Saturday, 12 September 2009
Thursday, 18 June 2009
UNVEILING NIGERIA'S OLDEST RECORD LABEL, PREMIER MUSIC!
By Shagari Sumner Sambo
Getting into the hallowed chamber harbouring the archives of Nigeria’s best known musicians was nothing other than a thrilling experience for a keen lover of vintage Nigerian music which continues to make more meaning to our present-day social realities than the ubiquitous contemporary music that hardly makes meaning other than drum out ‘fuzzy-wuzzy’ sounds and lyrics to our eardrums daily.
March was the month and Satellite Town, along the Badagry Expressway, Lagos was the venue of the meeting place to unearth Nigeria’s foremost and oldest-surviving records label, Premier Records Limited, a.k.a Premier Music, as our research had revealed from many renowned sources in the music industry. Alongside my photographer, our trip was nothing other than fun as the Special Projects Manager of the company, Mr. Michael Odiong was right on hand to receive our team.
We explained our mission once more and he felt highly delighted in our interest in his organization and promised to grant us all needed assistance to make the trip worthwhile. Getting down to real business, we started discussing the subject of the day and like so many others who are pained by the seeming lethargy of meaningful music in our contemporary society, he confessed that present-day Nigerian music artistes are lyrically dwarfed by their predecessors who not only sang songs just for the sake of money or popularity but to pass across beautiful and meaningful messages accompanied by well-organized music instruments all aimed at celebrating life and empowering their fans to ease the many pains and problems confronting them. He went on to explain that his organization had come to terms with these realities and will soon do something about it.
We were later ushered to the presence of the Managing Director of the company, Mr. Toju A. Ejueyitchie, who calls himself the ‘Chief Servant’ of the company. A very lively man, we went on to have an enlightening interview where he also berated present-day artistes for their inability to give Nigerians and Africans songs that will inspire and motivate them to overcome their daily challenges, project our people in the positive light or take the desired lead to champion several causes like the Late Sonny Okosun and Late Fela Anikulapo-Kuti among others did.
Recording Nigeria’s golden voices over the years
Premier Music is like the home of all successful music icons in Nigeria as the record label has churned out renowned artistes in the likes of Late Chief Osita Osadebe, Late Rex Lawson, Rex Williams, Late Celestine Ukwu, Late Yusuf Olatunji, Sir Victor Uwaifo, Dr. Victor Olaiya, Dan Maraya Jos, Alex O, Alex Zitto, The Mandators, Blackky, Orits Williki, Ras Kimono, Mike Okri, Onyeka Onwenu, Evi Edna Ogholli, Dele Taiwo, Dele Bamgboye, Benita, and Buchi among others.
These super stars have over the years ruled the Nigerian and African airwaves with songs that have over time carved out an image and identity of Black consciousness for the world’s most populous Black nation. The lyrics and acoustics of their songs, at their heights, projected and illuminated the inner beauty of our people and inspired us to breakaway from the wrong consciousness of western culture which still continues to see us as a meaningless people with little to offer the human race, despite Africa being the cradle of civilization.
Being ushered into the hallowed chamber were the Master Tape recordings are stored, Mr. Ejueyitchie is quick to explain to us that this place is the heart of the record label, as it houses all the original recordings of their past productions and that even if the office of the MD is not air-conditioned, the strong room MUST always be air-conditioned so as to preserve them properly. According to him, it is from these master tapes that subsequent productions have been produced for the teeming fans of these great stars who still demand for their tapes, CDs, VCD/DVD in the market. When asked who the highest selling artiste of all time on the label is, he quickly retorted thus: “That would be very difficult to say because there are some works that have been selling since the 1970’s, 80’s…we have not tried to say Ok look, this album since 1950 something that it was released, how many copies have been sold. First of all, it will be sold in LPs, later on sold in cassettes and now it is being sold on CDs. You know it will be difficult for us to do so. But, honestly, I can tell you that the artiste whose works sell most is the late Chief Osita Osadebe, and that is because he has more albums than any other artiste on this stable; I can tell you that for sure.”
Now, just who was the first artiste signed on Premier Music? Laughing, the MD said he would need to do more research on that as he was still in primary school when that happened. He sought for more time for that question to be answered.
Surviving the turbulent music industry…
But how has this record label survived all the many turbulence that have besieged the music industry over the years without fizzling out of the harsh business environment in Nigeria? Reacting, the MD attributed it to “the willpower on the part of the owners, the board and the members of staff.” He however added that “more importantly, the rich heritage that the company has, you know the repertoires that it has are mainly evergreen works that sell. People are still buying the works that Osadebe did in the 1960’s, Dr. Victor Olaiya, Sir Victor Uwaifo, Rex Lawson and all those people whose works are still selling. That is what is sustaining the company. The works of Oritz Williki, Ras Kimono, Evi Edna Ogholli and so many of them. That is what has really sustained the company over the years…(though) the terrain has not been easy at all.”
One fascinating thing about well-established recording companies is that they do pay royalties to any artiste that passes through their stable. According to Wikipaedia “a record label can be a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion, and enforcement of copyright protection of sound recordings and music videos; conducts and maintains contracts with recording artists and their managers.”
The ‘contract’ in the definition above is a pregnant word which also encompasses the payment of royalties, so NEW sought to know from Mr. Ejueyitchie whether his record label has been living up to expectations on this aspect which is like the music artistes’ own pension. He answered in the affirmative and went ahead to disclose that even “for the few works which are licensed abroad or sold on the internet, once we receive the money in foreign exchange, we give it to them (artistes), their own share in foreign exchange as it comes. It is the issue of openness and how we do it that makes artistes feel that this is their home.”
These payments of royalties and other exclusive services or fringe benefits may have been responsible for the flock of upcoming and successful musicians to the record label in its about four and half decade of existence. They made it their home because they knew that they would always be assured of bread as long as people demanded for their records. This bread has however been threatened by the upsurge of piracy in recent times as legitimate recording companies are daily folding up or changing their nature of business due to the lack of guaranteed income from music business and non-enforcement of copyright laws, that is if such laws even exist.
Commenting on soaring production costs without commensurate income and low pricing of CDs, Mr. Ejueyitchie painfully said that: “The reason why prices are very low is simply because of piracy. The pirates don’t promote, they don’t pay royalties, they don’t pay taxes, but our own organization has to do all these things. We spend a lot of money promoting their works, paying the artistes money and making their music popular and then once it becomes popular, the pirates take over and of course, they can peg the price of CDs at ridiculous prices because they don’t have all those costs and because they have the machinery to flood the market with what they have is simply because the enforcement of anti-piracy laws have not been the way it should be. The legitimate industry has been forced to bring down prices to compete, which should not be the case.”
Relationship between record labels and their artistes
According to Wikipedia, a label typically enters into an exclusive recording contract with an artist in order to market the artist's recordings in return for royalties on the selling price of the recordings. Contracts may also extend over short or long durations, and may or may not refer to specific recordings. Established and successful artists tend to be able to renegotiate their contracts to get terms more favorable to them, 2Face Idibia had this experience during his stint at Kennis Music before setting up his Hypertek Records
The renowned online encyclopaedia also states that “this contract either provides for the artist to deliver completed recordings to the label, or for the label to undertake the recording with the artist. For artists without a recording history, the label is often involved in selecting producers, recording studios, additional musicians, and songs to be recorded, and may supervise the output of recording sessions. For established artistes, a label is usually less involved in the recording process.”
