Tiwa Savage: I’d Like Us To Be More International And Be The Pioneer Of African Music

 

Among the many words that can describe Tiwa Savage’s sojourn in the Nigerian music industry, the most apt is ‘meteoric’. The reason is not far-fetched.

Just a few years back, Tiwa, amidst fear of the unknown, left the U.K where she already had everything going for her as a backup singer and songwritter for most UK’s high-flying artistes to build her music career in Nigeria.Despite facing series of  discouragements, she did not give up on her resolve to break new ground in the nation’s music industry. Today, she is one of the best things that ever happened to the industry. Come on board as she takes us on a journey into her life, her career and the man in her life.

Your debut album will drop any moment from now. What are your fans expecting from you?

Tiwa This album is straight from my heart and it’s something that I’ve worked so tirelessly for. A lot of people wondered why it took me so long a time to drop my own album. That’s because we had to go through a lot of legal processes to clear some of the samples that we used, and that took us some months.

Also, we wanted to work with notable producers outside the shores of the country like Oak who produces Rhinna. So, we had to work around his schedule and waited for them to have our time. But this album is something that I really took my time with because I didn’t want it to be the usual Nigerian album that contains just party tracks from the beginning till the end.

Why did you title your album ‘Once Upon A Time?’ Once you hear ‘Once Upon A Time’, you know it’s story time. My life has been an amazing story and I wanted to reflect that on my album. Also, I wanted to motivate other upcoming artistes that, once upon a time, I was a little girl living at Isale Eko and I dreamt of doing this, and here I am doing it. So, I want their ‘once upon a time’ to turn into reality. It’s a 19 -track album.

There are tracks like Wanted, Ileke, Middle Passage, Olorun Mi, Why Don’t You Love Me, Fela Interlude, Love Me Love Me Love me, Eminado ft Don Jazzy, Folarin, Oh Yeah ft Don Jazzy, Shout Out ft Ice Berg Slim & Sarkodie, Written All Over Your Face, Get Low, Ife Wa Gbona ft Leo Wonder, Eji ma fia, Baby Mo ft Flavour, Stand As One ft General Pype, and Thank You. It also has two bonus tracks like Without My Heart ft Don Jazzy and Kele Kele.

Looking back to when you stormed the nation’s music industry a few years ago, how do you feel today?

Like you said, a lot of people tried to discourage me from coming home. They told me that people who came before me were not really welcomed home, and that it is even worse for a female singer. They even said there was no way I could be on the same stage with the likes of Tuface, Wizkid and many others.

I got discouraged somehow. As a matter of fact, after I dropped Kele-Kele, I moved back to Los Angeles. Then, I dropped Love Me Love Me and it grew even bigger. So, I decided to move back to Nigeria because people around me encouraged me that I could make it if I’m consistent in what I’m doing. That was how I was encouraged to do more. I thank God for where I am today.


A lot of female artistes complain of being marginalised in the industry.Do you have the same experience?

I think every female artiste needs to work ten times harder than the opposite s*x and that’s why I put much effort into what I do. Usually, what most artistes do is wait until when they drop their album to do an album launch. But I think it’s important to do an exclusive listening because the press are the ones who are going to project my image to the outside world. And that’s why I had to organise a press listening party so that you guys can assess me, and also, to let you know how much you mean to me.

Now that you’ve become a big brand, aren’t you scared of competition from other female artistes?

Why would I be scared? Back in America, we have the likes of Beyonce, Nicky Minaj, Mariah Carey and other female acts standing tall. So why would there be just one person shining here? After all, here in Nigeria, we have male acts like Davido, Wizkid, M.I, Tuface and other big names at the same time. It’s not fair to have just one female act in the industry. So, I’m glad that more female acts are springing up. Having more female acts in the industry will open more doors.


Tiwa In the song, Ife Wa Gbona, you featured an artiste and there’s this scene where both of you were in the forest singing to each other. He spoke Yoruba to you but you replied in English. Is it that you don’t speak Yoruba?

Of course, I speak Yoruba fluently, omo Yoruba ni mi(I’m a Yoruba ). We did it for a purpose because I have a mixed audience. If he speaks Yoruba and I reply him in Yoruba language, how will my fans in South Africa, Uganda and all over the world be carried along?

The track Eminado has this special kind of tone. How did you come about it? That sound and name is the handiwork of Don Jazzy. We got the idea when we were in the studio rehearsing. We were just playing around with words and sounds. So when it came up, we thought it was a good one and we decided to turn it into a song.

