people said the spirit would slap
anyone doing so at that particular time. But
I reasoned that if it was true, the spirit
should have been slapping every musician
playing late into the night. I taught myself
for about three years and it was a hard
work.
Anyone listening to your music would
appreciate a lot of folklore and
traditional elements in the songs; how
did you achieve this?
A lot of people helped. You know in
Osogbo where I also lived and also in Ondo
here, there are a lot of traditional festivals,
folk songs and different kinds of traditional
things going on. Again, as someone that
wanted to have a unique type of style, I
loved to go very deep in search of the
elements and the origin of the songs.
Sometimes, I would go to bookshops and
buy Yoruba books especially books written
by people like D.O. Fagunwa; the Alawiye
series. I loved to sing songs that would
convey pure and deep Yoruba language,
not slangs. In fact, I loved writing the songs
on blackboard during rehearsals with my
band. When I was fully in music, I prayed to
be like Frank Sinatra as a musician because
people loved and respected him. I studied
what he did to command such respect.
Why are you so close to almost all
Yoruba obas? Is it because of being from
a royal family?
I believe God gave me that and till now, I
still don’t know why they all love me. I am
the son of all the obas and I respect them
because obas are born. As a Yoruba boy
and being a royal blood, one must know
how to behave in their presence. Whenever
I go to the Oba of Benin, he is always the
one that beckons to me to come closer to
him. He would say but I knew him as a
permanent secretary, so why keeping a
distance and I would say that was when he
was just a prince.
I am sure all the obas would want to
give you chieftaincy titles…
You know as a royal blood, I cannot be a
chief again but somehow some still offer
me and what I do is that I would help some
people to help me explain why I could not
take titles. But I don’t reject outright
because that is a sign of disrespect.
Recently, you and Ebenezer Obey
performed together in Ole ku concert;
that is what would not happen when two
of you were seen as rivals in the juju
music industry.
We have always been good friends but you
the media and our fans created whatever
you thought was rivalry between us based
on our records and songs. It is people that
read meanings to everything we did. When
he became pastor, I held the fort for him
and when he decided to come back to the
house, he met the house intact and we
played together. We showed to the whole
world that we are friends and we have
performed together at other places.
Are you not afraid for the future of juju
music which is not multiplying like fuji ?
With respect to fuji music and the
practitioners, it was taken from juju music.
Juju music is very expensive unlike fuji in
terms of instruments. For fuji, you can
assemble the instruments so easily unlike
juju where you would need at least four or
five guitars to start. Today, you cannot find
a good guitar for N40,000. Again, juju is
played in some environment such as hotels
and club houses like in the days of old. And
if you want to rent instruments, you cannot
spend less than N250,000 per show on
instruments alone. A lot of people still play
juju but the problem is that most of us
have gone to church.
But with the way things are going now,
you too may join them.
I am in the church already; I have never left
the church but I play juju. Those that got
special anointing left juju and went to
church which is good. I had been a church
person as a member of Cherubim and
Seraphim but now I am a member of the
Redeemed Christian Church of God. While I
was looking for fame, I sang all sorts of
songs like the ogun and other songs that I
thought people would accept. But in the
record, E kilo fomode, I sang about oro
and egungun which I did not even know
about. I sang all those just to gain
acceptance, nothing more. There is no
record I did without singing the praise of
God.
When you did Ekilo fomode , people said
you were referring to Emperor Peter .
The omode record was already out before
Emperor Peter came; people just read
meanings into it. Peter himself said in one
interview that I must have been referring to
him as Omo ode when Dele Abiodun sang
the song somewhere. In fact, I did not
know him for many years until I saw him in
Ondo here. I never knew him before I sang
the song. The song Omode is just a
warning to all children to know what to do
and not to do to avoid regret.
All along, you always have gospel track
in your album; are you afraid of
abandoning secular music to go into full
gospel like your colleague, Chief
Ebenezer Obey?