Right from time, recording artists have often been increasingly reliant upon record labels to broaden their audience, market their albums, and both be promoted and heard on television, and recently on the internet; with publicists that assist them in positive media reports to market their merchandise, and make it available via stores, the internet and other media outlets. However, the dwindling fortunes of record companies in Nigeria today has made many of them to be unable to do business or fulfill their obligations to their signed artistes. This has pitted many of the artistes against their record companies and resulted in many artistes experiencing dwindling royalties. This has also led to many of them (artistes) establishing their own record labels, though with little success or in affiliation with other bigger ones like Kennis Music, Storm Records or Mo Hits among others so that they can make their money ‘sharp, sharp.’
“Although both parties allegedly need each other to survive, the relationship between record labels and artists can be a difficult one. Many artists have had albums altered or censored in some way by the labels before they are released—songs being edited, artwork or titles being changed, etc. Record labels generally do this because they believe that the album will sell better if the changes are made. Often the record label's decisions are prudent ones from a commercial perspective, but this typically frustrates the artist who feels that their artwork is being diminished or misrepresented by such actions.”
Recently, there was an altercation between a well-established record label and its artiste which gives an insight into how the recording labels and artistes fare in Nigeria. Kennis Music, a prominent record label and one of its former artiste, Mr. Edward Ashiedu-Brown, a.k.a Eddy Remedy who until 2004 was signed on to it as a recording artiste are the parties. The artiste, formerly a member of the group “Remedies” accused the label of owing him royalties without remittance in a print interview. Reacting to the allegation in a press statement, Kenny ‘Keke’ Ogungbe, CEO of the record label replied that the label has one of the best records when it comes to royalty payment and it prides itself as one of the “very best in the country”; known to pay royalties in full as at when due and has even embraced advanced royalty payments.
Regarding the specific allegations, he went on to state that “sales from Eddy's works have dwindled almost to zero in the recent past. However, his contractual agreement stipulates quarterly payment to him after sales with full payment received by Kennis. There are some Eddy/Remedies products out in the market currently that are on ‘sales on return’ (products are given out on credit to distributors and payments are remitted upon sale of the works). However, royalties are usually paid upon receipt of payments which now gives the amount to be paid to artistes according to the monies received. In the past, artistes will say company so, so and so has not paid any royalty, but the same artiste will not say that their album, which is a huge investment for the company, has not sold enough for the company to recoup money they used to produce the album, mass produce from master to CDs, tapes etc, produce the video(s), promote the songs on radio, TV, newspapers, posters, etc, distribute the albums; before you can then think of royalties. Such complaints are peculiar to unsuccessful and failed artistes who are ever willing to blame his or her woes on somebody else especially their record company but never themselves. This issue of looking at both side of the coin is very important in this industry so as to put a stop to this one sided lies and cheap blackmail. You will never find a 2face saying his royalties were never paid. Same for Lagbaja, Eedris Abdulkareem, Paul Play Dairo, V I P from Ghana, Kenny Saint Brown, Tony Tetuila just to mention few.”
Like every other human institution, Premier Music too has had its own fair share of this type of cat and dog fight between record labels and artistes. Under its label, so many music artistes have come and gone, with some retiring happily or leaving under controversial circumstances. As for all those who have passed through the label, according to Mr. Ejueyitchie, the company still tries to maintain contacts with them especially during payment of royalties. He said: ”We speak to them regularly and when we had our rebranding, Sir Victor Uwaifo and others were here.”
As the tour was coming to an end, our lens could not help but capture good shots of vintage old school master tape records on vinyl LPs alongside vintage pictures of Nigeria’s best and famous artistes in their younger frames. The one which drew our attention the most was the album pack of the famous Zebrudaya, Clarus and Chief Jegede Shokoya comedy on audio.
INTERVIEW WITH MR. TOJU A. EJUEYITCHIE, MD, PREMIER RECORDS LIMITED, NIGERIA’S OLDEST SURVIVING RECORD LABEL
By Shagari Sumner Sambo
Can we meet you Sir?
My name is Toju A. Ejueyitchie, I am the Chief Servant here at Premier Records Limited. I have been here for almost fifteen years and we’ve run through thick and thin and all sorts of storms. I am actually a chartered accountant. I strayed into this industry I think maybe by an act of God because this is not my original calling but then I have a personal desire to assist at any place where things are going wrong to put them right. Those are the things I like doing.
When did you join Premier Music?
In early 1994, that is exactly when I became the Managing Director of Premier Music.
Your company has a rich history of being the oldest surviving recording label in Nigeria. Can you tell us a brief history of the company?
The oldest surviving, I don’t know. The company was incorporated in 1963 as Phillips (West Africa) Records Limited. Over time it turned to Phonogram Limited and Polygram Records before it became Premier Records in 1991 when the international investors, that is Polygram International divested from this country as a result of the Structural Adjustment Programme which didn’t favour their doing business any longer in this country and so some Nigerians took over those shares and the company became Premier Records. We’ve been coasting along since.
Who were the initial promoters and founding management team of Premier Music?
Mr. Toyin Oni was the one who spearheaded the takeover of the company from the foreign company and he was the chairman of the company for some time. He alone with some other people who were investors together were the ones involved.
Why has Premier Music not fizzled out of the Nigerian music market like other recording companies of the past? What has been the survival strategy?
What has sustained us is the willpower on the part of the owners, the board and the members of staff, because the terrain has not been easy at all. But more importantly, the rich heritage that the company has, you know the repertoire that it has. This are mainly evergreen works that sell. People are still buying the works that Osadebe did in the 1960’s, Dr. Victor Olaiya, Sir Victor Uwaifo, Rex Lawson and all those people whose works are still selling. That is what is sustaining the company. The works of Oritz Williki, Ras Kimono, Evi Edna Ogholli and so many of them. That is what has really sustained the company over the years.
How is your company tackling the competitive and unfavourable music business environment in Nigeria which is affected by piracy and low pricing of CDs?
Okay, that is a very good question. The truth of the matter is that over the years, my organization has allowed me spend a lot of time, because at the moment I am the chairman of the Nigerian Association of Recording Industries, which is the body that looks at issues concerning the industry and how to get the government to be more involved in helping this industry to develop and grow and that association over the years has engaged government and even the copyright laws were changed because of the influence of the organization. We will continue to engage government on all this issues. My personal take on this issue is that when you have things like the Niger Delta issue, low prices of oil, corruption and things like that, government will spend more time on things like that than focus on the entertainment industry. I don’t see that being high on the list of priorities of government, which is sad because intellectual property is what is ruling the world these days. Copyright out of intellectual property and things like that need more attention from government. Government should fund the copyright commission properly so that they can really tackle this issue of piracy head on and deal with it once and for all. The reason why prices are very low is simply because of piracy. The pirates don’t promote, they don’t pay royalties, they don’t pay taxes, but our own organization has to do all these things. We spend a lot of money promoting their works, paying the artistes money and making their music popular and then once it becomes popular, the pirates take over and of course, they can peg the price of CDs at ridiculous prices because they don’t have all those costs and because they have the machinery to flood the market with what they have is simply because the enforcement of anti-piracy laws have not been the way it should be. The legitimate industry has been forced to bring down prices to compete, which should not be the case. The truth of the matter is that it costs a stain on intellectual property. If for instance, 2Face releases a work today and he said he wanted to be selling his CDs at N10, 000. If people wanted it at N10, 000 and could not get another copy from any other place, those who want to buy will do so at N10, 000. Really, it is almost like a dictatorship if there was no piracy. That is, ‘this is how much I want to sell’ and if people feel it is worth it, they will buy it. But what is happening now is that we are selling CDs wholesale at virtually…my last calculation was about 25 cents for a whole album. If a track is downloaded on the internet, it costs 99 cents, so what we are doing is to sell an album at one quarter of what a track is downloaded. Which is ridiculous and it has implications for the entire industry because if the CD plants that are producing don’t get priced well, sooner or later they themselves will not be in business because they cannot replace their equipment or maintain them. The artiste because he is not remunerated well will stop creating. Companies like ours will stop existing because what is the point, if the artistes don’t create what are we going to sell? Therefore the distribution and everything will collapse. So, I think this issue of piracy is a major one that is affecting this industry.
