I Am Set To Become An All-Round Entertainer —Chike

By ROTIMI IGE

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Chike Ezekpeazu Osebuka is one artiste most call the ‘Boo of the booless’. His songs have become reference points for many who celebrate love and relationships. In this interview by ROTIMI IGE, he speaks about how his life changed after his 2020 album, his new song which was released earlier today, his new album and plans to become an all-round entertainer.

The last two years we saw a meteoric rise for you as an artiste. Tell us a bit about what you have achieved and how the journey has been for you personally.

For me, in last two years, that’s from February 14, 2020, my album coming out. One thing for sure is that I’ve grown more fans, listeners, met more people, made more music and done more shows. I can say for sure that the previous years, leading up to the start of those two years you’re talking about, have really come together finally to set me in the right direction. So, it’s really been busy; from shows to interviews to creating more content, it’s been a busy two years to be honest.

Critics say your generation has changed how Nigerians consume our music/sound. Was this a deliberate effort or you stayed true to your distinct sound?

Honestly, I think right now, there’s a lot of music out there and people are supposed to do more music within their comfort zone. Like, you don’t rely on certain outputs of music anymore. So, I just think people are getting to make their own choices on what they want to listen to. As a music creator, I’m just going to keep doing what I love, what I understand how to do best.

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You recently worked with Fiokee, Gyakie on a single that is part of Fiokee’s album, what was the experience like? Are there plans for more collaborations with Gyakie?

Yes, the song with Fiokee and Gyakie, from my experience, when a collaboration is done, it’s always better when the people involved are interested and I can tell you that’s what happened here.

I like the music myself and I believe Fiokee and Gyakie liked it as well so it made the collaboration smooth and easy. I have plans for collaborations with Gyakie in the future. She’s a music artiste so let’s see how that goes, and I’m also a huge fan of her work.

Since the release of your album, what’s next from you seeing that fans constantly demand more from their favourites.

Since the release of my album, to be honest, I’ve been making more music, juggling every other thing that happened in between that, trying to tell more stories that can connect to my fans the way my first album connected to them and, sometimes it’s a slow process and then sometimes things just speed up. But the truth is new albums will follow. With the constant demand for more music, I’m sure that wait is soon going to be over.

You dropped a new song today, tell us about it and what inspired it…Another love song for Valentine?

I will answer this one from the back, talking about another love song on Valentine. You know there were songs I created in my first album that were maybe tailored for a particular audience or so I thought and then an entirely different audience jumped on it. So, I’m going to leave that for people to decide. What always inspires my music more often, I try to be empathic, I try to merge as much real-life events I can find, it doesn’t have to be my story, it can be somebody’s story that I know or something that I’ve heard or something common. I always do that because I know it would find its pair out there.

Any body of work coming?

Yes! My album is coming, it’s called the ‘Brothers Keeper’. Yes, definitely a great body of work.

2021 was tagged the year that saw the rise of creativity. Do you agree and how does it affect you as a creative?

2021 saw the rise of creativity for sure, I think a lot of the things even went more digital in terms of content, so everybody just knew that you could create something with your device. I think everybody just went for it. So, I can say that I believe than more people realised that yes, I can be heard and the digital platforms made it easy to access them. They made it easy to kind of be a signboard for this stage.

You had the ‘No Music, No Life’ concert last year. What was the experience like and should we expect a bigger edition this year 2022?

Yes, I had my ‘No Music No Life’ concert last year and it was amazing. The turnout was fantastic for me and everybody that knows me knows I enjoy live music, that’s one thing. Give me a live band and I’ll give you more than what you bargained for, so I’m happy that we could put that together on a short notice. We found a sponsor who was able to weigh in the way they could and most importantly the way that people came out to listen, to show love and support; it was packed, successful and these are the things most artistes would want to see. It usually encourages them in their career. I can tell you that I’m encouraged and I’ll definitely do way bigger in 2022.

The Nigerian music industry comes with its peculiar challenges. What do you still experience doing music in Nigeria?

The music industry comes with peculiar challenges, there are challenges everywhere, not just the music industry. Most times, the challenge for me, I don’t think it has anything to do with personal decisions. Saying is this the way I want to go or talk about? Is this what people want to hear?

You know, that could be a challenge because you might genuinely create something that you hope people will connect with and then they just want to hear something else. Also, it takes a strong mind to just keep going and telling what you feel like talking about ‘cause at the end people might come back to you.

So, I could tell you of my challenge in the industry and not the challenge of the industry because like you said, there’s been a rise in creativity and content. So, you need to be on your A game and then you’re talking about someone’s story or your own story or your own journey with your full chest. You’re telling people yes; this is what I want you to listen to.

You and Olamide recently collaborated on a new record…Tell us about that.

I had met Olamide many other times but this one time I was travelling in December, 2021 and I saw him on the plane. His manager, Ikenna and I spoke and I told him I needed him on a song then he said, “talk to him and tell him directly”. Immediately I walked into the plane, sat down and said, “Chief abeg!

He said I should call him anytime from January 10 that he’ll be free. So, I called him on the ninth and the next day, I was in his home studio. It was an amazing experience, I won’t lie to you, he’s an outgoing person and he wants to see you do well. I was able to experience having the opportunity to make music with him, see and experience him as a person. I’m glad and very happy about that.

If you could change anything about the entertainment industry, what would they be?

A lot of things in the music industry are already changing. Right now, a lot of people can create music and be able to see returns from it, at least people still buy music thanks to the expansion or the accessibility of digital platforms here.

So, I could tell you that things are really changing in the industry, I don’t know how much faster any other person would like it to go, I would like it to go faster too but I think we’re at a good place. At least our music is being represented properly here and abroad. So, those doors being opened are a positive change already.

You competed in a reality singing competition and made your mark. Do you think that these competitions can help upcoming artists gain recognition in the industry and at least, give them leverage?

It’s a starting point. For me, I’ll talk about my experience and I would say that the competitions I did over five, six years ago played a huge role in helping me find my balance and in making me believe that there is a future for me as an artiste. It made me believe that as an artiste, there’s a future and people that are willing to listen to what I have to say, because even after the competition, I had fans, supporters and lovers from the competition saying they look forward to getting original music from me and I can tell you that encouraged me. When the drama was off, it encouraged me to go back and create music.  It gives you your first listeners.

Your songs are mostly love songs. Tell us a bit about your love life and whether it impacts your music.

My songs being mostly love songs, in my opinion I really think that at least 80 per cent of the songs out there right now are about love. For me, I attack it most times from a mushy point of view, so it always looks more lovey dovey than it would look in the music world. My love life is alright, we’re doing fine, that’s the most I genuinely want to say.

What would say love means to you, seeing as you are Nigeria’s favourite love doctor?

To me, love is being present, love is sacrifice. What I mean by being present is being someone that can be counted on and sacrifice.

Any plans to become an all round entertainer, for instance movie features etc?

Funny enough, after my reality shows, I went into movies for like two years and that actually paid for my music, the income from that paid for my music. I’m so excited, I did a couple of movies in 2021 and 2022, but you know those things take time so definitely, I’m already on my path to be an all-round entertainer.