I have always been a gospel singer all my
life. At the same time, I believe my music
wins souls for God. I don’t believe I have to
become a pastor, an evangelist or church
owner before I can win souls. It’s true a lot
of people want me to become an evangelist
but I am yet to get the call. What I pray for
is to hear a genuine call because some
wicked people can try mischief and concoct
a call. What I need is to get a call and be
prepared for it. When I hear the call, it is
then that it will be extremely easy for me to
go into full gospel.
In other climes, those that have not
done a quarter of what you have done
for more than 50 years fly private jets.
Is it that musicians here cannot achieve
such no matter how they try?
Well, we have problem with royalties, piracy
and other issues in the industry. They don’t
have all these problems in other places.
Over there, once you have a hit record,
other companies will come and bombard
you with every of your needs. They will
manage you; even lawyers will come, so
also are the record companies. You don’t
even have to say you want a jet, they will
ask you what type of jet you want and they
will bring it to you. They believe that what
you have is a serious business for all the
players in the industry. But in Nigeria, we
are all self-made artistes; we promote
ourselves, do everything. It is quite
worrisome because if you use about N3m
to make a record, even before you finish
working on it, it is in the market already
with pirates feasting on it. And some of us
musicians too, we can be desperate when
we need money by going to record
companies to sign unreasonable terms.
Was there anytime in your career that
you felt like quitting because of
frustration?
Of course, everyday is not Christmas; it is
normal to have lows and highs but I don’t
carry such around. Even when playing,
something unpleasant may happen but I
always believe tomorrow will be better.
How has fame shaped your life?
I respect people and I also respect myself.
Because of fame, I am always careful of
what I do anywhere because of the
consciousness that a popular person is
always under watch. It’s like one has to live
a special life. If you say you don’t smoke,
you better don’t come close to where they
are smoking. If you are drinking Coca-Cola,
be careful so that when you pour it in a
glass, people will not think it is beer.
When you and Onyeka Onwenu did a
song, Wait for me, there was a rumour
that you two had an affair…
That was the gimmick we used for that
particular record to be widely accepted.
Because the collaboration was very
unusual, people were thinking we were
dating but we were not. People were
thinking we were getting married until the
record came out. Onyeka is a very good
friend and an energetic musician. The song
was sponsored by Hopkins University in
Maryland, USA and we even went there to
collect the award together.
I read it somewhere where you warned
young men to be wary of women; did you
give the advice out of a personal
experience?
Not really but if you look around, it is the
reality. I reckon that it is better to have the
number of children one can care for. In
those days of our forefathers, the more
children they had, the more wealth they
would get. But nowadays, paying school
fees alone is no joke and the children too
want to use all manner of sophisticated
phones.
At 67, are you looking at retirement
soon?
No musician can retire until they are old or
something happens. Music is in the blood
and it is in the reservoir.
Juju music maestro, King Sunny Ade, shares
his life experiences in this interview with
ADEOLA BALOGUN
A lot of people might find it very
difficult to believe that you are 67 with
your looks; what is the magic?
There is no magic; I just find myself like
this. It’s true people tell me that I don’t
look my age and whenever they say so, I
get back home and look at myself in the
mirror. But within myself, I know I am old.
Truth is, I don’t have any magic than to
give God the glory for a good health.
Maybe you do sports to keep you in
shape.
Well, I wouldn’t call myself a sports man in
that sense but I love sports. Within my
compound, I have a squash court, tennis
court, small basketball court and other
outdoor sports but that doesn’t mean I do
sports often. The stage alone is enough
sport where I dance and jump all over the
place. I think that I am just lucky because I
don’t wake up in the morning and do any
exercise like a workout.
Before some artistes go on stage, they
either drink some stuff or smoke to be
able to perform very well. What do you
depend on that makes you do what you
do on stage?
