WHY GOSPEL MUSIC?
In actual sense, I started
music from my mom’s kitchen; I played rhythms and rhymes with cutleries. Over
time, I matured from playing jargons to making meaning and waves but from
inception, I have always loved to sing in honour of God.
PASSION FOR MUSIC
I was born a musician. My
father was a musician and a pastor. I grew up in Mission House but playing
music is a natural ability … a talent from God … and just as music is a brand
with varieties of genres, styles and features, I chose Contemporary Gospel
Music. It’s my second wife.
FIRST PUBLIC PERFORMANCE
I was about 12 years old at
the time and it was a Harvest and Thanksgiving Service in a small town called
Atan-Ota. There were about 200 dwellers in the community as at the time and
that Harvest Festival was the 7th to be celebrated in that church,
St. Emmanuel Anglican church. I was invited as a guest artiste by my dad’s
friend, one Pastor Talabi. That day, I performed during and after the church
service; It is not easy overcoming temptations. I have had many denials, much struggles but I have been able to overcome all through the help of God. Without mincing my words, I can tell you that music and sin are close pals; they walk hand-in-hand. It is immaterial whether you play secular or gospel; if you are a musician, your number one enemy is sin – most especially sexual sin. It floods around you; you only need to be so careful not to fall for its baits.
I remember an issue that happened to me years ago; my marriage was in shambles and I thought the only solution was to quit – and so I did. Everything turned upside down for me; my work suffered, my spiritual life had a setback. I applied for a USA visa and failed … I faced hell spiritually and psychologically.
WHAT IS SO SPECIAL ABOUT MARRIAGE?
Marriage is an ordained
union between man and wife. God instituted marriage. He is interested in
marriage – and I believe, it is one of the reasons I enjoy playing at marriage
functions than any other engagements. I keep telling people, if your marriage
isn’t working, go to God who orders marriage and ask. He will shed light on
whatever darkness that is overshadowing the relationship. Divorce or separation
is never an option. For one thing that refuses to work well, nine others are
working perfectly; it’s just that most spouses don’t realize what they have
until they lose it.
RELATIONSHIP WITH GOSPEL ARTISTES
One set of gospel artistes I
have avoided majorly are the ones that play regularly in beer parlours – they
are dangerous species.The church is the best rehearsal ground for a gospel artiste. Any gospel artiste who doesn’t worship in a church is worshipping mammon. He is only taking the grace of God for granted and He may wither.
MONEY Vs. SOULS
Truly speaking, music is my
business and gospel music is my passion. Everybody goes into business to make
profit but we do gospel to win souls. It is a known fact that money is the
wheel of the gospel – without money, gospel propagation can be hindered.I have been able to draw line between business and gospel. A gospel-artiste must be a soul-winner. For any church programme or outreach event, I don’t charge a farthing. Instead, I tend my ministration towards the church theme.
SOUL WINNING & EXPERIENCING MIRACLES
I have had miraculous
encounters with the Spirit of God during ministration several times. The one I
remember vividly was on Easter Monday Praise Service at CAC Champions Parish in
Ikorodu. I had sung praises and many guests that graced the occasion had
considered it to be an entertainment and they had danced but at a point, I
switched the mode of my performance to worship. I fell flat on the ground,
singing God’s praises, worshipping His majesty. My eyes were closed. I was
preaching that we cannot live in sin and expect His grace to save us from harms
and I was ministering on the importance of making heaven. I made a clarion call
that the Kingdom of God is at hand … and by the time I opened my eyes, I saw a
throng of people lying flat on the ground, crying.
IS IT POSSIBLE TO MINISTER AT SOCIAL FUNCTIONS WITHOUT COMPROMISING?
When I am invited to a
function, I meet people with beer or cigarettes in one hand and crisp naira
bills in the other hand. They don’t care about what I believe in. I want their
monies, they want the entertainment. I sing their praises and inject God’s
praises. I bring them closer and stylishly introduce Christ to them.I have also been at events where people had lavished monies on me because of the way I praise God.
My life had been shaped by a book I read sometimes ago on the topic’ The Power to be with them and not among them.’ That book helped me to insulate myself against the world instead of isolating myself from the world.
UNIQUE SALES PROPOSITION
My USP lies in my dynamism –
my ability to satisfy many tribes, age groups and interest groups at various
functions has paved the way for me over and over. I sing in Igbo and Yoruba and
I dabble into Fuji, Hip-hop, Rock, Juju and any other styles – just to satisfy
my audiences and bring many to the knowledge of Christ.
STYLES
I am a fashion freak. I love
good wears, trendy styles, smart and savvy. I can say I inherited that from my
dad. I love being presentable – spick clean, not necessarily gorgeous and
expensive. I wish to start my own clothing line someday.
FAMILY AND CAREER
With the help of God, I have
been able to balance my life and career by distinguishing between the two at
every point in time. When I am working; it is work but when I am at home, my
family takes priority.
WORK EXPERIENCE
After the compulsory youth
service year, I searched for a way to feed myself. White collar jobs weren’t
knocking at my door, so I settled for a printing job at Westayo Prints at Ogba.
There I learnt the rudiments of printing and the knowledge has been helping me
gather monies to sustain my family and augment my bills.Apart from music, I am a printer. I am also into music production; I work in a studio, S-Blare. I also record jingles and soundtracks for movies. The one I just finished was for a movie Ipinle, produced by Pastor Wole Oladiyun of CLAM. I have also featured in some flicks; it’s just that I can be selective when it comes to starring in a movie, if it has no undertone of preaching the gospel, I am not featuring.
ROAD-BLOCKS AND WHAT KEEPS YOU ON TRACK
Just as it applies to other
jobs, I also feel the heat, the challenges that tempt me to throw in the towel
sometimes but I have learnt to stay on course, come what may be. The economic
situation is the worst enemy of a self-employed in Naija. The threat is so
glaring. If one lacks money to feed his family, you might be threatened to quit
– but winners don’t quit and quitters don’t win. I am sure there is a better
day ahead of me and I couldn’t have lived my best days yet.
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