Recently, the Nigeria Copyright Commission was transformed to Nigerian Intellectual Property Commission. What do you have to say about this and other government interventions?
You are going to a political area. But let me say one thing. Number one, it has not been transformed yet. It is still a proposal because the only way it can be done is for the National Assembly to make a new law. Those who initially wanted the copyright commission, then it was called Copyright Council, and having it separate from other intellectual property areas felt that if it is in a bigger organization, copyright issues might be taken more seriously than it is. Some of us feel that we could still have a copyright commission. We could still have an intellectual property commission or whatever it is which has trademarks and patents separate form the copyright commission. The copyright commission was originally and by law even today is situated in the ministry of culture (sic) and there were many reasons for that. Yes, many other countries are now situating it in the ministry of justice and all that. All these things are debatable but the most important thing is a method or system whereby copyright issues are still in the front burner not in the background. That is the most important thing, if they put it in the presidency, bravo. (Laughs)
The availability of quality music and artistes alongside rapidly changing technology are other factors affecting record companies like yours. How is Premier Music coping?
Well, I will tell you that it is not easy. The truth of the matter is that, if you go back in history, what used to happen is that you will find out that some of the bigger artistes were actually boys under smaller artistes before. So there was a process of training and re-training. Learning how to play instruments, learning how to tune instruments, you know, there was real training and development in our music culture. Right now, it is not so, technology has created a situation in which an artiste doesn’t know how to play any instrument. It is not that you have to necessarily know how to play an instrument, but it makes it better when you are accomplished in one or the other instrument. Most big artistes worldwide, even if all they do is sing, many of them know how to play an instrument. So one of the challenges the industry is facing is that there are no enough talents. Somebody has a small talent, has a good voice, jumps into the studio and of course you have all the technology there to produce a song. That is why some of these music do not last too long. Go and listen to the arrangement and things that were put together in the past. Take Fela’s music for instance, those who listen to him 20 years ago, if they listen to him now, they will have the same feeling. All the instruments are well laid out, you can hear the base, the percussion and we enjoy it because for us Africans, music is almost part of our life. You know, it is like we really appreciate all those things put together. I’m praying and hoping that somehow that the type of money that is going into the industry especially from what I call the peripheral companies, that is the telecommunication companies who are getting involved in music, the breweries and co. Courtesy of the money coming from there, some of the production is beginning to improve and getting better and I am hoping that that will continue so that gradually our music will become more sophisticated and exportable.
Premier Music used to be a place where the high and mighty of Nigerian music and upcoming artistes wanted to be identified with. Why is it no longer so?
Well, it is not that it is no longer so, I mean, not too long before the late Sonny Okosun passed on, he came here along his people and we entered into an arrangement with him. His last album, we were the ones selling it though he wasn’t a Premier artiste. There are also other artistes who are interested and like I mentioned before, the way the industry is now, because of the piracy, we ourselves are being cautious in what we put out. It doesn’t make too much sense to invest hugely in promoting and getting a work into the market and then the next thing is that you cannot get your money back because of piracy. Well, we’ve been a bit laid back. We couldn’t bring that out because we want to find a way by which the industry itself can be sanitized so that when we do the index properly, we will make our money out of it. That is why we are looking at going into other areas of the entertainment industry first and hoping that we will do well in those areas and make money there while we sanitize the area of selling hardware, that is selling the CDs or the VCDs.
As part of efforts at consolidating the company’s heritage, you last year rebranded and unveiled some new acts like Shakomended and Priscilla among others. Do you think the rebranding has been successful?
Well, rebranding goes beyond saying something, it is also about changing the culture of the organization. Some of the things I just told you, looking to do different things, I don’t want to say it now, but we are looking to go into other areas of the entertainment industry. That is part of the rebranding, it is not something that is a one year issue. It is a strategic change in the focus of the company. The success will be determined in some years to come, not now.
How come the new stars are not doing well?
The truth of the matter is that it is only Shakomended that has been released. Recently, we are in the process of releasing Chaka D’ Soulja. Shakomended you said is not doing well, but was recently nominated for Live Beats music video awards (NMVA). Chaka has also been nominated in the Hip Hop World Awards. So I wont say they are not doing well, what I would say is that like you said before, the market itself has some issues which we are dealing with and I don’t think you rate an artiste overnight because new artistes don’t just get known overnight. Go and find out, 2Face for instance was in the Plantaishun Boiz for a long time before he became known on his own when he broke out. The other members of that group too didn’t become popular overnight, so I don’t think if you look at an artiste’s career in nine months, you would say he has not done well. It is a career and we are looking at it from a long term (perspective), not just today or tomorrow.
How do you manage the huge number of successful stars like Sir Victor Uwaifo, Dr. Victor Olaiya, Oritz Williki, Onyeka Onwenu, Evi Edna Ogholli and so many other stars still alive?
When you say how do we manage them, in the real sense of the word, we don’t manage them, what we do is as much as possible to begin to put there music out there for people who love them and then at the same time pay them the royalties that are due to them. Unfortunately, those royalties would have been much higher if the issue of piracy was not there and they would have earned much more income but we do that. Even the artistes who have passed on, we still pay royalties to their estate and that is why people are endeared to us because of the issues of corporate responsibility. We take that very seriously.
Do you have any forum where they meet and interact with each other or the company?
No, but they interact with the company. As I said, we send them royalties and things like that. We speak to them regularly and when we had our rebranding, Sir Victor Uwaifo and others were here but we don’t have a formal system that brings all of them together. No, we don’t have that.
How are royalties paid to them?
We calculate the number of CDs or cassettes that have been sold, you know, based on the contract, percentages are calculated and whatever the amount turns to, we pay it to them. For the few works which are licensed abroad or sold on the internet, once we receive the money in foreign exchange, we give it to them, their own share in foreign exchange as it comes. It is the issue of openness and how we do it that makes artistes feel that this is their home and we see Premier as a big family, a family of artistes, a family of staff, and a family of ex-staff (Laughs).
Who was the first artiste signed on the label and who produced him/her?
I’m sorry, I won’t be able to answer that. I was in primary school when this company started. You will give me some time to find that out.
Which artiste has the record of the highest selling album on this record label?
Well, that would be very difficult to say because there are some works that have been selling since the 1970’s, 80’s. We don’t calculate royalties on a quarterly basis. We have not tried to say Ok look, this album since 1950 something that it was released, how many copies have been sold. First of all, it will be sold in LPs, later on sold in cassettes and now it is being sold on CDs. You know it will be difficult for us to do so. But, honestly, I can tell you that the artiste whose works sell most is the late Chief Osita Osadebe, and that is because he has more albums than any other artiste on this stable; I can tell you that for sure.
What genre of music and musicians do you now sign and promote?