What was growing up like for you? Growing up was very interesting. There were no barriers, I was just free. I had a very healthy upbringing. My parents ensured that I was grounded and I had lovely brothers.


You appear like someone who will easily be affected by negative stories. Have you had any scandal?

I don’t think I’ll feel bad whenever I read a negative story about myself. I believe everybody has an opinion and that’s life for you. No matter how beautiful you look, , there’s someone somewhere who would still say you are ugly. So, for me, I’ve only done something from my heart and haven’t compromised my integrity. In my album, I have party songs and tracks for everyone no matter your preference. So, I’ve satisfied my fans and I think I’m going to leave the rest to God.

A lot of people see you as a sex symbol. Are you one? No, I’m not. If you ask my family whenever I’m home, I’m not like this. I’m far from the Tiwa Savage you see on stage. I’m a quiet person.
What has fame done to you? Naturally, I’m the outgoing type but fame has made me more reserved unlike some artistes who would claim they haven’t changed once they start making more money. It’s a lie. There’s nobody that can tell you they haven’t changed. I think I’ve changed because I’m more wary of those I move with, where I go and those that come around me. I trust people less now because I want to keep my sanity. I also think people around me have also changed because they expect more from me. I might make a mistake and that’s normal for everyone but because it’s Tiwa Savage, my mistakes get blown up and exaggerated. So I’m more conscious of what I do and say in public than before.


Why did you suddenly go into partnership with Tunji by co-owning 232 Entertainment. Are you not scared of the unexpected?

Tunji is an exceptional man. We’ve worked together and we trust each other. So, I’m not scared that anything negative will come up between us. I don’t work with fear because fear is not of God.
Why was the Marvin crew absent at your album listening session? You well know that I’m also part of the crew and the day I held my album listening session was an important day in my life and career. So, their absence wasnt deliberate. They were away in South Africa for the opening show of Big Brother Africa- The Chase. They had to perform live. But they surprised me on that day when they sent in a live recorded message to me. It was played for all to see . I was so happy because I didn’t expect it, honestly.

Is there any track dedicated to Tunji in your album? Yes, there’s this track Written All Over Your Face. I dedicated the song to him for the role he played in my life. I met him at a time when no one was ready to help because I’m a female artiste. And whenever I wanted to give up and cry sometimes, he always encouraged me to be strong and move on. He’s my back bone. I love him because he’s been there for me. He wiped my shame away when he put a ring on my finger.


Tiwa Why did you say he took your shame away. Were you ashamed of being single? (Laughs).

You know in Nigeria when a lady isn’t married and is just focused on her career, people think there’s something wrong with her. But he understood my journey. He was able to push me career-wise and encourage me. So, I just had to do a song for him.

There’s a mix up somewhere. Are you signed to Marvin or 323 Entertainment? I’m actually signed unto 323 Entertainment. It’s owned by Tunji Balogun, T.J and he’s also my partner, we own it together. 323 is under Marvin but Tunji handles my day to day business.

You’re signed to Marvin and 323. Where is the place of Sony Records? I’m still signed to Sony in America as a songwriter. And even as I’m doing my album there, I’m still writing for other artistes. I just had to make that commitment. I just did a song for Monica called Catch With Me Him on her last album. And they just called me few weeks ago that I have another song with Fantasia again, and other songs I’m writing for other artistes. So I’m still signed to the label. .

Have you started your project?
 Yes I have. I’ve met with a lot of organisations and already put up something to fight chest cancer. Very soon, screenings will start especially for young girls. I also visit the motherless homes quite often but I don’t put it in the press because I don’t want to expose those kids. And the video I did, Olorun Mi is to give back to people who lost their loved ones in those tragic situations.


What inspires you?
 I get inspired by a lot of things; life heartbreaks, happiness and Nigeria as a country. If you listen to the Olorun Mi track, I wrote it because I missed those close to my heart who have died. But I’m disturbed because as a country when we lose our loved ones, there should be statues and memorials to remember them. But here, we just move on as if nothing happened. So I got inspired by those lives we lost during the Dana plane crash to do that song.


What would like to be remembered for?
 The late Whitney Houston is remembered for what she accomplished while she lived. She inspired many people. I want kids to say when I’m gone that if Tiwa Savage could do it, they can equally do it.


Is there anything you would like to change in the Nigerian music industry?
 I’d like us to be more international and be the pioneer of African music and I think it’s happening slowly. I’d like a situation where I go to the UK and hear more of Nigerian music on radio and have our artistes nominated for the Grammy’s . In addition, I’d like to put necessary structures in place and ensure that piracy law is enacted in the country.