Let me just put it this way that I am just
lucky. I don’t drink and I don’t smoke. I
don’t do drugs and I don’t like people who
do drugs. Even within my band, ordinary
cigarette smoking irritates me; I don’t like
it. I believe that music on its own is enough
to make me high because I love doing it
with passion. I don’t need any drug to
make me high on stage. I am addicted to
music without necessarily taking anything
to make me high.
Do you have a particular eating habit or
diet to keep you in this athletic shape?
No, I tell people now that I have put on
weight but they don’t believe me especially
when I watch my past videos. I just don’t
know why I have this shape because I don’t
have a specific time of eating. As I am
talking to you now, I have not eaten
anything since yesterday. Occasionally, I eat
late and anytime I wake up is when I have
my breakfast no matter the time of the day.
I don’t have any eating pattern and
whenever I want to eat, I don’t eat much
because I would be thinking that I would
not be able to sleep.
What was your dream as a young boy?
When I was young, I wanted to be an
engineer and at the same time, I wanted to
be a lawyer. At another time, I wanted to
be a doctor. In fact, there was no time I
wanted to be a musician because being
born into royalty, it was unthinkable to
think that way. But I loved music; I loved
dancing and people who danced. I loved to
dance to any kind of music. Then as a
young boy of seven or eight, I used to pray
for branded vans promoting new products
like Michelin, to come to my community
where I could listen to music and watch
people dance. At times, I would just join to
dance and people would be clapping for
me. I would forget myself so much until
one relative came along to pull my ears or
beat me for dancing around. So, when I
realised that nobody in the family wanted
me to dance or watch those who danced or
played music, it did not occur to me to
wish to become a musician. I thought I
would be a good lawyer because nobody
won me over in any argument. At the same
time too, I thought I would be an engineer
because then, you would find me at any
refuse dump where I would be looking for
used wire and batteries which I coupled
together to produce light. Then I would like
to know what was doing the talking in the
radio and people thought I would end up
as an engineer. I learnt carpentry and
painting.
How? What of school?
I was going to school but anytime I closed,
I went to the carpentry workshop to learn.
During holidays too, I was always at the
workshop working. Again, I had a brother
who repaired motorcycles and his shop
was beside where I was learning carpentry.
I more or less was learning so many things
at the same time.
But why did your parents take you to the
carpentry workshop to learn even when
you were schooling?
No, it was on my own. I was very bright at
school because the little I could read was
enough for me to pass. Once I did my
homework, I would dash across to the
workshop and learn. Despite this, I never
failed in school except once when my
teacher intentionally failed me. I reported
him to the headmaster and the teacher was
sacked. We were 39 in class and the teacher
said I came 14th instead of being in the
first three. Even at that, how could I be
said to have failed in the 14th position out
of 39? It looked very strange to me and I
walked into the headmaster’s office and
reported the teacher. After reporting the
man, the headmaster told me not to tell
anybody and that he knew what to do. I
just discovered that I didn’t see the teacher
again; it was later that I learnt that the
teacher had been sacked.
But as a bright boy, why didn’t you
proceed to the university?