Well, we’ve signed one or two gospel artistes. Somebody like Shakomended is versatile, he sings both highlife and hip hop. Chaka for instance is mainly dancehall and reggae. So we are blending things that will give Nigerians what they want. Music is loved by all but it is mainly concentrated in the age group of 18 – 30 or so. That is where it is now. Even in the past, the company has been trying to satisfy that major age group. At the time when reggae was the hit, we had the likes of Ras Kimono, Mandators, Evi Edna Ogholli, Oritz Williki and all those who were recruited by the company. We are looking at trying to make sure that we have people who can produce music that has an African flavour to it because looking at the history of the company, the fact that those old works still sell, you know, many of the people who buy them now were probably babies then, but that they like it today means there is something in it. And we are trying to find how we can get new music today that people in 20 years time will still be buying. It is not easy but that is what we are trying to do.
Are there any plans for a music library or museum to preserve archives of your past efforts in music production and promotion in Nigeria?
No, but one thing or the reason why the quality of works we have out there, even though they were produced years ago, is still as good as it is, is because we have preserved our master tapes as much as possible. The room where we have our master tapes, I will take you there, is always air-conditioned even if the MD’s office has no air-conditioner, that room must have air-conditioning so that we can preserve them properly. Many of those master tapes are also transferred to CDR’s (Recordable CDs) to preserve them. So, yes we are preserving them. We also have old pictures which we are keeping and some of them have been lost somehow due to movement of the company from place to place, but we’ve tried to preserve the heritage of this company as much as possible.
What message do you have for upcoming talents and the youth generally?
Well, I think creativity is a gift of God and people should research to stir up their gifts so that they can benefit from it. My hope and prayer is that the industry will be sanitized in such a way that those who participate in it will reap the benefit of their labour. So many people are labouring and not getting anything. That is the sad thing in the music industry, there are other industries where people do so little and get much.
INTERVIEW WITH CHAKA D’ SOULJA, PREMIER RECORDS UPCOMING ARTISTE
By Shagari Sumner Sambo
Can we meet you? Tell us about yourself.
My real name is Okonye Samson Chuxx, aka Chaka D’Soulja. I am from Delta State and was born precisely on the 8th of November at Ifo, Ogun State to a devout Christian family. I am studying at the University of Lagos (UNILAG) in the Department of Creative Arts and I’m a visual major. Basically, I’m into reggae and dancehall music. To put it really right, it’s more of roots, rhythm and redemption and it is a deeper way to really define what I’m into. My hobbies are playing board games, basically chess and scrabble.
Recently, you were nominated for the Hip Hop World 2009 Awards. What categories were you nominated for and which hit track got you nominated?
Basically, in that category, I think it was the whole album and it is a total package. It wasn’t as if it was only a particular track that was nominated. Probably a track got their attention though, but it was the album altogether. Because it is about a dancehall album, dancehall act. But “Like it” is the one that is having the airplay right now on the radio. Yeah it’s track number two on the album.
How do you feel like after being signed on to Nigeria’s oldest surviving record label which has produced great reggae musicians like Ras Kimono, Oritz Williki, the Mandators and so many other great superstars that have ruled Nigerian music in the last five decades or so?
I feel most delighted. I feel very, very fulfilled to a reasonable level. When I was growing up most of my icons from way back were on Premier. From Ras Kimono to Oritz Williki and a host of others like that were on Premier Records. I love their music, I love their style and owing to the fact that they really represented my genre. As a kid I always wanted to have something to do with them and they also got me endeared to Premier. So all the while I just wished that someday I could have something to do with Premier and when it happened it was like a dream come true. So I feel delighted to be at Premier at the moment.
So why do you sing reggae when the market and so many youths are coasting along with Hip Hop or Afro Pop as some call our own version?
Well, as for me it is about the roots, you know it is said that the deeper the roots, the stronger the branches. For me, at the outset from when I was ten, I got disposed to reggae music and it is like a family thing. My big brother who is into surveying and geoinformatics right now, he studied at UNILAG too and was into the game before he quit. So I got exposed to reggae music at a very tender age and it became a tool for me to express my musical ideas. I did venture into the hip hop thing. Precisely, in the year 2000, I recorded my debut track titled “Monkeys and Baboons” and it was something that had a lot of political undertones and it was on the airwaves for a while. It enjoyed some good airplay on radio stations. Then we did not have so many radio stations. We had just a few from Rhythm to Star and so on and they love it because it was a real hip hop stuff and a lot of hip hop heads from Mode Nine to Sixfootplus and the rest of them, we used to do stuff on the radio then They really loved it but just before I got signed on, something touched me and I was like, boy, go back to your roots and really represent the true essence of your existence. And so, basically I just went back to the roots and I shelved the hip hop thing. And the fact that I got back to the roots is that it helped me to express more of that street thing. I feel reggae music is more encompassing and that is why I choosed it.
Finally, what message do you have for upcoming artistes like yourself?
For every upcoming artiste or anyone who is still trying to discover himself or herself, you have to be prayerful. The moment you discover that this is your talent, you have to be strong and be able to harness this talent. It involves a measure of hardwork and prayers and you have to keep looking forward for the big break. Well, what I also have to say is that ‘hunger wey get hope no dey kill’ just keep pushing and you will get there.......Shaxx04.com
Getting into the hallowed chamber harbouring the archives of Nigeria’s best known musicians was nothing other than a thrilling experience for a keen lover of vintage Nigerian music which continues to make more meaning to our present-day social realities than the ubiquitous contemporary music that hardly makes meaning other than drum out ‘fuzzy-wuzzy’ sounds and lyrics to our eardrums daily.
March was the month and Satellite Town, along the Badagry Expressway, Lagos was the venue of the meeting place to unearth Nigeria’s foremost and oldest-surviving records label, Premier Records Limited, a.k.a Premier Music, as our research had revealed from many renowned sources in the music industry. Alongside my photographer, our trip was nothing other than fun as the Special Projects Manager of the company, Mr. Michael Odiong was right on hand to receive our team.
We explained our mission once more and he felt highly delighted in our interest in his organization and promised to grant us all needed assistance to make the trip worthwhile. Getting down to real business, we started discussing the subject of the day and like so many others who are pained by the seeming lethargy of meaningful music in our contemporary society, he confessed that present-day Nigerian music artistes are lyrically dwarfed by their predecessors who not only sang songs just for the sake of money or popularity but to pass across beautiful and meaningful messages accompanied by well-organized music instruments all aimed at celebrating life and empowering their fans to ease the many pains and problems confronting them. He went on to explain that his organization had come to terms with these realities and will soon do something about it.
We were later ushered to the presence of the Managing Director of the company, Mr. Toju A. Ejueyitchie, who calls himself the ‘Chief Servant’ of the company. A very lively man, we went on to have an enlightening interview where he also berated present-day artistes for their inability to give Nigerians and Africans songs that will inspire and motivate them to overcome their daily challenges, project our people in the positive light or take the desired lead to champion several causes like the Late Sonny Okosun and Late Fela Anikulapo-Kuti among others did.
Recording Nigeria’s golden voices over the years
Premier Music is like the home of all successful music icons in Nigeria as the record label has churned out renowned artistes in the likes of Late Chief Osita Osadebe, Late Rex Lawson, Rex Williams, Late Celestine Ukwu, Late Yusuf Olatunji, Sir Victor Uwaifo, Dr. Victor Olaiya, Dan Maraya Jos, Alex O, Alex Zitto, The Mandators, Blackky, Orits Williki, Ras Kimono, Mike Okri, Onyeka Onwenu, Evi Edna Ogholli, Dele Taiwo, Dele Bamgboye, Benita, and Buchi among others.
