9ice
9ice To Release Another Double Album Titled "GRA & CNN" + Addresses Controversies
Monday, November 19, 2012Omoba
9ice, real names
Abolore Akande is one of the artistes that brought pride to singing in their
mother tongues. The brave act was not only applauded, he became role models to
many upcoming acts trying to sound like. Lately, the super star has been out of
the radar except for the negative stories making the rounds in different
newspapers and magazines. Upon his arrival from the UK, he sat down with Seun
Apara to give answers to all the stories that have termed him controversial
including plans to drop new songs and his new album.
Was it a deliberate
act to stay off the scene for a while?
Well, I have been
involved with other projects. I was busy with a movie project where I played a
major role and that took lots of time. I also travelled to UK to shoot four
videos which I will be releasing as a compilation in a matter of weeks. I shot
videos for Attitude and 3310 from my latest album, Basorun Gaa. Also shot
videos for Get Into It and Ike Kan, two of the four singles I will be releasing
soon.
What about the four
singles you are releasing?
I titled the
four singles I’m releasing as ‘Obawon’, ‘Ikekan’, ‘Get into it’ and ‘I Dare
You’. The motives behind the four songs are that we are entering into the
festive period and people need to party and enjoy. Aside that, there is a need
for re-think of how they spent their lives from January to December. The four
singles coming out is also to whet the appetites of the fans for my next album
coming out in March 15 next year but before then, the Alapomeji All Star album
will drop in December.
What do you intend to
achieve with these new singles?
The overall
achievement basically is to be at the forefront because I have been quiet for a
while now in the industry. It’s not going to be over until it is over and as a
result, we need to keep the brand going. ‘Obawon’ is all about trying to
reframe your identity or your privilege in the industry and I Dare You’ is
another word that people uses a lot; I dare you to slap me or I dare you to
call my name. I am daring people to say one or two things about me. I want a
reaction from them.
So what will happen after
if they dare you?
Then I will react
What are the concepts
behind your new videos?
They are going to be
historical videos. For instance, not everybody will understand what we mean by
‘Ike Kan’. So we are trying to explain what ‘Ike kan’ means in the video and
same thing for ‘Get into It’. The videos were directed by Musa, the same guy
that directed Wizkid and Wande coal’s latest videos. We are releasing the four
videos together as a compilation CD with a concert to accompany it. The whole
idea behind the concert is just to drive publicity to what we are releasing so
that the fans can go out there and get it. You don’t just release the singles
and be silent about it. You need to let people hear about it and also perform
it for the people that will be in attendance. This will go a long way in
putting it in the mouth of people. I will be supported by other Alapomeji acts
like Alabi and Seriki.
When is the
concert coming up?
It will be in second
week of December but no specific date yet. The concert will take place at Civic
Center. The superlative concert is basically for industry people and the press
as well. It will be strictly b y invitation.
What is the title of
your on-coming album?
I always release the
title of my album long before it dropped. I don’t like to hide it. I’m
releasing a double album like the last one I did. One is ‘CNN’ while the other
one is titled ‘GRA’. Each is going to come with eight songs making it total
number of16 songs. The full meaning of GRA is Galvanizing Right Ahead and the other
one is Cancelling Numerous Negativity (CNN). There has been a lot of negativity
about me of late. One is cancelling all negativity and the other one is a step
to move ahead.
Apart from the new
materials you are about to release, what are the other projects you are working
on?
We are working
on the Alapomeji All Star album and that will be released next year.
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9ice with his son Zion ‘isn’t he cute’
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People felt by now
Kayefi’s album should be out but there seems to be no sign of such……
A lot of people don’t
know the story behind it. She just got married and she’s raising her child. We
have to allow her to raise her child.
There is this news
that you just joined a new record label known as Diesel Music, how true is it?
There is no iota of
truth in it. The owner of Diesel Music is a friend of mine and we are just
trying to make the label popular.
How do you react to
controversies and negative stories?
I like it and I want
more. If nobody talks about you, that means you are not in existence. I have
learned to realize that both negative and positive stories work for the artiste
but it depends on how you can cope with it, live with it, get over it and move
ahead. Whoever is having it negative now, should expect it positive later and
whoever is having it positive now, should expect it negative soon too. The most
important thing is deal with it and get on with your life.
What actually went
wrong between you and your former manager, Dehinde?
People always
want to believe something might have happened before two people with working
relationships go their different ways. We all know that 20 children can’t play
together for 20 years. There is always a point in someone’s life that you think
you need to move on. That was what happened and I still work with him on one or
two other things that I need him to help me do.
What is the true story
that an Abuja lover that delivered twins for you?
Sometimes, I wish
people can just ask me questions before publishing their stories. That story is
not true and I want to tell you that they are making it up. If they had asked
me, I would have been able to tell them if it’s true or not. I wish the habit
of writing without confirming from the person involved can stop. I wish!
And that you are back
to your estranged wife hobnobbing in Magodo?
People just like to
spread unpalatable stories and nobody will call 9ice to even confirm. I was
once married and I’m now separated. That is the fact!
You recently featured
in a movie titled Jejere, what was the experience like?
Well, I don’t think I
want to feature in any movie again. That might be my first and the last. You
sit down at home, watch them and criticize them but there’re so much more to it
than what we see. Imagine shooting a movie for over a month and you are
supposed to edit it to an hour. It’s much more difficult than we imagine.
How would you describe
your experience on set?
I was there for about
a week, in different locations. They shot in different cities and places. It
was difficult, quite difficult and at the same time, very challenging. That is
going to me my first and last movie except if I’m being offered a huge sum amount
of money, then I can cancel other events for like two weeks for a movie
shoot.
Aren’t you planning to
shoot your own movie before?
I was supposed to
shoot a movie of my own before actually but while working on Jejere and I saw
the way is being done, I decided to drop that movie idea for now.
What is your opinion
about the current state of the Nigerian music industry?
I think we are
getting worst instead of us getting better. What we dish out is not quality.
What we have now is quite different from the way it all started. I would say
it’s better we go back to the days of Plantashun Boiz. What do we have now? Do
we even have song now? What we have now is the beat. Aside that, there is no
content regulation .We have been saying that we should go back to the drawing
board. The first thing is to get PMAN right. Once we get PMAN right with the
artistes of this generation participating actively in PMAN activities, the body
will be able to represent all the musicians and fight for our collective and
individual rights
*Seun Apara is the CEO
of Media & Marketing Experts LTD and a columnist with Thisday Newspapers.
This interview was published on his column in Thisday Newspapers yesterday
Friday November 17, 2012*
SOURCE: Vanguard
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