EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: FINANCE HAS BEEN THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE FOR ME – ADUKE

ADUKE

* WHAT IS YOUR NAME AND GIVE US AN INSIGHT INTO YOUR FAMILY BACKGROUND.

Aladekomo Ayobamidele.. i am the last of 2 children. My mother is a
lawyer(academics) and my father was a dentist but he’s late now.

* HOW DID YOU COME BY THE NAME ”ADUKE” AND WHAT DOES IT SIGNIFY?

My grandmother gave me the name. It’s one of my names and because i’m not really a fan of forming names i decided to adopt one of my names.

* WHAT INSTRUMENT DO YOU PLAY?

I play the guitar and a little bit of the piano.

* WHAT DOES YOUR ART CONSIST OF?

My art consists of me basically but i have a band SSV and i am presently
signed to SCOALE music owned by Scott Igbene.

* HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR MUSIC FOR THE PUBLIC AUDIENCE IF THEY HAVE NEVER SEEN YOU BEFORE.

My music is basically just MUSIC, but to categorize it i call it
neo-soul. Its music with a feel of soul in it.

* THINKING BACK TO EARLY CHILDHOOD, WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST EXPERIENCE WITH MUSIC LIKE AND WHAT SONGS DO YOU REMEMBER AS A CHILD?

I am a christian so basically i grew up listening to music, from the
church services to the house because my father played alot of music in the
house back then. I would take out a book and write down the lyrics of songs and sing along. I listen to Funmi Aragbaye, Sunny Ade, Ebenezer Obey,
Victor Olaiya. On the foreign side i listened to alot of Abba, Micheal
Jackson and all the while i had no intuition i was going to be a singer.

* WHAT MADE YOU REALIZE YOU WANTED TO PURSUE A CAREER IN MUSIC?

I was in love with words so i wrote alot of poetry and article. I also
used to listen to songs that had deep philosophical thoughts. I remember
people would hear me speak and ask if i was a musician, i personally
thought and still think my voice was too husky to sing but people kept
telling me how good my voice is. someone even went out of his way to get songs to understudy. Then i attempted to learn to play the sax but the career did not live long and then i moved on to piano, guitar found a way
of staying basically because it was easier to move around with. I remember being so addicted to it, infact, it was difficult to see me without my guitar at one time.

* HOW DID YOU BECOME INVOLVED IN THE TYPE OF MUSIC YOU SING NOW?

My philosophy in life has always being there, rhythm came along to
harness the delivery. I was a lyricist before i became a musician.

* IF YOU HAD TO DESCRIBE YOUR MUSIC IN THREE WORDS, WHAT WOULD YOU CALL IT?

Poetry-in-music

* WHAT DO YOU THINK YOUR ”BIGGEST BREAK” OR ”GREATEST OPPORTUNITY” HAS BEEN SO FAR IN YOUR MUSICAL CAREER?

Hear the voice video, it was the video i shot during the fuel subsidy saga. It wasn’t planned. I was asked if i could write a song and in 2 days i
delivered the song. I guess DJTEE was impressed and he decided to shoot the video. The song gave me attention both internationally and locally. But i
am certain there are better things to come that’s just the tip of the
iceberg.

* WHAT ARE YOUR SONGS ABOUT?

LIFE. I will only stop singing if life seizes to exist as we know it
now.

* WHAT DO YOU FEEL DISTINGUISHES ”AN ARTIST” FROM A MUSICIAN?

An artiste will do art whether or not he sees a profit. Some musicians
are just hustlers.

* WHAT HAS BEEN THE BIGGEST CHANGE FOR YOU?

* Finance. I have dreams of experimenting with music and using it as a tool for social and political construction.

* IF YOU HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO CHANGE SOMETHING ABOUT THE MUSIC INDUSTRY, WHAT WOULD THAT BE?

Piracy.

* DO YOU HAVE OTHER INTERESTS OR TALENTS YOU WOULD LIKE TO SHARE WITH US AND HOW DO YOU LIKE TO ENJOY YOUR RELAXATION TIME AWAY FROM MUSIC?

I am an actress and dancer and like i said before i write poetry. Asking how i relax away from music makes it sound like its a job. NO music is everything. I don’t relax away from it. I relax with it. the joy is in performing and knowing that your music gets to where it should.

* HAVE YOU EVER HAD ANY STRANGE OR STALKER TYPE FAN THAT YOU ARE AWARE OF?

NO. I don’t alienate myself from fans. I try to be normal so that they don’t feel the need to stalk me.

* HAVE YOU EVER BEEN EMBARASSED BY A FAN?

I don’t think i have had an embarrassing moment yet, except its me who doesn’t see it as embarrassing. I can be very carefree.

* HOW DO YOU SEE YOURSELF 5years FROM NOW?

I should have my own music world by then. The dream is to experiment
with music and art generally become a tradition all over the world.

* THANK YOU FOR HAVING US

Its a pleasure.

You can vote for Aduke at the NEA Awards for BEST INDEGENIOUS ACT category…SMS NEA 13 ADUKE to 32051.