These super stars have over the years ruled the Nigerian and African airwaves with songs that have over time carved out an image and identity of Black consciousness for the world’s most populous Black nation. The lyrics and acoustics of their songs, at their heights, projected and illuminated the inner beauty of our people and inspired us to breakaway from the wrong consciousness of western culture which still continues to see us as a meaningless people with little to offer the human race, despite Africa being the cradle of civilization.
Being ushered into the hallowed chamber were the Master Tape recordings are stored, Mr. Ejueyitchie is quick to explain to us that this place is the heart of the record label, as it houses all the original recordings of their past productions and that even if the office of the MD is not air-conditioned, the strong room MUST always be air-conditioned so as to preserve them properly. According to him, it is from these master tapes that subsequent productions have been produced for the teeming fans of these great stars who still demand for their tapes, CDs, VCD/DVD in the market. When asked who the highest selling artiste of all time on the label is, he quickly retorted thus: “That would be very difficult to say because there are some works that have been selling since the 1970’s, 80’s…we have not tried to say Ok look, this album since 1950 something that it was released, how many copies have been sold. First of all, it will be sold in LPs, later on sold in cassettes and now it is being sold on CDs. You know it will be difficult for us to do so. But, honestly, I can tell you that the artiste whose works sell most is the late Chief Osita Osadebe, and that is because he has more albums than any other artiste on this stable; I can tell you that for sure.”
Now, just who was the first artiste signed on Premier Music? Laughing, the MD said he would need to do more research on that as he was still in primary school when that happened. He sought for more time for that question to be answered.
Surviving the turbulent music industry…
But how has this record label survived all the many turbulence that have besieged the music industry over the years without fizzling out of the harsh business environment in Nigeria? Reacting, the MD attributed it to “the willpower on the part of the owners, the board and the members of staff.” He however added that “more importantly, the rich heritage that the company has, you know the repertoires that it has are mainly evergreen works that sell. People are still buying the works that Osadebe did in the 1960’s, Dr. Victor Olaiya, Sir Victor Uwaifo, Rex Lawson and all those people whose works are still selling. That is what is sustaining the company. The works of Oritz Williki, Ras Kimono, Evi Edna Ogholli and so many of them. That is what has really sustained the company over the years…(though) the terrain has not been easy at all.”
One fascinating thing about well-established recording companies is that they do pay royalties to any artiste that passes through their stable. According to Wikipaedia “a record label can be a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion, and enforcement of copyright protection of sound recordings and music videos; conducts and maintains contracts with recording artists and their managers.”
The ‘contract’ in the definition above is a pregnant word which also encompasses the payment of royalties, so NEW sought to know from Mr. Ejueyitchie whether his record label has been living up to expectations on this aspect which is like the music artistes’ own pension. He answered in the affirmative and went ahead to disclose that even “for the few works which are licensed abroad or sold on the internet, once we receive the money in foreign exchange, we give it to them (artistes), their own share in foreign exchange as it comes. It is the issue of openness and how we do it that makes artistes feel that this is their home.”
These payments of royalties and other exclusive services or fringe benefits may have been responsible for the flock of upcoming and successful musicians to the record label in its about four and half decade of existence. They made it their home because they knew that they would always be assured of bread as long as people demanded for their records. This bread has however been threatened by the upsurge of piracy in recent times as legitimate recording companies are daily folding up or changing their nature of business due to the lack of guaranteed income from music business and non-enforcement of copyright laws, that is if such laws even exist.
Commenting on soaring production costs without commensurate income and low pricing of CDs, Mr. Ejueyitchie painfully said that: “The reason why prices are very low is simply because of piracy. The pirates don’t promote, they don’t pay royalties, they don’t pay taxes, but our own organization has to do all these things. We spend a lot of money promoting their works, paying the artistes money and making their music popular and then once it becomes popular, the pirates take over and of course, they can peg the price of CDs at ridiculous prices because they don’t have all those costs and because they have the machinery to flood the market with what they have is simply because the enforcement of anti-piracy laws have not been the way it should be. The legitimate industry has been forced to bring down prices to compete, which should not be the case.”
Relationship between record labels and their artistes
According to Wikipedia, a label typically enters into an exclusive recording contract with an artist in order to market the artist's recordings in return for royalties on the selling price of the recordings. Contracts may also extend over short or long durations, and may or may not refer to specific recordings. Established and successful artists tend to be able to renegotiate their contracts to get terms more favorable to them, 2Face Idibia had this experience during his stint at Kennis Music before setting up his Hypertek Records
The renowned online encyclopaedia also states that “this contract either provides for the artist to deliver completed recordings to the label, or for the label to undertake the recording with the artist. For artists without a recording history, the label is often involved in selecting producers, recording studios, additional musicians, and songs to be recorded, and may supervise the output of recording sessions. For established artistes, a label is usually less involved in the recording process.”
Right from time, recording artists have often been increasingly reliant upon record labels to broaden their audience, market their albums, and both be promoted and heard on television, and recently on the internet; with publicists that assist them in positive media reports to market their merchandise, and make it available via stores, the internet and other media outlets. However, the dwindling fortunes of record companies in Nigeria today has made many of them to be unable to do business or fulfill their obligations to their signed artistes. This has pitted many of the artistes against their record companies and resulted in many artistes experiencing dwindling royalties. This has also led to many of them (artistes) establishing their own record labels, though with little success or in affiliation with other bigger ones like Kennis Music, Storm Records or Mo Hits among others so that they can make their money ‘sharp, sharp.’
“Although both parties allegedly need each other to survive, the relationship between record labels and artists can be a difficult one. Many artists have had albums altered or censored in some way by the labels before they are released—songs being edited, artwork or titles being changed, etc. Record labels generally do this because they believe that the album will sell better if the changes are made. Often the record label's decisions are prudent ones from a commercial perspective, but this typically frustrates the artist who feels that their artwork is being diminished or misrepresented by such actions.”
Recently, there was an altercation between a well-established record label and its artiste which gives an insight into how the recording labels and artistes fare in Nigeria. Kennis Music, a prominent record label and one of its former artiste, Mr. Edward Ashiedu-Brown, a.k.a Eddy Remedy who until 2004 was signed on to it as a recording artiste are the parties. The artiste, formerly a member of the group “Remedies” accused the label of owing him royalties without remittance in a print interview. Reacting to the allegation in a press statement, Kenny ‘Keke’ Ogungbe, CEO of the record label replied that the label has one of the best records when it comes to royalty payment and it prides itself as one of the “very best in the country”; known to pay royalties in full as at when due and has even embraced advanced royalty payments.
Regarding the specific allegations, he went on to state that “sales from Eddy's works have dwindled almost to zero in the recent past. However, his contractual agreement stipulates quarterly payment to him after sales with full payment received by Kennis. There are some Eddy/Remedies products out in the market currently that are on ‘sales on return’ (products are given out on credit to distributors and payments are remitted upon sale of the works). However, royalties are usually paid upon receipt of payments which now gives the amount to be paid to artistes according to the monies received. In the past, artistes will say company so, so and so has not paid any royalty, but the same artiste will not say that their album, which is a huge investment for the company, has not sold enough for the company to recoup money they used to produce the album, mass produce from master to CDs, tapes etc, produce the video(s), promote the songs on radio, TV, newspapers, posters, etc, distribute the albums; before you can then think of royalties. Such complaints are peculiar to unsuccessful and failed artistes who are ever willing to blame his or her woes on somebody else especially their record company but never themselves. This issue of looking at both side of the coin is very important in this industry so as to put a stop to this one sided lies and cheap blackmail. You will never find a 2face saying his royalties were never paid. Same for Lagbaja, Eedris Abdulkareem, Paul Play Dairo, V I P from Ghana, Kenny Saint Brown, Tony Tetuila just to mention few.”