Africans, Especially Nigerians Are Making Good Cash Online. Leave Internet Fraud And Earn Legitimately!

By: Temitayo Famutumi

Some 15 years ago, making money online was largely synonymous with advance fee fraud, popularly called yahoo yahoo in Nigeria. That was when the Internet revolution was just taking shape in the country, which was also just getting off the hook of military juntas that thrived on trampling on freedom of information.

While many people could not yet appreciate what the Internet and accompanying social media trends stood for, most of the few that first caught the bug exploited it to dupe unsuspecting folks, especially foreigners. Indeed, that is the time the notorious and ever-recurring letter in which an online conman (or woman), who claims he is stranded in some foreign country or has problems accessing a huge fund, was first composed. A lot of water has passed under the bridge since, but some people have also proved that Nigerians too know how to make the best of the social media.

It does not matter if some of them got online by accident. The fact is that from their different professional and accademic backgrounds, they have entrenched themselves, deploying the digital phenomenon to various businesses. Whether it is an Anderson Uvie-Emegbo that has abandoned medicine for online entrepreneurship, or nairaland founder, Seun Osewa, who was pushed out of the university by an accident, the guys got to the Internet ‘on time’, and have practically become landlords, making good money in transparent ways.

Curiously, more than half of those our correspondent contacted for an interview were not forthcoming. While some, including Linda Ikeji of the lindaikejiblog fame, repeatedly declined to grant the correspondent audience, Bellanaija founder, Uche Pedro, appeared too shy to talk about herself and business – despite the fact that they are often eager to sell other people to the world.


Bella Naija
She is popularly, called Bella Naija but her name is Uche Pedro (formerly Eze). She appears to be the most influential blogger in the country, with even most of her other successful counterparts attributing their in-road into the world of blogging to their visit to bellanaija.com.
For instance, in an interview, ace blogger, Ladun Liadi, says she drew her inspiration to become a blogger from Bella Naija.

Liadi says, “One day, I was with my friend who is a radio presenter and he said, ‘Ladun, why don’t you start a blog? You have so many things going on for you.’ I didn’t really want to, because I felt owning a blog was personal (as it was meant to be about the person’s daily activities) and not meant for reporting. But he told me I was wrong and gave me a blog address to check out. It was Bella Naija. And that was how I started my own blog too.”

Also, celebrated blogger, Linda Ikeji, in an interview published on bellanaija.com, also explains that she discovered what was called blogging after visiting bellanaija.com.
Bellanaija.com, which was formally hosted on blogspot.com as bellanaija.blogspot.com, started off as a small entertainment and pop culture portal. Publishing Nigerian celebrity, fashion and lifestyle news, the blog has grown to attract over one million hit per month across the continent.
Apart from fetching Pedro cool cash, her blog success has taken her to places. She has featured in many elite celebrity talk shows. One of such is the Oprah Winfrey Show, which is the highest-rated talk show in American television history.

In an interview she granted to Cable News Network’s Isha Sesay in Nigeria, Pedro, who studied in a Canadian University, said she started blogging after being bored while on a two-week holiday in Nigeria.

“In 2006 when I just graduated from the university. I had two weeks off before starting my first job. I had always loved Nigeria and Africa but I was just bored. But I realised the fashion and entertainment industries were more vibrant and more people were involved in politics, business and it was so encouraging.
“I was like: Let me just start something that will sort of represent these and it has grown in leaps and bounds since then.”


Seun Osewa
Interestingly, Seun Osewa, the brain behind popular online forum, nairaland, is, conventionally speaking, a drop-out. After spending three years at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife, where he was studying Electrical Electronics, he, according to him, decided to go the way of super rich Bill Gates, chairman of Microsoft, the world’s largest personal-computer software company. He also knows the history of founder of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg; and Steve Jobs – the late co-founder of Apple Inc., who also dropped out of school at one time or the other.

In an online interview with our correspondent, Osewa, however, responded to just two out of the questions asked him.
He notes, “I studied Electronics & Electrical Engineering at OAU with good grades for five semesters. But then I had a little injury, which eventually caused me to crash out. I’m a 30-year-old Yoruba man raised in a small town in Ogun State. I started Nairaland eight years and some days ago.”
Asked to speak on what injury he sustained and how he had taken other educational opportunities after “crashing out,” Osewa said, “ Well, it’s personal. Thanks for the understanding.” Subsequent reminders sent by e-mail for him to answer the other questions were not replied.

Nairaland, which claims to have over one million registered users, and over 35 million page views monthly, was last month ranked the most visited website in Africa by alexa.com, a US-based firm that provides web traffic data.

