Differentiating ministration from entertainment
“I think the gospel artiste has to get his purpose right. Now that gospel music is getting stronger and competing for acceptance and esteem with other genres like Juju, Fuji music etc, we need to get the trend properly defined.

Earlier, gospel music was confined to churches, conventions and provided by church choir, now it has become an individual thing having a cross-over clout, such that bankers, academics, etc can relate to it.

We don't have to be churchy about gospel music or else there is no way you can win the attention of the cart-pusher in the street as well as the manager on Broad Streets”

Merging the traditional with the modern.
“Wellu Wellu is an example of a song that cuts across the different barriers. I was in a bank the other day when the manager asked me when would I release something like Wellu Wellu again.

" I asked if he had seen the new video. He said yes but he prefers Wellu Wellu. I was surprised that even a bank manager would appreciate a most traditional song like Wellu Wellu. So many of us are beginning to look more inwardly.

"A lot of people thought I should have released the second video before the first because they thought the second would cut across more easily but I never thought so and I was proven right. I chose to be more relevant at home and this was achieved with Wellu Wellu.

"After a while, Wellu Wellu is putting me in a box because people relate to me on that basis. But I know I have more than that in me so I began to do other videos with the R&B feel, the cross-over feel so that it would be known that my message can come in different form.

Efforts to get into international market.
When ever I have engagement outside our shores, Wellu Wellu comes as a song not understood but appreciated because it is typically African. So what I am doing now is to accede to the request of some recording companies in Zimbabwe, South Africa, and Kenya to release the album. Basically I'm working with distributors outside the countries.

Creativity that went into Wellu Wellu
Many people wouldn't know that the song was earlier done by DCN Voices, an Acapela group in Delta State. I saw the music at a point when I was thinking of what direction I want to give my album.

" The song was interesting to me but I knew the guys did not do justice to it. They did not inject the fine distinctions of our culture into it. When I commenced work on the song, I wrote three new verses to it, fine tuned the harmony and relegated the instruments used to mainly African ones so as to bring out the feel of the song.

"So, Wellu Wellu had a new rendition, harmony and lyrics, such that people who know my music orientation can hardly relate it to me. With out these, the significance couldn't have been the way it is.

Gratitude
"When the album was released, the original composers did not understand it. But when it began to gain more air time, it dawn on them that if they had worked and did more research with what they had, their album would have been a hit.

Yes, it's good to perform in England and America, but that is not the end of life. The fulfilment I have is that I go to studio, spend sleepless nights and ask God for inspiration which He gives. And at the end of the day, you see lives being touched, saved and delivered. People listen to your songs and they get hope and convinced that God still loves them in spite of their imperfections. That gives me fulfilment.

Reproducing other people's songs and choruses as new album.
"In my next album, there are some choruses I want to use but I don't know who actually composed them. We can do a lot of things with some of our choruses For instance, When Jesus says yes nobody can say no.

"As short as that song is, it's so strong for me that I'm going to blow people's mind when it is released. Also, Oruko Jesu lo m'ori mi wu o is another song I'm working on. I need to see the people for permission so we can begin to appreciate the people who allowed God to use them bring such songs into popular reckoning.

"We can expand, re-arrange, re-harmonise such songs that they can sound new and fresh. The Americans do it and we can do it too. I've not seen anything bad in using choruses or other people's songs as long as you seek permission and give them credit.

Challenges and favour.
"Oh yes, great has been the favour of God in my life. I realise that I started lowly and today it's like going off like a rocket. But then great have been the challenges because there is jealousy in the gospel scene.

"Some people would ask when did you begin to sing that your music is all over the place. This is a common experience when you mix with the older musicians. I always call on God for wisdom to handle them when we meet at concerts, conventions, churches, conferences, and meetings.

" Another challenge is that the fame puts you in the eyes of the people such that you can't do again those things you do ordinarily. Now you become a role model for the young and the old who stop you in the streets all the time. It makes you more careful. Earlier, I can walk into Mama Put and eat but now, you can hardly do that because of your celebrity status. Fame has robbed me of my privacy.