Like every other human institution, Premier Music too has had its own fair share of this type of cat and dog fight between record labels and artistes. Under its label, so many music artistes have come and gone, with some retiring happily or leaving under controversial circumstances. As for all those who have passed through the label, according to Mr. Ejueyitchie, the company still tries to maintain contacts with them especially during payment of royalties. He said: ”We speak to them regularly and when we had our rebranding, Sir Victor Uwaifo and others were here.”
As the tour was coming to an end, our lens could not help but capture good shots of vintage old school master tape records on vinyl LPs alongside vintage pictures of Nigeria’s best and famous artistes in their younger frames. The one which drew our attention the most was the album pack of the famous Zebrudaya, Clarus and Chief Jegede Shokoya comedy on audio.
INTERVIEW WITH MR. TOJU A. EJUEYITCHIE, MD, PREMIER RECORDS LIMITED, NIGERIA’S OLDEST SURVIVING RECORD LABEL
By Shagari Sumner Sambo
Can we meet you Sir?
My name is Toju A. Ejueyitchie, I am the Chief Servant here at Premier Records Limited. I have been here for almost fifteen years and we’ve run through thick and thin and all sorts of storms. I am actually a chartered accountant. I strayed into this industry I think maybe by an act of God because this is not my original calling but then I have a personal desire to assist at any place where things are going wrong to put them right. Those are the things I like doing.
When did you join Premier Music?
In early 1994, that is exactly when I became the Managing Director of Premier Music.
Your company has a rich history of being the oldest surviving recording label in Nigeria. Can you tell us a brief history of the company?
The oldest surviving, I don’t know. The company was incorporated in 1963 as Phillips (West Africa) Records Limited. Over time it turned to Phonogram Limited and Polygram Records before it became Premier Records in 1991 when the international investors, that is Polygram International divested from this country as a result of the Structural Adjustment Programme which didn’t favour their doing business any longer in this country and so some Nigerians took over those shares and the company became Premier Records. We’ve been coasting along since.
Who were the initial promoters and founding management team of Premier Music?
Mr. Toyin Oni was the one who spearheaded the takeover of the company from the foreign company and he was the chairman of the company for some time. He alone with some other people who were investors together were the ones involved.
Why has Premier Music not fizzled out of the Nigerian music market like other recording companies of the past? What has been the survival strategy?
What has sustained us is the willpower on the part of the owners, the board and the members of staff, because the terrain has not been easy at all. But more importantly, the rich heritage that the company has, you know the repertoire that it has. This are mainly evergreen works that sell. People are still buying the works that Osadebe did in the 1960’s, Dr. Victor Olaiya, Sir Victor Uwaifo, Rex Lawson and all those people whose works are still selling. That is what is sustaining the company. The works of Oritz Williki, Ras Kimono, Evi Edna Ogholli and so many of them. That is what has really sustained the company over the years.
How is your company tackling the competitive and unfavourable music business environment in Nigeria which is affected by piracy and low pricing of CDs?
Okay, that is a very good question. The truth of the matter is that over the years, my organization has allowed me spend a lot of time, because at the moment I am the chairman of the Nigerian Association of Recording Industries, which is the body that looks at issues concerning the industry and how to get the government to be more involved in helping this industry to develop and grow and that association over the years has engaged government and even the copyright laws were changed because of the influence of the organization. We will continue to engage government on all this issues. My personal take on this issue is that when you have things like the Niger Delta issue, low prices of oil, corruption and things like that, government will spend more time on things like that than focus on the entertainment industry. I don’t see that being high on the list of priorities of government, which is sad because intellectual property is what is ruling the world these days. Copyright out of intellectual property and things like that need more attention from government. Government should fund the copyright commission properly so that they can really tackle this issue of piracy head on and deal with it once and for all. The reason why prices are very low is simply because of piracy. The pirates don’t promote, they don’t pay royalties, they don’t pay taxes, but our own organization has to do all these things. We spend a lot of money promoting their works, paying the artistes money and making their music popular and then once it becomes popular, the pirates take over and of course, they can peg the price of CDs at ridiculous prices because they don’t have all those costs and because they have the machinery to flood the market with what they have is simply because the enforcement of anti-piracy laws have not been the way it should be. The legitimate industry has been forced to bring down prices to compete, which should not be the case. The truth of the matter is that it costs a stain on intellectual property. If for instance, 2Face releases a work today and he said he wanted to be selling his CDs at N10, 000. If people wanted it at N10, 000 and could not get another copy from any other place, those who want to buy will do so at N10, 000. Really, it is almost like a dictatorship if there was no piracy. That is, ‘this is how much I want to sell’ and if people feel it is worth it, they will buy it. But what is happening now is that we are selling CDs wholesale at virtually…my last calculation was about 25 cents for a whole album. If a track is downloaded on the internet, it costs 99 cents, so what we are doing is to sell an album at one quarter of what a track is downloaded. Which is ridiculous and it has implications for the entire industry because if the CD plants that are producing don’t get priced well, sooner or later they themselves will not be in business because they cannot replace their equipment or maintain them. The artiste because he is not remunerated well will stop creating. Companies like ours will stop existing because what is the point, if the artistes don’t create what are we going to sell? Therefore the distribution and everything will collapse. So, I think this issue of piracy is a major one that is affecting this industry.
Recently, the Nigeria Copyright Commission was transformed to Nigerian Intellectual Property Commission. What do you have to say about this and other government interventions?
You are going to a political area. But let me say one thing. Number one, it has not been transformed yet. It is still a proposal because the only way it can be done is for the National Assembly to make a new law. Those who initially wanted the copyright commission, then it was called Copyright Council, and having it separate from other intellectual property areas felt that if it is in a bigger organization, copyright issues might be taken more seriously than it is. Some of us feel that we could still have a copyright commission. We could still have an intellectual property commission or whatever it is which has trademarks and patents separate form the copyright commission. The copyright commission was originally and by law even today is situated in the ministry of culture (sic) and there were many reasons for that. Yes, many other countries are now situating it in the ministry of justice and all that. All these things are debatable but the most important thing is a method or system whereby copyright issues are still in the front burner not in the background. That is the most important thing, if they put it in the presidency, bravo. (Laughs)
The availability of quality music and artistes alongside rapidly changing technology are other factors affecting record companies like yours. How is Premier Music coping?
Well, I will tell you that it is not easy. The truth of the matter is that, if you go back in history, what used to happen is that you will find out that some of the bigger artistes were actually boys under smaller artistes before. So there was a process of training and re-training. Learning how to play instruments, learning how to tune instruments, you know, there was real training and development in our music culture. Right now, it is not so, technology has created a situation in which an artiste doesn’t know how to play any instrument. It is not that you have to necessarily know how to play an instrument, but it makes it better when you are accomplished in one or the other instrument. Most big artistes worldwide, even if all they do is sing, many of them know how to play an instrument. So one of the challenges the industry is facing is that there are no enough talents. Somebody has a small talent, has a good voice, jumps into the studio and of course you have all the technology there to produce a song. That is why some of these music do not last too long. Go and listen to the arrangement and things that were put together in the past. Take Fela’s music for instance, those who listen to him 20 years ago, if they listen to him now, they will have the same feeling. All the instruments are well laid out, you can hear the base, the percussion and we enjoy it because for us Africans, music is almost part of our life. You know, it is like we really appreciate all those things put together. I’m praying and hoping that somehow that the type of money that is going into the industry especially from what I call the peripheral companies, that is the telecommunication companies who are getting involved in music, the breweries and co. Courtesy of the money coming from there, some of the production is beginning to improve and getting better and I am hoping that that will continue so that gradually our music will become more sophisticated and exportable.
