Why did you choose to release your first single, Ordinary People on New Year’s Day?
I chose to drop Ordinary People on 1 January because the song is a special song and I think the best time to get people to appreciate the beauty, truth and message in the song that powerful was at the time that social media platforms were agog with activities. People were reaching out and sending best wishes to others and when they were expressing their heartfelt gratitude for seeing a new year. It was a time that you can actually get people’s attention. If you watch the trend in the world, whenever people want to do something good or bad, they would choose a festive season because it is at such a time that attention can be brought to what you are doing. I thought it was important to bring attention to the message of Ordinary People; to remind them that in the new year, as ordinary as some of us may feel, we have the power to do extraordinary things. The people who have done great exploits do not have two heads or four arms. I chose that period of the time to tell people that it is a new year, a new beginning, a new slate, a new start and you have a chance to do something extraordinary with this new opportunity. I wanted people to actually hear it and value the message.
Why have you decided to move from being a music producer to a singer and even working on releasing an album?
I have chosen to come out and do an album first because it is time. My life is about timing. I work with time and this is about the time for me to do this. I have shared music with a lot of people. I have produced a lot of people, but I feel, finally, that I have found my voice. There are things I want to say, but I don’t feel can’t be said anywhere other than how I would say them. I feel I have the voice to express those things because they are from my heart. They are my experience, my expressions, they are my music and they are me in many ways. I could have done an album even before now, but the timing just wasn’t right. I create music for other people. I help other people to actualise their dreams, help them express musically what they have been given to say. But I also feel I have been given something to say and it is something that has to be said in my voice in the manner that I understand. So, I am using my voice as a tool and using my album to push that message. To me, it is more than just releasing an album; it is having the opportunity to say something in a manner that I can best say.
How easy was it for you to do this album?
It hasn’t been an easy task working on this album.
As a producer and songwriter in all musical genres, why record a wholly contemporary Christian album?
After all said and done, my faith is my life. What I believe in is who I am. As a producer, my job is to produce music and that is what I have been doing for others by helping them express the different literary forms that their music come in. Whether they are talking about life or love, all these things are components that make up our existence as human beings. I don’t think that one should live in denial of these things, which is why I create all kinds of music. Obviously, Cobhams would not go out there and create your typical ‘shake your booty’ kind of music because I don’t believe in that. My friends, who are musicians, know that I don’t believe in that kind of music and they won’t come to me if they wanted Booty or Go Down Low kind of tracks. But I like life and I like love. I like the fact that people can dance and can party. I like it that people can sing about heartbreak and morality. I help them express these different thoughts musically. But the truth is I have my spiritual journey and I think my album is an opportunity to share my spiritual journey. My album is an expression of who I am. I am a Christian and I am unashamed of that and happy to be known for that. If I am going to create my material, I would create my material in that direction. It doesn’t mean that I am not happy to produce a love song or a nice jam song. Because in life, people are going to get married as God has ordained marriage. People are going to love because love is an expression that God has given to man. Love is sacrifice in a real sense of it and I am happy to share that with people in its correct interpretation. My life is my faith and it is important that that comes through in what I do personally.
Does your faith also inform the choice of artistes you work with?
It does. Very much. I am very picky. I don’t just create any kind of music for anybody. I create great music. It doesn’t mean every song that I have created is a Christian song. As a Christian, if you work with a firm like KPMG or Arthur Andersen, it doesn’t mean you are not going to work with a client because of his faith. As a matter of fact, if you are a true Christian, you should count every opportunity to work with a client, who doesn’t share the same faith with you, one to show love that God has put in our heart. The best show of your faith is your lifestyle. No matter your religion or denomination, if people feel your lifestyle, they can see the God that is in you. I think that is what I like to do and that informs how I deal with music and with people.
What is the state of your relationship with your artistes, especially Asa, for whom you produced her debut that launched her into international stardom?
The artistes I work with are not just artistes to me, they are also my friends. I have known and worked with a number of them and from the moment we started to work up till this minute, we have a relationship outside the studio. For instance, you just saw Omawumi walk into my house. She is my good friend and dear sister. She can visit me any time and I can visit her at any time. That is the kind of relationship we have. Obviously, it started when we gathered to do music. Banky W and I are very good friends. I consider Banky W as a brother. If I have to count friends who are dear to me, I would think of Banky. For a long time, we were neighbours. We weren’t just neighbours, but neighbours who lived exactly like neighbours, looking out for each other. Timi Dakolo would call to tell me if anything happened to him before calling most people. We attend each our children’s birthdays, baby dedications and other social events. We have cried together and laughed together. It is the same for Waje and many other guys. There are so many musicians with whom I have great relationships beyond the studio and ultimately, we become a family. Some of these relationships date back to years, even over a decade. For me, it is not about getting to create work, it is about building long lasting relationships and that is what has become of me and artistes that I work with.
