Despite lots of interview bookings and events to minister in, this talented, fun-to-be-with and good-hearted Nigerian, who is not novice to the Nigerian music industry as one of its best male vocalists, had a lot to talk about in this interview with Jamati Entourage ‘Seun Johnson. In this encounter, Segun Obe, a successful gospel artist, talked about his entry into music, the industry so far, his passion for orphans, and his plans to collaborate with a rap artist in his upcoming single.
Wondering what the title of this write-up means I guess (lol)? Well we also had more from him, but this time, in his own writing, with an autograph to his fans around the world.
Jamati: Can we have your family & educational background?
My names are Samuel Olusegun Adepelehinde Obe. I’m the last child from a family of four. One of my siblings is, of course, a well known artist in Nigeria, and maybe in Africa. His name is Tunde Obe. I’ve been into music all my life; I eat, sleep, and dream music. I have a diploma in Computer Engineering, but hmm….like I always say,” You don’t stop till you get to the top.”
So definitely sometime, maybe January next year, I want to get a full degree in either music, from the Baptist School of Music, or Mass Communications from a university outside the country. So basically for me, music is my thing and I’m fulfilled.
Jamati: How did your career in music all begin?
Basically, I know it was a family thing. My brother is also a music person–he was a DJ actually, you know (laughing), he used to wear a jacket with “Mr. Tee” behind it and I knew from way back [then]. I wouldn’t really say music would take up my life at the time but, as we proceeded, I found out music was in my blood. And thanks to my brother, I was able to bring it out of me. I learned how to do harmony, how to hold my notes, how to sing on key and not be flat, and a whole lot of things. But thank God that today that is history.
Jamati: Asides singing what else does Segun Obe do?
Basically, I’m an artist and that’s it. When people ask me this question, I tell them that music itself is a job. Hmmm, people make a living out of it abroad, but maybe not really in Nigeria. Music is what I do right now, but I intend to go into other interests or business later on, but for now, music is my thing.
Jamati: You initially started with a love song,” Will You Marry Me”, then another one, then you featured 9ice & others artists in subsequent songs. Now it’s “ALEWELESE”. What inspires your choice of songs and collaborations?
Basically, when you hear a jam or beat, when the producer gives you what he wants to give you, you drop your own thing on it. I’m a song writer, so I get to write my stuff. When I’m done writing and listening to it and I’m not satisfied–I see something missing in the track……different producers work in different ways.
Let’s take Cobhams for instance. When he worked on “Plenty Celebration” with me, 9ice was not in the program. I didn’t say I wanna work with 9ice. He suggested 9ice. He just said “How about having 9ice in this song.” And I was like, “Fine, if you can get through to him.” And he picked up his phone himself and called 9ice.
So that was what Cobhams envisioned. So sometimes it’s the producer that decides collaborations with another artist, not necessarily me as the artist.
Jamati: Does your being an African, specifically a Nigerian, play any important role in your music career?
In some sort of way, but not really. I’ll say am a well-rounded artist. I try much of the time to sing in English but, like they say,” keep if real, keep it African”. So most of the time, like if you listen to “Alewelese“, you would also hear me going into my dialect. It’s just me! I wanna be well-rounded so that the man on the street can understand me and, at the same time, if I go to the U.S they understand me too. A lot of people have accused Africans of singing music for themselves, songs where only we understand the language. We need to simplify it for them. You can’t win a Grammy when they don’t understand what you’re singing. We need to work on that too. But basically, I am well-rounded.
Jamati: How do you rate the acceptance of gospel music in Nigeria compared to other genres of music?
There’s a lot of work that needs to be done and I think it starts with the gospel artistes. They need to put themselves in a position where they’ll be taken more seriously. Having said that also, I don’t wanna put all the blame on the artist because most churches have their choir, and in their choir they have “stars”. And all the head of the church’s desire is to get his choir to be the best choir in town. They’re the one’s that go out with him to sing. So, he’s likely to direct all his resources, interests, time and energy into his choir than on me, [a man] who is just an artist. Everybody likes loyalty. If I’m not loyal to your ministry, you might not like me and might not favor me. I know there will be a time when gospel music would take its place. Everybody wants to dance, but obviously you don’t do a dance track, otherwise you’re not recording.
Jamati: Other songs get nominated for awards, but we hardly see gospels songs. What do you think is responsible for this?
Well, it depends on the vision of the person who put the award ceremony together. If he doesn’t make a provision for a gospel artist in his award ceremony, then it will be clear and we will understand. I was nominated once for the “Best Male Vocalist”, Hip-hop World Awards, but I didn’t get it. I wasn’t really pained ‘cos it went to Faze and he is a very good vocalist. There was a man, who tried to start a gospel award ceremony once, but it didn’t work, it has fizzled out now. So we hope that one day there will be like a messiah who will come up and organize an award.
Jamati: You’re presently working on a project for another album and your online updates reveal that you’re featuring someone in your next single. Who is it this time?
(Laughing) I won’t let the cat out of the bag. Like I did earlier, I think I was too fast to tell people the title of my album and recently I heard it being used somewhere else by another artist. I don’t want to go into details, but the truth is, I think I’d like to keep things more close to my heart until they’re out(laughing). But trust me,” he is your favorite rapper’s favorite rapper”(laughing). That’s all I’m going to say for now(laughing).