Premier Music used to be a place where the high and mighty of Nigerian music and upcoming artistes wanted to be identified with. Why is it no longer so?
Well, it is not that it is no longer so, I mean, not too long before the late Sonny Okosun passed on, he came here along his people and we entered into an arrangement with him. His last album, we were the ones selling it though he wasn’t a Premier artiste. There are also other artistes who are interested and like I mentioned before, the way the industry is now, because of the piracy, we ourselves are being cautious in what we put out. It doesn’t make too much sense to invest hugely in promoting and getting a work into the market and then the next thing is that you cannot get your money back because of piracy. Well, we’ve been a bit laid back. We couldn’t bring that out because we want to find a way by which the industry itself can be sanitized so that when we do the index properly, we will make our money out of it. That is why we are looking at going into other areas of the entertainment industry first and hoping that we will do well in those areas and make money there while we sanitize the area of selling hardware, that is selling the CDs or the VCDs.
As part of efforts at consolidating the company’s heritage, you last year rebranded and unveiled some new acts like Shakomended and Priscilla among others. Do you think the rebranding has been successful?
Well, rebranding goes beyond saying something, it is also about changing the culture of the organization. Some of the things I just told you, looking to do different things, I don’t want to say it now, but we are looking to go into other areas of the entertainment industry. That is part of the rebranding, it is not something that is a one year issue. It is a strategic change in the focus of the company. The success will be determined in some years to come, not now.
How come the new stars are not doing well?
The truth of the matter is that it is only Shakomended that has been released. Recently, we are in the process of releasing Chaka D’ Soulja. Shakomended you said is not doing well, but was recently nominated for Live Beats music video awards (NMVA). Chaka has also been nominated in the Hip Hop World Awards. So I wont say they are not doing well, what I would say is that like you said before, the market itself has some issues which we are dealing with and I don’t think you rate an artiste overnight because new artistes don’t just get known overnight. Go and find out, 2Face for instance was in the Plantaishun Boiz for a long time before he became known on his own when he broke out. The other members of that group too didn’t become popular overnight, so I don’t think if you look at an artiste’s career in nine months, you would say he has not done well. It is a career and we are looking at it from a long term (perspective), not just today or tomorrow.
How do you manage the huge number of successful stars like Sir Victor Uwaifo, Dr. Victor Olaiya, Oritz Williki, Onyeka Onwenu, Evi Edna Ogholli and so many other stars still alive?
When you say how do we manage them, in the real sense of the word, we don’t manage them, what we do is as much as possible to begin to put there music out there for people who love them and then at the same time pay them the royalties that are due to them. Unfortunately, those royalties would have been much higher if the issue of piracy was not there and they would have earned much more income but we do that. Even the artistes who have passed on, we still pay royalties to their estate and that is why people are endeared to us because of the issues of corporate responsibility. We take that very seriously.
Do you have any forum where they meet and interact with each other or the company?
No, but they interact with the company. As I said, we send them royalties and things like that. We speak to them regularly and when we had our rebranding, Sir Victor Uwaifo and others were here but we don’t have a formal system that brings all of them together. No, we don’t have that.
How are royalties paid to them?
We calculate the number of CDs or cassettes that have been sold, you know, based on the contract, percentages are calculated and whatever the amount turns to, we pay it to them. For the few works which are licensed abroad or sold on the internet, once we receive the money in foreign exchange, we give it to them, their own share in foreign exchange as it comes. It is the issue of openness and how we do it that makes artistes feel that this is their home and we see Premier as a big family, a family of artistes, a family of staff, and a family of ex-staff (Laughs).
Who was the first artiste signed on the label and who produced him/her?
I’m sorry, I won’t be able to answer that. I was in primary school when this company started. You will give me some time to find that out.
Which artiste has the record of the highest selling album on this record label?
Well, that would be very difficult to say because there are some works that have been selling since the 1970’s, 80’s. We don’t calculate royalties on a quarterly basis. We have not tried to say Ok look, this album since 1950 something that it was released, how many copies have been sold. First of all, it will be sold in LPs, later on sold in cassettes and now it is being sold on CDs. You know it will be difficult for us to do so. But, honestly, I can tell you that the artiste whose works sell most is the late Chief Osita Osadebe, and that is because he has more albums than any other artiste on this stable; I can tell you that for sure.
What genre of music and musicians do you now sign and promote?
Well, we’ve signed one or two gospel artistes. Somebody like Shakomended is versatile, he sings both highlife and hip hop. Chaka for instance is mainly dancehall and reggae. So we are blending things that will give Nigerians what they want. Music is loved by all but it is mainly concentrated in the age group of 18 – 30 or so. That is where it is now. Even in the past, the company has been trying to satisfy that major age group. At the time when reggae was the hit, we had the likes of Ras Kimono, Mandators, Evi Edna Ogholli, Oritz Williki and all those who were recruited by the company. We are looking at trying to make sure that we have people who can produce music that has an African flavour to it because looking at the history of the company, the fact that those old works still sell, you know, many of the people who buy them now were probably babies then, but that they like it today means there is something in it. And we are trying to find how we can get new music today that people in 20 years time will still be buying. It is not easy but that is what we are trying to do.
Are there any plans for a music library or museum to preserve archives of your past efforts in music production and promotion in Nigeria?
No, but one thing or the reason why the quality of works we have out there, even though they were produced years ago, is still as good as it is, is because we have preserved our master tapes as much as possible. The room where we have our master tapes, I will take you there, is always air-conditioned even if the MD’s office has no air-conditioner, that room must have air-conditioning so that we can preserve them properly. Many of those master tapes are also transferred to CDR’s (Recordable CDs) to preserve them. So, yes we are preserving them. We also have old pictures which we are keeping and some of them have been lost somehow due to movement of the company from place to place, but we’ve tried to preserve the heritage of this company as much as possible.
What message do you have for upcoming talents and the youth generally?
Well, I think creativity is a gift of God and people should research to stir up their gifts so that they can benefit from it. My hope and prayer is that the industry will be sanitized in such a way that those who participate in it will reap the benefit of their labour. So many people are labouring and not getting anything. That is the sad thing in the music industry, there are other industries where people do so little and get much.
INTERVIEW WITH CHAKA D’ SOULJA, PREMIER RECORDS UPCOMING ARTISTE
By Shagari Sumner Sambo
Can we meet you? Tell us about yourself.
My real name is Okonye Samson Chuxx, aka Chaka D’Soulja. I am from Delta State and was born precisely on the 8th of November at Ifo, Ogun State to a devout Christian family. I am studying at the University of Lagos (UNILAG) in the Department of Creative Arts and I’m a visual major. Basically, I’m into reggae and dancehall music. To put it really right, it’s more of roots, rhythm and redemption and it is a deeper way to really define what I’m into. My hobbies are playing board games, basically chess and scrabble.
Recently, you were nominated for the Hip Hop World 2009 Awards. What categories were you nominated for and which hit track got you nominated?
Basically, in that category, I think it was the whole album and it is a total package. It wasn’t as if it was only a particular track that was nominated. Probably a track got their attention though, but it was the album altogether. Because it is about a dancehall album, dancehall act. But “Like it” is the one that is having the airplay right now on the radio. Yeah it’s track number two on the album.
