Culled from Entertainment express
Next To Blow
Next 2 Blow: Introducing Korede Bello
Friday, April 13, 2012Omoba
 |
Written
by Babajide Awoyinfa
|
Korede Bello is a young guitarist, singer, song writer and composer who does R & B/Soul/Folk music. This young creative fella, who hails from Lagos State, the entertainment centre of Nigeria, believes that he is the next best thing in the music and entertainment industry in Nigeria.
He has a
reasonable pedigree. Nominated as Next Rated Music Artiste at the Peak Awards
2011, he won the Most Promising Young Act at the Toks Entertainment Awards
2011. He also clinched two awards, Indigenous and Revelation of the Year, at
the Tush All Youth Awards 2011. This year, he claimed another laurel at the
Hype Award 2012 where he emerged the Most
Wanted Artist Of The Year.
This rising
vedette, who draws inspiration from Asa and Tuface, is putting finishing
touches to his album. Bello, currently under the management of Caspertainment
and signed to Double Dice Records, had a chat with me recently where he talked
about his music and where he is heading.
How did music start for you?
I started
singing when I was in my primary school and
my first stage performance was in my Primary 2; I was 7 years old then, that
was when I discovered that I could sing. I think my singing talent is a special
gift from God, I am the only one that is into music professionally in my family
but everybody is a huge supporter of good music. My dad used to love Fela,
Micheal Jackson, Ebenezer Obey, different contemporary musicians. Listening to different
kinds of music inspired me.
How did your
music journey start?
It has been
a challenging journey for me; it started rough but going smoothly at the
moment. The challenge that I had was, being able to convince my mum to allow me
to stay late into the night in the studio
and for shows. I was about to write WAEC then, it was hard to shuffle exams
with music.
Professionally, my music career started two
years ago, when I was still in secondary school, I recorded a song for my
graduation; then I met a producer and worked on a song titled “I Love
Naija” that was my first single, and I
performed it on my graduation. It was after then I signed up with Double Dice
Records because they believe I was good and since then I have been under the
record label.
What concept
do you stand for?
I preach
love - everything related to love; I preach oneness. No matter how danceable, I
always try to put a message in my songs. I do R&B, Soul, Pop and Folk. I am
proud to say that I am the only one combining all these genres at the moment. I
combine Michael Jackson, Asa, TuFace, Usher and Justin Bieber concepts. I mix
these concepts to make my music unique.
Who are the
artists that inspire you?
An artist
cannot inspire me forever; as time goes on I see different uniqueness in
different artists; any good artist can inspire me. But Michael Jackson, Asa,
TuFace Usher, Justin Bieber, wizkid inspires me a lot.
Tell us
about your new song “Forever”?
The
inspiration behind that song is love; I try to put a message in it, and the
concept behind the song is that only God lives forever, that is the secret
message behind that song. The song had been, one of my favourite melodies. I
had that melody for a while now. I try making the song simple such that kids,
adults and clubs can relate to. I wrote the song with my guitar, that was where
the inspiration came from. And I sang it for a girl I was in love with in
school back then. She inspired the love part of it.
How many
songs have you released presently?
I have recorded
I love ‘‘Naija‘‘, ‘‘Hold Me” and “Forever”. I have so many great songs yet to
be released; I am compiling them for my album that will be released soon. I
have so many songs, written with my
guitar and also recorded in the studio.
What are
your album plans?
My album
will be release early next year by the grace of God; I just want to concentrate
on more singles right now, for people to really know who Korede Bello is and
enjoy what I have to offer so that they can value the album because I have great
messages and stories to tell.
What
attracts you to music?
I think
music attracts me to her; music is somebody that has been toasting me for a
very long time; right from when I was a baby, music was always in me. Music
actually discovered me and I am really thankful to God for that.
In the real
sense, my mum and dad, back then played lots of records in the house. We had a
turntable, a compact disc player and listening to this ignited and strengthened
the love of music in me. Also in school, I did participate in things related to
music and I wrote poetry in secondary school. I wrote all my songs which made
me popular in school back then. I got inspired through my environment, friends
and my country.
Which artist
will you compare yourself with?
With all due
respect, I don’t compare myself to any artist; I think every artist is great
and unique in his own style. If people say I sound like a particular artist,
that is good. But I am Korede Bello.
Do you think
it is easier to make it Lagos that any other state in Nigeria?
The reason
why artists come here is because Lagos is the centre of excellence, music and
movie industry are mainly generated from here because of the good name right
from the start.
How is the
reception online on your song?
They day the
“Forever” song dropped, all the Nigerian music site on the internet launched it
online. The plan was that I was born on a leap year date, February 29, so they
made it really special for me by uploading it in all the music sites in
Nigeria. I got lots of good comment on the song, people called me that they heard
my song and liked it, even from outside Nigeria. I tweet a lot and have a lot
of followers. My twitter
handle is @koredebello. For now I haven’t had bad comment about the song and I
am sure that people are not teasing me with the good comments they have been
writing.
What are
your future plans?
My future
plans is to take my record label higher, that is Double Dice Entertainment and
also uplift the brand Korede Bello to the next level and by the next five
years, I see us on top of the music industry in Nigeria. I believe that I am
the next to blow, I am confident and assured about that because I serve a
living God.
What is a
typical day like for you?
When I wake
up, I play a couple of songs with my guitar. Later I go to the studio to cook
up something productive and in the evening I go for shows with my crew (if we
have any on ground) and I
come back
home very late most times.
How will you
describe music in Nigeria?
I think we
are really progressing, and people have started appreciating our music all over
the world. The Nigerian songs are getting famous all over the world; people are
appreciating our kind of music. Shout out to
Wizkid, Dbanj, Tuface and the likes who are bringing out good music in the
county.
Who are the
artists you intend working with?
I will like
to work with TuFace, Wizkid, Asa, Nneka, and some great upcoming artist people
don’t know about yet. Right now, I am not revealing any secret now but I am
featuring a lot of artist on my album.
I would like
to work with producers like Jay Sleek, Lay Low, E Kelly and a lot of nice
producers in the country.
How do your
fans reach out to you?
If you want
to reach out to Korede Bello, my twitter handle is @koredebello, my facebook
name is Korede Bello, Koredebello@gmail.com
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