That was my dream and intention. You
know, I lost my father when I was young
and I loved my mum so much that I
thought it would be a burden for her to
continue to fund my education alone with
that of my siblings. So, out of pity for her, I
decided to be doing something to help
rather than depending on her to cater for
me. When I was still very young in school,
my mother who used to weave aso oke
always gave me new cloth for my school
uniform every term with different designs. I
joined the Boys Brigade and during the
holidays, we used to go to the white
people’s home like the DO (District Officer)
for any job and sometimes, they would
dash us some money. I used to go to the
farm to look for bamboo to make cages for
the birds that I caught. I would then give
out the birds together with the cage and
asked to be given anything in exchange. I
wanted to go to the university; in fact when
I ran to Lagos from Abeokuta, my people
back home thought I was in the University
of Lagos. When I was leaving Abeokuta for
Lagos, I actually told some colleagues that I
was going to Lagos to try my luck but that if
my family asked of me, they should tell
them that I gained admission to University
of Lagos. For almost three years, my family
thought I was in the university in Lagos. It
was not until I formed my own group that
an uncle came and asked me whether I was
actually Sunny Ade. I said yes and he said
how come; what happened to your
university education? I said well, I had to
take to music when I could no longer pay
myself through school. He almost slapped
me, accusing me of lying to the family that I
was in school. Then I now made him to sit
down and explained to him and he
understood and promised to tell the family
what I was actually doing. My family didn’t
approve of what I was doing for almost 15
years until I really made the name. They
found it difficult to know that I was actually
Sunny Ade instead of Sunday Adeniyi. Again
in those days, they could only hear you on
the radio; the television then, WNTV was
very competitive for everyone to be
featured. My mother insisted that I must go
to school instead of playing music. She
asked me how I wanted my father to feel in
the grave that his son was only good
enough to sing instead of being a lawyer or
an engineer as the case may be.
So how did you convince them to agree?
They finally agreed because I did not smoke
nor drink. In those days, musicians were
considered to be dropouts and drunkards
and never-do-wells. But I promised them
that I would not mess up and I thank God
today that families actually want their
children to sing and become big musicians.
They would not only assist in showing
physical support and encouragement, they
would hire pastors to pray for their success
especially in the various reality shows going
on.
Why did you run to Lagos?
I went to Abeokuta from Osogbo together
with my former boss by name Idowu
Owoeye during the coronation of the then
Oba Gbadebo. Unfortunately, we got
stranded; there was no money to go back
to Osogbo or anything to eat. I had maybe
just one shilling with me and I decided to
come to Lagos to try my luck. I knew a
member of Moses Olaiya’s band back then
who left for Lagos a year earlier. So, when I
got to Lagos, I was looking for Moses Olaiya
but instead of being taken to him, I was
taken to Dr. Victor Olaiya. When I got to
him, he asked what he could do for me and
I explained to him that I was from Osogbo
looking for Moses Olaiya. Until I became
Sunny Ade years later, that was when I told
Dr. Olaiya how I knew him when he was
coming to play in Osogbo. Each time he
came to Osogbo to play, I was the one
holding his trumpet for him. He normally
called me Big Boy which was a way of
sounding nice because as the youngest
member of Moses Olaiya’s band, I was very
tiny. I would hold the trumpet and follow
him to his hotel, asking for nothing. I just
loved the way he played and handled the
instrument. He didn’t want it dirty at all
and he still does so. I went in search of the
band member of Moses Olaiya who I traced
to Lagos originally. His name was Ayodele;
when I got to his house, I was informed
that he went out and I decided to wait for
him. When he came back, he introduced
me to Moses Olaiya and that was the time
they were going for a show. They allowed
me to follow them and luckily for me, the
guy that was playing the konga was a blind
man and my arrival was like coming to help
him. Apart from playing the konga, he also
sang, so when I came, I would play the
konga while he sang. Anytime I played the
konga, my boss was very happy and that
was how I started.
When would you say you had a
breakthrough in music?
I would say it was when I did Challenge
Cup around 1968/70. My music was quite
different from any other and people
started asking: who is this? When I did the
first record, Alaanu Loluwa; it was a
single. I did another one and when I did
the next one for Challenge Cup where
Flaming Flamingos of Chief Adebajo
participated, that was the first time I had a
gold disc because we sold more than
500,000 copies. I would call that the
breakthrough; I did another one and that
was when the media called me Master
Guitarist. From then, there hasn’t been any
stop.
Who taught you how to play the guitar?
God. Nobody taught me how to play guitar;
even drumming, dancing, singing, nobody. I
just found myself doing all those things
because of the passion I had for music. I
was steadfast in teaching myself all of
these because I realised that I had to get it
right more so when the family did not
support it. I also realised that there was no
way I could go to the university without
playing music; so I vowed to excel and
thought that if I eventually went to the
university, I would still be doing music part
time.