What has Jesus taken from you?
"A lot, before the album was released, in a lot of ways I was just a musician, an artiste doing his thing. There is a difference in being a music minister and a musician. I was just an artiste but when the album was released, it gave me a new definition of my relationship with Christ.

"It became clear to me that I'm either sold out to Christ or not. It gave me a new world because I looked at where I was coming from, where I am and where I am going to and found out that I don't deserve all fame. It s not because Im the best musician in Nigeria or the only talented singer but it's due to the mercy, favour and faithfulness of Christ.

Fulfilment.
"Yes, it's good to perform in England and America, but that is not the end of life. The fulfilment I have is that I go to studio, spend sleepless nights and ask God for inspiration which He gives. And at the end of the day, you see lives being touched, saved and delivered. People listen to your songs and they get hope and convinced that God still loves them in spite of their imperfections. That gives me fulfilment.

Women, money and fame.
"Women? Well, I am still single which makes it so difficult for me. Coupled with stardom and the popularity of my music, it becomes hectic. It's something I pray to God about.

" On my own, I can close my eyes to women but its God that keepeth a man. I am like God, that wife you have for me, don't let me miss her. There are women everywhere, every day, in and out of the church.

" My Pastor says even when you get married you are not free from such temptations but its God that keepeth a man. Every day, I pray to God to keep and guide me. It is an herculean task for a famous young man to keep away from the girls.

Childhood and education:
"I studied Accounting at the Delta State University Abraka, Delta State, Nigeria, but all along music took me away from my books and I knew that I will never be found in any bank or accounting firm practising what I read.

"My interest in music began dramatically. My mother bought me a piano as my eight birthday present and before I knew it I was able to pick some of the church choruses. From one simple chorus to another difficult chorus, my mother was shocked.

" One day our church, Gospel Church of Jesus Christ, Warri bought a big organ but announced that there was nobody to play it. My mother urged me to go and play it, I refused saying the piano at home was so small but this one is so huge. She said I shouldn't bother and so at age of ten, I walked to the huge piano and played a song I can never forget in my life: ‘Comforter, Jesus is my comforter, Jesus is my comforter ……' The church went haywire.

"From there, I became the organist of the church. A lot of people, including some Ghanaians teachers who were in Nigeria then began to encourage me. One of them who taught music began to take me through the rudiments of music theories.

"They gave me tapes of so many top artistes so I learnt music the right way. I knew the chords, from the young age such that I can write music melody just listening to it. I began to develop myself and I had lots of encouragements from my parents who also warned that I should not forget my academics. That was how God built me in music.

Life in studio
"I came to Lagos after graduation in 1992 and was wondering how I would put my talent into use. Luckily I met Mr Kingsley Ogoro, the proprietor of Klinks Studio, then in Ikoyi, Lagos Nigeria. He also comes form my town.

"When he found the talent and interest I had, he began to teach me the art of music production, voice arrangement, harmony, blending instruments, programming, mixing, how to cut radio and TV commercials, script writing etc. I learnt all these from him. Along the line, the home videos came and I went into it.

Metamorphosis from a sound man to a gospel act.
I realised that the love for music and the gift thereof has been given to me by God from my youth. It was thus very clear to me that when the time comes for me to release an album, it has to be gospel to give God the praise rather than make it a commercial venture as people have made gospel music today. My music career began from the church and as a teenager. Getting into the studio, producing other people was only an experience. It has been in my heart to be in gospel music.

Music as a career, evangelism, hobby or meal ticket?
"Music is not just a hobby for me, it is my life. Every thing about me is music, However, there is the evangelism side to it, and at the end of the day, the Bible says a worker is worthy of his wages. So, in a lot of sense, it takes care of my bills.

" But in lot of ways I evangelise with it. I encourage and support people and organisations with my gift. I attend a lot of orphanages, less privilege places where I give from my own pocket. So it's both evangelistic and way of life which takes care of my bills.

Other avenues of self-expression.
First of all, I am a music producer and I'm into advertising, radio jingles and commercials. I do a lot of theme music for a lot of Nigerian home videos, events packaging and management at AGMs, decorations set, lighting.

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