According to reports, the journey of Nairaland began in 2004, when Osewa started “mobilenigeria”, a forum to cover the emerging GSM industry at that time. However, it was transformed in March 2005 to what is now known as nairaland. Interestingly, in an interview granted to dipotepede.org, Osewa was quoted as saying that all the business projects he embarked on before Nairaland were failures, except the one (mobilenigeria) that became Nairaland.

He notes,, “My web hosting business failed after just three months because I ran out of money, while I couldn’t execute many other projects I researched due to shyness and lack of capital. My blogs and the mobile phone forum that preceded nairaland were successful but not profitable. However, it was on that foundation that nairaland was built.”


Dr. Anderson Uvie-Emegbo
Dr. Anderson Uvie-Emego is a graduate of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State. He abandoned a medical job to pursue a career in digital technology. Today he is a household name in Africa not as a medical doctor but as a digital media expert.
Uvie-Emegbo now has multiple streams of income. Apart from earning what can be described as a descent income from his firm, Dymore Vision Consulting Ltd, where he is the managing director, he teaches post-graduate students as an Adjunct Faculty at the School of Media & Communication, Pan African University, Lagos and Strathmore Business School, Kenya.

“I teach, consult, implement and publish all things digital. I consult across Africa,” he says.
On how he abandoned medicine and surgery for the digital media, he says, “No matter how hard I tried to focus on medicine, I kept developing my skills in web strategy and project management. Eventually in 2007 after three years and five months of practice, it was clear that I had to make a career change. I formally left medical practice on June 28, 2007. It is a privilege to be doing what I do now. As a medical doctor, my role was to help people stay healthy. Similarly, as a digital media consultant, I enable individuals and organisations stay competitively healthy – creating sustainable, superior corporate performance, using a digital approach. In both situations, I start with the diagnosis and end with solutions that make all parties satisfied.”

LINDA IKEJI: A VERY SUCCESSFUL BLOGGER

Linda Ikeji
Ex-model-turned blogger, Linda Ikeji, has no doubt joined the millionaire club. The 2004 English Language graduate of the University of Lagos confirmed her status as a successful blogger recently when she bought herself a 2011 model Infiniti FX 35 Sport Utility Vehicle, reportedly for N8m.
Announcing the purchase of the SUV on her blog, Ikeji says she had lost count of the businesses she had laid her hand on without success before blogging paid off.

She notes, “By this time two years ago, I didn’t have much but I never stopped believing in myself and I never stopped working hard. I can’t even begin to count how many businesses I put my hands into before one paid off – blogging!
“I told myself that I would make it in this life one day as my own woman and on my own terms, that no man will ever take away my dignity and I did it. So can you! Yes, you! You have the power! And with God on your side, you are unstoppable!”

She started modelling in 1998 and, in 2004, set up a modelling agency and event management company, Blackdove Communications. Ikeji, 32, quit modelling for blogging in 2007. The competition in the modelling industry, which has culminated in the proliferation of unregistered modelling agencies that go about recruiting pretty girls and getting them jobs without proper accreditation, might have propelled her to quit the field.


Omoyele Sowore
The former President of the Students’ Union of the University of Lagos, Omoyele Sowore, started Sahara Reporters in 2006 from his base in New York, United States.
In an interview with the Sun Newspaper, United Kingdom, he says he does not operate his news website with any expensive office furniture or high-end c*m high-priced off-the-shelf devices. He explains that at some point he equipped his car with gadgets for-on-the go reporting but adds that he now operates a mobile office.
“With little more than a few cell phones, an Apple computer, and the wonders of the Internet, I can do what I have to do.

He did not study communication, but he says his experience as a student union leader, which made him a mass communicator of some sorts, spurred him to launch the online platform which enables people to report themselves.
Sowore, who now makes good money from the website especially through adverts, says he started out cheaply.

“When I started, it was very cheap. I was hosting Sahara Reporters at the rate of US$35 per month when I started. It didn’t cost me much to actually have an online presence.
“Talking transparently, we have been making money. There is what they call Google Adsense, which is the most democratic way of participating in advertising. When I started, I used to make 50 dollars every month. Over time, we began to make a lot more money because it is driven by traffic in usage and patronage of the website.”

In an online interview with our correspondent, Sowore stresses that what gives him fulfilment most is the fact that he Saharareporters identifies with the search for positive change in the society. He indirectly affirms that it has also been success in terms of financial rewards.