But guitar is not something you buy in
the market and start playing
immediately; how did you make it?
I was the youngest member in the band of
Moses Olaiya; I went to Dr. Victor Olaiya’s
shop to buy my first guitar with about three
pounds or so. It was a brand new acoustic
guitar and I put it on continuous practice. I
loved I K Dairo music and the type of music
we were playing in Moses Olaiya’s band
was I K Dairo music, so I started picking
the string one by one and anytime
someone was playing guitar, I would watch
their fingers and how they were doing it. I
also loved the music of now Pastor Dele
Ojo, I would pick something from him on
my guitar. Then my boss could play highlife
guitar and I watched him too. My boss
chose some of us to be in the theatre by
the time we formed theatre group and I
was the one leading the music aspect; then
I would play guitar, sing and dance. I
always liked to hide my guitar from my
boss because I didn’t want him to have
funny ideas about me. Sometimes, I would
play my guitar in the midnight even though
some people said the spirit would slap
anyone doing so at that particular time. But
I reasoned that if it was true, the spirit
should have been slapping every musician
playing late into the night. I taught myself
for about three years and it was a hard
work.
Anyone listening to your music would
appreciate a lot of folklore and
traditional elements in the songs; how
did you achieve this?
A lot of people helped. You know in
Osogbo where I also lived and also in Ondo
here, there are a lot of traditional festivals,
folk songs and different kinds of traditional
things going on. Again, as someone that
wanted to have a unique type of style, I
loved to go very deep in search of the
elements and the origin of the songs.
Sometimes, I would go to bookshops and
buy Yoruba books especially books written
by people like D.O. Fagunwa; the Alawiye
series. I loved to sing songs that would
convey pure and deep Yoruba language,
not slangs. In fact, I loved writing the songs
on blackboard during rehearsals with my
band. When I was fully in music, I prayed to
be like Frank Sinatra as a musician because
people loved and respected him. I studied
what he did to command such respect.
Why are you so close to almost all
Yoruba obas? Is it because of being from
a royal family?
I believe God gave me that and till now, I
still don’t know why they all love me. I am
the son of all the obas and I respect them
because obas are born. As a Yoruba boy
and being a royal blood, one must know
how to behave in their presence. Whenever
I go to the Oba of Benin, he is always the
one that beckons to me to come closer to
him. He would say but I knew him as a
permanent secretary, so why keeping a
distance and I would say that was when he
was just a prince.
I am sure all the obas would want to
give you chieftaincy titles…
You know as a royal blood, I cannot be a
chief again but somehow some still offer
me and what I do is that I would help some
people to help me explain why I could not
take titles. But I don’t reject outright
because that is a sign of disrespect.
Recently, you and Ebenezer Obey
performed together in Ole ku concert;
that is what would not happen when two
of you were seen as rivals in the juju
music industry.
We have always been good friends but you
the media and our fans created whatever
you thought was rivalry between us based
on our records and songs. It is people that
read meanings to everything we did. When
he became pastor, I held the fort for him
and when he decided to come back to the
house, he met the house intact and we
played together. We showed to the whole
world that we are friends and we have
performed together at other places.
Are you not afraid for the future of juju
music which is not multiplying like fuji ?
With respect to fuji music and the
practitioners, it was taken from juju music.
Juju music is very expensive unlike fuji in
terms of instruments. For fuji, you can
assemble the instruments so easily unlike
juju where you would need at least four or
five guitars to start. Today, you cannot find
a good guitar for N40,000. Again, juju is
played in some environment such as hotels
and club houses like in the days of old. And
if you want to rent instruments, you cannot
spend less than N250,000 per show on
instruments alone. A lot of people still play
juju but the problem is that most of us
have gone to church.
But with the way things are going now,
you too may join them.