How do you feel like after being signed on to Nigeria’s oldest surviving record label which has produced great reggae musicians like Ras Kimono, Oritz Williki, the Mandators and so many other great superstars that have ruled Nigerian music in the last five decades or so?
I feel most delighted. I feel very, very fulfilled to a reasonable level. When I was growing up most of my icons from way back were on Premier. From Ras Kimono to Oritz Williki and a host of others like that were on Premier Records. I love their music, I love their style and owing to the fact that they really represented my genre. As a kid I always wanted to have something to do with them and they also got me endeared to Premier. So all the while I just wished that someday I could have something to do with Premier and when it happened it was like a dream come true. So I feel delighted to be at Premier at the moment.
So why do you sing reggae when the market and so many youths are coasting along with Hip Hop or Afro Pop as some call our own version?
Well, as for me it is about the roots, you know it is said that the deeper the roots, the stronger the branches. For me, at the outset from when I was ten, I got disposed to reggae music and it is like a family thing. My big brother who is into surveying and geoinformatics right now, he studied at UNILAG too and was into the game before he quit. So I got exposed to reggae music at a very tender age and it became a tool for me to express my musical ideas. I did venture into the hip hop thing. Precisely, in the year 2000, I recorded my debut track titled “Monkeys and Baboons” and it was something that had a lot of political undertones and it was on the airwaves for a while. It enjoyed some good airplay on radio stations. Then we did not have so many radio stations. We had just a few from Rhythm to Star and so on and they love it because it was a real hip hop stuff and a lot of hip hop heads from Mode Nine to Sixfootplus and the rest of them, we used to do stuff on the radio then They really loved it but just before I got signed on, something touched me and I was like, boy, go back to your roots and really represent the true essence of your existence. And so, basically I just went back to the roots and I shelved the hip hop thing. And the fact that I got back to the roots is that it helped me to express more of that street thing. I feel reggae music is more encompassing and that is why I choosed it.
Finally, what message do you have for upcoming artistes like yourself?
For every upcoming artiste or anyone who is still trying to discover himself or herself, you have to be prayerful. The moment you discover that this is your talent, you have to be strong and be able to harness this talent. It involves a measure of hardwork and prayers and you have to keep looking forward for the big break. Well, what I also have to say is that ‘hunger wey get hope no dey kill’ just keep pushing and you will get there.......Shaxx04.com
NAIJA STARS THRILL FUN SEEKERS AT PAPA’S BEACH PARTY
By Shagari Sumner Sambo
When last did you go to a beach party? Many Lagosians hardly have time for fun as they are always chasing one runs (activity) or the other, especially money. With the array of beaches littered round the city of Lagos, it often comes as a surprise to most newcomers to the city when they discover that such exclusive nature’s preserve are under-utilised, especially during hot seasons and weekends unlike their counterparts in major cities of the world.
This was however not the case in the last week of March, 2008. It was fun all through at the Oniru Private Beach in Victoria Island when Lagosians trooped out in their numbers to have fun with friends and members of their families at the event.
The beach party, organized by Papa’s Entertainment in conjunction with Monster Music, two hottest entertainment outfits in the city of Lagos, had in attendance many fun seekers clad in enticing beach wears that reminded one of the atmosphere at Copacabana Beach in Brazil. The beach itself was at its fullest energy with roaring waves tempting and inviting any fun seeker bold enough to withstand its huge powerhouse of energy, to come have a feel of the Atlantic Ocean. Many did.
An interesting side attraction at the event was the foam pool bath so many of the fun seekers had. A foam generating machine was placed over a balloon pool where continuous whitish foam looking snowish was pumped from the machine to make it look like a swimming pool. Many friends of particular fun seekers would then take them and dump them into the pool where they will all be cladded with the foam all over their bodies. The fun continued even while other events were going on.
It was a family outing which began from midday but later transformed into a show for the happening guys and babes towards the evening when the actual stage show began. Trust Lagosians, once the DJ rolled out the music of the likes of Sheyman, Timaya, D’Banj and other top artistes, the place was literally on fire with many babes clad in their bikinis setting the stage for what would later become a tensed and charged atmosphere of contemporary Naija music.
Later on, upcoming Naija music artistes like Bracket (Yori Yori), AY.com, Flow, Drama, LKT ft T Code, Komoblastic and Base 10 thrilled the crowd wonderfully until the big stars like Sheyman (Hotter than Fire), Da Green, Collabo and Sound Sultan jerked up the show to a higher level with their popular songs. Many fun seekers yearned for more from these super stars and enjoyed some photo sessions with them back stage.
Another major side attraction at the event was a carved corner on the beach where some fun seekers enjoyed a real party like atmosphere with a DJ dishing out top sounds amidst much dancing and fun. This seemed like the kind of corner for mega bucks guys and chics that have “arrived” as different SUVs were parked there with al sorts of assorted wine and drink.
In all, the event proved oncemore that when Lagosians want to catch their fun, nothing stops them as the organizers made sure that their security was well taken care of with the presence of the Nigerian Police and some military men who were ubiquitous at the event...............04 Boy!
When last did you go to a beach party? Many Lagosians hardly have time for fun as they are always chasing one runs (activity) or the other, especially money. With the array of beaches littered round the city of Lagos, it often comes as a surprise to most newcomers to the city when they discover that such exclusive nature’s preserve are under-utilised, especially during hot seasons and weekends unlike their counterparts in major cities of the world.
This was however not the case in the last week of March, 2008. It was fun all through at the Oniru Private Beach in Victoria Island when Lagosians trooped out in their numbers to have fun with friends and members of their families at the event.
The beach party, organized by Papa’s Entertainment in conjunction with Monster Music, two hottest entertainment outfits in the city of Lagos, had in attendance many fun seekers clad in enticing beach wears that reminded one of the atmosphere at Copacabana Beach in Brazil. The beach itself was at its fullest energy with roaring waves tempting and inviting any fun seeker bold enough to withstand its huge powerhouse of energy, to come have a feel of the Atlantic Ocean. Many did.
An interesting side attraction at the event was the foam pool bath so many of the fun seekers had. A foam generating machine was placed over a balloon pool where continuous whitish foam looking snowish was pumped from the machine to make it look like a swimming pool. Many friends of particular fun seekers would then take them and dump them into the pool where they will all be cladded with the foam all over their bodies. The fun continued even while other events were going on.
It was a family outing which began from midday but later transformed into a show for the happening guys and babes towards the evening when the actual stage show began. Trust Lagosians, once the DJ rolled out the music of the likes of Sheyman, Timaya, D’Banj and other top artistes, the place was literally on fire with many babes clad in their bikinis setting the stage for what would later become a tensed and charged atmosphere of contemporary Naija music.
Later on, upcoming Naija music artistes like Bracket (Yori Yori), AY.com, Flow, Drama, LKT ft T Code, Komoblastic and Base 10 thrilled the crowd wonderfully until the big stars like Sheyman (Hotter than Fire), Da Green, Collabo and Sound Sultan jerked up the show to a higher level with their popular songs. Many fun seekers yearned for more from these super stars and enjoyed some photo sessions with them back stage.
Another major side attraction at the event was a carved corner on the beach where some fun seekers enjoyed a real party like atmosphere with a DJ dishing out top sounds amidst much dancing and fun. This seemed like the kind of corner for mega bucks guys and chics that have “arrived” as different SUVs were parked there with al sorts of assorted wine and drink.
In all, the event proved oncemore that when Lagosians want to catch their fun, nothing stops them as the organizers made sure that their security was well taken care of with the presence of the Nigerian Police and some military men who were ubiquitous at the event...............04 Boy!
Monday, 27 April 2009
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