SEYI SODIMU: “Natural Singers Don’t Retire”

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Although some music critics believe Afro soul music star Seyi Sodimu left the Nigerian music scene when the ovation was loudest, he does not agree with that line of argument. “As you grow older, your priorities change. When I did Love Me Jeje, the structure was not there, it wasn’t even profitable at that point. I was in the US when I released that song. I came home and released it here and I went back. Till today, I still get royalties from that song in the US; I can’t say that for Nigeria. You have to do music when you can give it your full attention. I cannot release a song every month like some artistes do. For me, music has to be evergreen. It wasn’t as if I planned to leave but it was just the nature of what I was doing at that time. Look at an artiste like Adele, she releases a song and goes away for like five years. When you reach a level of success, you have to be able to enjoy life. Asa does same thing. My gap has been a little bit more because of the fact sometimes I release a single in the US or London and I don’t bring it back home.

 

“You can’t leave music until music leaves you. I try to do what I know how to do best. In this life, it is very good to diversify in so many ways. Look at most international celebrities, they delved into so many businesses, but they never left what they are known for. Puff Daddy is there, 50 Cent is there, Jenifer Lopez and the likes have some other things they do that keep them busy, at the same time still doing their music, because that is what they are known for. So it will be hard for me to leave music. Look at King Sunny Ade, look Onyeka Onwenu, Ebenezer Obey and the likes of them, they are still active in what they do which is music. So, it’s very difficult to see someone that knows music to leave it for no reason.”

Sodimu took this stand just as his latest effort, Love Me Jeje remix with K Michelle has got over 90,000 YouTube views since its release some couple of weeks ago, and Sodimu is as shocked as many music followers in Nigeria.

 

“I am equally as amazed as some people are, and to think I really did not want to do the remix. I was kind of ‘ambushed’ into doing it. So now I agree with my team that the song came before its time. Well, the song is back, perhaps now that it will be appreciated by a wider audience.

“If you have heard the original version that was like an anthem back in the day, and you listen to this new version, the things infused into it hits you straight away, that is why I want people to go online and listen to it and let us hear the feedback which will make us know if we got it right or not.”

Love Me Jeje remix is part of other songs that will make up a full album scheduled for release this year, Sodimu revealed.

 

He explains why he has been off the scene for some time now. “I have been around. I moved to Nigeria about eight years ago. I went to the US in 1985, I was a kid then. It was really hard to detach and get up and come back home. But now, I have a house in Nigeria and I also have a house in Washington DC. I have been doing music behind the scene. I funded some artistes in Nigeria here that you would not know about and I may not tell you. I have been recording, I have raised two kids and I also invested in real estate. I built a school called Hopesville International School in Nigeria about two years ago. I asked my wife what she wanted and she said she wanted to build her own school. I see that project as one of the most rewarding things I have ever done. She supported my music. So I had to support her. But then, I still record music, I have not left music in the real sense.”

 

And he is back home fully? “Yes, I am, but I travel a lot like any other person. It is a global economy now. I am here 70 per cent of my time. But in summer, I am not usually here. I take off that time to spend the holidays with my kids. Children grow up so fast these days. My greatest achievement is my children.  They are the ones I will leave everything I have so they deserve that time I spend with them.

 

What many do not know about the music star is that he also into school proprietorship. “We just finished a very massive international school around Agboju side that was my wife’s dream. Her dream was to own an international school where she can teach and impact knowledge to children. The reason why we put the school in that area is because most of these big international schools are usually located at Lekki, Banana Island, Gbagada and the likes. Children around Agboju too can enjoy the same facilities others are enjoying out there. In fact, the children are even enjoying themselves because of the international standard, and they are happy that their proprietor is a young and vibrant woman who knows what it takes to run a school. And so far, I never knew it was profitable at the long run. So it’s a good thing when you want to bring good things to people, doing what brings you joy and at the same time making profit from it. There is nothing as interesting than that.”

-Folorunsho Hamsat