But for other people, especially young Nigerians, who may want to explore citizen journalism, he says, “Unemployed Nigerian graduates might be able to eke out a living through citizen journalism but I couldn’t tell them how. I could only advise people to pursue their dreams passionately. And most important is that they should be engaged in the pursuit of freedom for themselves and freedom for all. I think the larger question for Africans-employed, underemployed and unemployed is to determine, very quickly, how long they will continue to endure the unwarranted and brazen r*pe of the dignity of the African person by a tiny clique of corrupt and gluttonous but highly incompetent rogues disguised as leaders.”


Ladun Liadi
Oladunni Liadi is the name behind the popular blog, ladunliadi.blogspot.com. Liadi, who hails from Ijebu-Mushin, Ogun State, abandoned Microbiology, which she studied at the University of Lagos for blogging.
Confirming the current fact that making money online is a reality, Liaidi says, “It (blogging) has been very profitable. My eyes are closed to any other business for now.”

She started out in the world of blogging in August 2010, after a friend spoke to her about the opportunities which abound in it. After visiting a handful of blogs being run by Nigerians then, Liadi says she decided to leverage her journalism instinct and ventured into blogging.

But while starting out she also faced the teething problems of low blog traffic, which new bloggers complain about. Her low blog traffic, which for some months, was further compounded by incessant outage, andpoor Internet connectivity. But she refused to give up on her new found profession.
She says, “At first, I didn’t know comments meant a thing. For the first few months I didn’t get comments and later on they started coming. But now, I get over 100,000 page views per day.
“Internet connectivity and electricity are still major problems. Internet connectivity is an issue for me. I have almost all the Internet modems you can think of, in case one doesn’t work, another will. While PHCN never ceases to disappoint one, the issue of electricity is minimal because there is an alternative which is fueling the generator.”

Liadi, who is in her 20s, says she operates from her home in Lagos or anywhere she finds herself and has a few people working with her on part time basis.
“For now, I don’t have anybody working for me on full time basis. But I have a few people who attend some events for me; I just pay them per event. I solely run the blog myself,” she explains, adding that blogging is fun.

“It has opened doors for me in a lot of ways. A lot of people now know Ladun Liadi, unlike before. I am even moving a step further to launch an online entertainment magazine covering all events and reporting all the latest news in Nigeria and Africa as a whole.


Robert Ikhazobor
Although a graduate of Economics from the University of Hull, Robert Ikhazobor has stamped his foot on the Internet world. He ventured into an Internet-driven business which deploys technology in recruitment, examination administration, identity management as well as scholarship and bursary management – with the establishment of Dragnet.

According to him, the firm he started some five years ago has taken him to 22 states of the federation where he has offered computer-based tests for firms and higher institutions of learning. Along the line, he has also developed several versions of his proprietary computer-based testing engine which he calls ‘The Face of Testing.’

He says, “The world has largely witnessed a sweeping revolution in the education sector but, sadly, we have been left behind. But we are offering a better alternative to the conventional Paper To Pen Testing method.”


Kunle Adeyeri
Kunle Adeyeri is an online forex trader and trainer. The graduate of Microbiology from the University of Lagos started his firm, Kards Nigeria Limited, in 1996 after a stint at a computing firm between 1991 and 1995.
“I worked as a Senior Administrative Officer at a computer firm but in 1996, I started my own firm where I major in computer-based analysis. In 2007, I ventured into online forex trading. My job does not basically require many personnel but I have two employees on my pay roll,” Adeyeri says.


Olori Super Gal
Oluwatosin Ajibade’s active involvement with Facebook as a means of sharing information to her friends paid off in 2010. A friend who regularly benefits from the updates talked to her about blogging as a means of sharing those pieces of information to the larger populace while still making some money.

Ajibade, the blogger behind olorisupergal.com says, “I didn’t join any group to become a blogger. I remember I was in the habit of using my Facebook account to share information especially entertainment news.

“My friend saw what I used to do back then on Facebook and he introduced me to the bigger platform – blogging. Since then it has been fun. I never know blogging is another form of sharing one’s ideas and creativity. I started on my own after he (friend) introduced it to me in 2010. Then, I started blogging on February 8, 2010.

Ajibade, a graduate of Accounting from Lagos State University, says the path she took to blog success was bumpy as she experienced low blog traffic for a whole year. According to her, she was forced to visit several online portals to acquire knowledge about blogging.
Source: Punch ng

The Most Beautiful And Tourist Loving Cities In Africa (Part IV)

CAPE TOWN (SOUTH AFRICA)

PORT LOUIS (MAURITUS)

ABUJA (NIGERIA)

JOHANNESBURG (SOUTH AFRICA)

CAIRO (EGYPT)