I am in the church already; I have never left
the church but I play juju. Those that got
special anointing left juju and went to
church which is good. I had been a church
person as a member of Cherubim and
Seraphim but now I am a member of the
Redeemed Christian Church of God. While I
was looking for fame, I sang all sorts of
songs like the ogun and other songs that I
thought people would accept. But in the
record, E kilo fomode, I sang about oro
and egungun which I did not even know
about. I sang all those just to gain
acceptance, nothing more. There is no
record I did without singing the praise of
God.
When you did Ekilo fomode , people said
you were referring to Emperor Peter .
The omode record was already out before
Emperor Peter came; people just read
meanings into it. Peter himself said in one
interview that I must have been referring to
him as Omo ode when Dele Abiodun sang
the song somewhere. In fact, I did not
know him for many years until I saw him in
Ondo here. I never knew him before I sang
the song. The song Omode is just a
warning to all children to know what to do
and not to do to avoid regret.
All along, you always have gospel track
in your album; are you afraid of
abandoning secular music to go into full
gospel like your colleague, Chief
Ebenezer Obey?
I have always been a gospel singer all my
life. At the same time, I believe my music
wins souls for God. I don’t believe I have to
become a pastor, an evangelist or church
owner before I can win souls. It’s true a lot
of people want me to become an evangelist
but I am yet to get the call. What I pray for
is to hear a genuine call because some
wicked people can try mischief and concoct
a call. What I need is to get a call and be
prepared for it. When I hear the call, it is
then that it will be extremely easy for me to
go into full gospel.
In other climes, those that have not
done a quarter of what you have done
for more than 50 years fly private jets.
Is it that musicians here cannot achieve
such no matter how they try?
Well, we have problem with royalties, piracy
and other issues in the industry. They don’t
have all these problems in other places.
Over there, once you have a hit record,
other companies will come and bombard
you with every of your needs. They will
manage you; even lawyers will come, so
also are the record companies. You don’t
even have to say you want a jet, they will
ask you what type of jet you want and they
will bring it to you. They believe that what
you have is a serious business for all the
players in the industry. But in Nigeria, we
are all self-made artistes; we promote
ourselves, do everything. It is quite
worrisome because if you use about N3m
to make a record, even before you finish
working on it, it is in the market already
with pirates feasting on it. And some of us
musicians too, we can be desperate when
we need money by going to record
companies to sign unreasonable terms.
Was there anytime in your career that
you felt like quitting because of
frustration?
Of course, everyday is not Christmas; it is
normal to have lows and highs but I don’t
carry such around. Even when playing,
something unpleasant may happen but I
always believe tomorrow will be better.
How has fame shaped your life?
I respect people and I also respect myself.
Because of fame, I am always careful of
what I do anywhere because of the
consciousness that a popular person is
always under watch. It’s like one has to live
a special life. If you say you don’t smoke,
you better don’t come close to where they
are smoking. If you are drinking Coca-Cola,
be careful so that when you pour it in a
glass, people will not think it is beer.
When you and Onyeka Onwenu did a
song, Wait for me, there was a rumour
that you two had an affair…
That was the gimmick we used for that
particular record to be widely accepted.
Because the collaboration was very
unusual, people were thinking we were
dating but we were not. People were
thinking we were getting married until the
record came out. Onyeka is a very good
friend and an energetic musician. The song
was sponsored by Hopkins University in
Maryland, USA and we even went there to
collect the award together.
I read it somewhere where you warned
young men to be wary of women; did you
give the advice out of a personal
experience?
Not really but if you look around, it is the
reality. I reckon that it is better to have the
number of children one can care for. In
those days of our forefathers, the more
children they had, the more wealth they
would get. But nowadays, paying school
fees alone is no joke and the children too
want to use all manner of sophisticated
phones.
At 67, are you looking at retirement
soon?
No musician can retire until they are old or
something happens. Music is in the blood
and it is in the reservoir.
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