Jamati: What part of humanity would you want to be remembered to have affected positively?
Hmmm, the motherless. Those who are abandoned on the streets, those who were not given a fair chance in life. I once worked in an orphanage, Little Saints Orphanage, Palmgrove (Lagos) and that gave me a first-hand encounter with orphans and that really shook up my world. I saw kids who were deformed, not because they were born that way, but maybe their parents dumped them in such a way that they damaged some organs or maybe they were even deformed and their parents became sick of taking care of them and walked away. I want to be remembered as a guy who would stand any day, any time, for the motherless babies.
Jamati: What decisions have you made in life that you might have regretted if you didn’t make them?
Hmmm, I think none really; I’m doing all I love to do. I think maybe probably I should have gotten married before now (laughing), which I regret. But like I always tell people, I will not marry myself and I will not marry a knife, but a wife. Nobody is looking for someone who is sharp-mouthed, always wanting to have her say and is always suspicious. I want to marry someone who will be pretty comfortable with what I do and realize you’re doing a job. That you’re smiling at that lady does not mean you’re having any emotional affection, but it’s just normal casual stuff. Someone who will understand it’s a job and he separates his job from home…I know I’m almost getting there. I’m narrowing it down, so watch out!!!!(Laughing)
What makes Segun Obe tick?
I guess life. Waking up everyday, a new day with the sun shining and opportunities to do something new. Going out there to make a difference. A lot of people didn’t wake up this morning, not that they were sick, some were 100% healthy. So, it’s just waking up to a new day and another opportunity.
Jamati: It’s no more news that your fan base is increasing, within and outside the shores of Nigeria. How do you feel the pulse of your fans, or get in touch?
It’s fantastic! Facebook has helped me a lot. I also have a website, and people visit it and leave a lot of comments on my guest book. You just find out that people love you and they are trying to tell you not to leave your style,’cos I’m not the kind of artist that wants to come out with hits. I just record based on the way I feel. If my songs go out to one person and change his life, I’m fulfilled.
Jamati: Do you feel restricted at times as a celebrity?
(Laughing) not at times. I feel that celebrities should be allowed to live their lives. Marriages fail every where, but if a celebrity’s marriage fails, everybody jumps on him like he’s not human. We’re all humans; it’s just that we have something that separates us, which puts us on a pedestal where everybody can see us. It’s not like we’re super-humans. We make mistakes too. I think people, especially the press, should be easy on celebrities. Apart from that there’s pretty much nothing that separates us from any other person that can walk up into any place.
Jamati: What preoccupies you the most when you’re not in the cubicle?
Hmmm, nothing really. I think God, just the consciousness that there’s a God in heaven. Other than that, nothing. I don’t think there’s anything I can’t do without. I’m not competing with anybody, maybe if I am competing with anyone it will be myself–to beat the record I set the last time, in any thing I do.
Jamati: What’s your most cherished possession?
(Laughing) My heart, because without it I won’t be here talking to you. I have a good heart, not only that the doctors have confirmed it,’cos I don’t drink or smoke. I’m good to my fellow man. I don’t feel you need to rob to make it. You can be nice to people and still have a life. So, my heart, the heart that God has given me, a beautiful one (smiling).
Jamati: If you had one wish, what would it be?
Hmmm, one wish! (Thinking), that corruption would stop in our world, not only in Africa. It’s eating deep into the fabrics of, especially African leadership and all that. I think I want to see some sanity. I wanna see people doing the right thing, people being accountable for stuff. I desire that with all my heart. I think the world would be a better place if everyone considers the person beside him and not just get ‘’all the cans and can all the gets’; the ability to share with people.
Jamati: What do you have to say to Africans in Diaspora who don’t see a reason to affiliate with home?
Like my guy, what’s his name? hmmmm, Sound Sultan said,”Ajo o le da bi ile” (No place like home) No matter how much your accent changes or how ‘yankish’ or ‘janded’ you are, you know it! Even if you deceive everybody, some writer said, “You can deceive some people some times, but you can’t deceive all the people all the time”. And one person you can’t fool is yourself. Keep it real and, if you have to, come back home, don’t stay out there. It’s not your home; you’re just a second-class citizen out there. I think they are just wannabe’s who really might not end up being anything.
Jamati: Most celebrities engage in one charity project or another. Are you involved in any right now or do you have plans for one?
Apart from my new album project, I want to be able to setup a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO). But there are too many NGO’s out there. So,I won’t call it an NGO. I wanna be able to support the motherless babies’ home’s. I wanna get people to divert their attention to them. I do that everyday. Do something for people, make somebody happy. People are going through a lot out there; we need to make it better for people sometimes. So how do we do that, make it easier for someone, give them anything you have. So, I’ll have a project that will cater to the needs of the orphans.
Jamati: Who would you like to send a shout out to?
Haaaaa, everybody who has ever loved my music and my person. Some people don’t really love my person, but they like my music. And some don’t like my music, but like my person. I love you all. And those of you who probably look at me and hug me, I probably wouldn’t be here without you all. Those who love you and those who hate you are the one’s that make your world what it is. So, I love everybody.
Here we are!!! Segun Obe answers some of Jamati’s questions on our “Hands on Pulp”,this time around in his writing and with an autograph to round it off!
Thank you for hanging out with us on Africa’s Premiere Online Entertainment Portal – Jamati Online.
No comments:
Post a Comment