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| Cobhams Asuquo |
I think there are so many factors and variables that contributed into making that album go as far as it did. The sweat, the tears and the blood of people that worked on that album did it. We weren’t pursuing any other thing than passion and producing genuine music. I think that contributed a lot. The fact that she worked with a label (Paris-based Naive Records) that had her interest and was just ready to push her around helped a lot. Asa is also a hard worker and that work ethic also contributed to the success of the album. I also think that album went well because God wanted it so. The album was a tool that God used to prove that out of seemingly nothing, you can make something great. That album was a great example of ordinary situation taking an extraordinary dimension. It will be unreasonable to just rationalise the reason for the success of the album. Asa was a true art, good work and it announced itself. It managed to find itself in the hands of the right people and got the much needed exposure, which launched Asa the musician into global limelight.
You replicated the same magic with the debuts of Bez and Timi Dakolo.
I am not sure there is any explanation for the success recorded by the other guys. Everytime I go into the studio, I go with my heart and my mind. I have had hit songs for different artistes from the beginning of my production career till date. There hasn’t been a year that I have not had two or three great songs out there. To be honest, I don’t know why it has been so. But I do know one thing: I put my heart into it completely. But I am not sure if that is the reason. I don’t know if that might be a factor, but definitely God has a hand in whatever I do.
What are you doing to make other budding talents have a feel of your production in the CAMP Studio?
We are preparing a new act called Stan Iyke. This guy, Stan, is a special person with a special sound. If you know anything about brewing or marinating, you will know that it doesn’t happen in a minute or a flash. It takes time and I think Stan Iyke will take time to brew. Same thing we did with Bez. We are already preparing his material and he has a strong body of work. We are just waiting to get to a place where we will be comfortable and then bring his work out. Also, you need to understand that the kind of music we create is a little bit of hard sell in Nigeria. It is not as easy as funding mainstream music. A lot of companies are jumping at mainstream music because of mass appeal and what it can do for their brand. Obviously, we need to deal with funding the kind of music we create here. The truth is we have what might appear the niche market, but given the right opportunity and right financial power, there is so much ground that we can cover and actually set the trend for the future of Nigerian music. Obviously, these are some of the challenges we are dealing with. Nonetheless, there is a lot happening at the CAMP Studio. We are setting up a full live recording studio, encouraging artistes to come and enjoy and appreciate good music. I am already working with some young musicians and engineers, trying to build the back-end of the music scene. We are trying to create quality and integrity by building some people who can do mixing, mastering and engineering. We are doing a lot of all these other areas of music but people don’t see it. We are more into fixing this back-end of music. I feel that in a lot of sense, it is my job and business to fix that back-end. I am working with some people and constantly doing research on how to improve the quality of the Nigerian sound. That is important to me. CAMP is all about discovering, developing and exposing natural talents. We are trying to set up a library of materials where our people can come in to learn, watch videos and play music that will help them grow. I see CAMP as a musical dream house and a lot of people come here with their dream and we help nurture those dreams into fruition.
Can you expatiate on ‘Gift of Blindness’ you passionately talk about?
Blindness has been a gift for me because it has done pretty good things to me. It has brought me face to face with my reality. It has brought me face to face with possibilities and failure. It has been a gift to me because it has helped to reduce the measure of distraction in my life. I like to say blindness is a focus. It helps create focus. It could be a gift in many ways. Never mind that it is what anyone would wish the other person, but it is a gift to me. I just feel that whoever is blind can still make the best out of any situation he finds himself. Being blind has helped add the wow factor in what I do. It has helped me to be focused. I don’t think there are many things that I do that you can’t find other people, who are not blind, doing well. There are people like my friend, Don Jazzy, who are absolutely fantastic producers. Don Jazzy is not blind. There is Quincy Jones, a legendary producer, who is not blind. But the blindness has sort of added that wow factor to what I do. It has brought to fore my gifts and ability and I am quite thankful for that.
Who among the new generation of music producers would you say has really impressed you?
There are many young guys, who are creating great music. I also think that we have not heard half of the great music that they make because there are demands for them to make some stuff that are substandard as opposed to what they can really make. I will say of these guys that I heard their production and celebrate their beats in no particular order. Sarz, Moussa, Masterkraft, LeriQ of Aristokrat Records; Icon and many underground guys who are creating great sounds. Of course, there is Don Jazzy, who has consistently turned and still turning out great music.
How has marriage treated you?
Excellently. I have to pinch myself sometimes because of the reality of marriage. I often hear people saying marriage is overrated. But for me, everyday I wake up to a dream. I wake up to find an amazing woman beside me all the time. She is an absolutely special person. I don’t like to owe people but my wife, Ojuolape, is someone I can’t do without owing. When you are with someone, who constantly gives like she does, there is no way you will not owe her. I owe a lot to her. She is a pillar and a strong rock to me. I think my career has moved to a new dimension just because I know her. Her insight, wisdom and her persona, looking at all these, I am tempted to call her a superwoman. It is hard to imagine how she has been able to combine being a great wife, mother and working woman. She has set up a business and is also involved in my own business, giving sound advice, and being a great sister to her siblings and a great daughter to my parents and her parents. I consider myself a lucky man for God to have given me an amazing marriage to right the wrong impression that marriage is boring. I am absolutely enjoying this marriage and will definitely continue to enjoy it.
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