He made a major impact in the industry with his hit single, ‘Gongo Aso’ in 2008 which became a national anthem and ever since he has always upped his game amidst several controversies. The Ogbomoso, Oyo State born musical act, Abolore Akande, popularly known as 9ice by his teeming fans, is one of Nigeria’s leading acts in the entertainment industry with several hit songs and albums to his credit. He went underneath for a while and rose up with his bid to run for the Ogbomoso North/South and Orire federal constituency seat in the House of Representatives. Music wise, 9ice sure knows how to connect with his fans with the release of new single, ‘Abefe’. In this exclusive chat with Olaitan Matti, 9ice speaks on his crashed marriage with Toni Payne, his new work, politics, religious beliefs, and other issues. Enjoy…
What really inspires your kind of lyrics?
I have listened to songs from talented acts like King Sunny Ade, Pasuma, Wasiu Ayinde, 2Face Idibia among others and all kinds of music and you fathom that there is one thing lacking, generation stems towards our own era and you found out that all generations don’t want to listen to them; you will be like what is the meaning of all these nonsense songs they listen to, why don’t they try and listen to the kind of music they sing? So I try and formulate that into the kind of music I do, to attract them and glory be to God today, old papas and old mamas like our music and they dance to it.
From your previous works, which one will you tag your best?
That will be ‘’Anytime’’ because it is a personal experience, it is a song that describes my life experience in five or three minutes and it’s a song that I try as much as possible to touch every part of my life, every experience that I had in just bit and pieces. To me, it makes a lot of sense and that is the song that I tag best.
What was growing up like for you?
It was difficult, it was hard, it was almost impossible to live; when we ate eba in the morning, drank garri in the afternoon. We didn’t ask for dinner, we just went to bed and slept. There were parents but there was not much they could do; you know, you couldn’t even blame them. Even if you did, when you are a father or a parent, you will realize or understand what it is to be a parent. You can imagine sometimes I pay my children fees late and sometimes, I call the school and plead with them till next term. So, it’s challenging to be a father or a parent. It’s when you wear the shoes that you know where it hurts. So, I can say thanks to my mum and dad for them to have been able to do the little they did.
You are so passionate about your mum, what is the relationship like with her?
Yeah, actually she is my step-mum, not my real mum because she is the one that I know as my mum. She is the one that if you talk about food, if you talk about how to provide shelter, she’s the one. When your dad goes out in the morning and comes at night and sometimes he comes home with nothing, I would have eaten morning, afternoon and she would be there. For me, she is a role model. She’s more than a mother to me. May her soul rest in perfect peace, Amen.
How are you enjoying fatherhood?
If I want to live tomorrow, I think that is the only thing that will make me to stay alive till another day. I think there is nothing else, but when you have kids, you want to be there for them to go through their school, to go through the trouble, to get married, and to start raising their family but sometimes because of the situation, some persons will not want to raise children, but when you think about the joy and so many other things surrounding it, you have a second thought.
What is the lesson you learnt joining music with politics?
One of the things I learnt is to be humble, stay true to yourself and believe that what you do today determines your tomorrow. There are some artistes that cannot contest for an election; not that they don’t want to but they won’t, not that they are not popular but they will not come out for an election because of the kind of music they do, probably because of what they stand for. I, for instance, never thought of running for an election. I just saw myself contesting for an election. All I wanted was to go to school and be a lawyer, settle down with my family and raise kids and also fight for the less privileged. But what really prompted the politics in me was that we have seen professors, they failed woefully and academicians, those that went to Cambridge, Chicago and so on, they did everything, got first class, still the nation was still failing and I realized that it is not the academic background that matters; it’s not the exposure that matters. You can be there as a farmer who doesn’t have more than standard six; that is why you have advisers on politics, on trade, entertainment, you pay them because they went to school for it. If the people at Bariga are complaining of water and I call one of my advisers who has an idea on water to find out how can we solve the issue; what I need to have as a credential is good conscience on behalf of my people, I will deliver, the money in my care will be used accordingly on behalf of my people and I will do what they want.
Are you returning to politics?
Definitely, yes.
The end of 2015 rounded up with beef; then 2016 opened up with lots of beef in the entertainment industry, from your own perspective, will you say beef is good for the industry?
From my angle, beef is meat, it is just if you want to eat it or you don’t want to be part of it, it is a tool which people can use either to covert attention from another person, or bring attention to yourself, so it has been a game for a long time.
You once talked about Grammy, do you still hope on winning a Grammy award?
Hope 93 still exists till date. Even though the guy that carried the hope is dead, people still carry after him and that is why we celebrate June 12. I am very much hopeful that by the special grace of Allah, I will definitely bring home the Grammy.
How do you react when you read negative stories about yourself?
Before, I used to feel terrible, I used to feel like let me just see the person and beat him but after a while, I think now if one week goes by and nobody talks negative things about me, I will check myself. It has become part of me and I like that. So now when someone says bad thing about me, I will just look at what he is saying, what angle he is from, did he create the account because of me, how many people is he following; you check so many things and you phantom it and consider if it is worth replying or not, if you need to check yourself or not. Sometimes, someone might say something that will change you negatively, so you check the circumstance and weigh it before you decide on what to do or not to do.
Do you watch your own musical video?
I would have watched it one million times before I released it. I do watch any of my songs, so before you get to criticize me, I had watched it over again. It is either there is no money to start correcting it and I hope and wish you don’t see it and if you see it, there is nothing I can do about it.
Why did it take you so long to clear the mess supposedly caused by one of your singles then “Once Bitten Twice Shy”?
A lot of people said so many things but I realized the angle and where they are coming from but they should see it from my own perspectives; the rumour was not even the truth and it was propagated by the media. If you reply and try to correct it at that moment, how many media houses do you want to go to and mind you, media will sell whatever they want to sell, so I needed time for it to die very well. You know if you quench fire, some flames will still be there. Even as at that time I granted some interviews and I was told that the thing was not true but I know what will sell will sell. Now it’s the best time, I am sorry if it has affected a lot of people and business; I’m so sorry about that, there is nothing I could have done, I think it is the right time for me to come out and let it die.
You have four kids and two wives, how are you handling your relationship?
I think the kids are one of the most joyous things I have ever witnessed in my life. Where they are coming from is secondary, the most important thing is that I have my kids, they are healthy, and they are my joy, so it gives me so much joy and strength that I have those four kids and I am not slowing down. I still want to have more. I don’t see my children as a defect or as a deficiency, rather I see them as a plus, as valued members of my family, so I’m happy.
So how do you strike balance among your family?
Like recently I was in Abuja because my twins celebrated their five years birthday, so I work hard. Once I can’t go by flight, I go by road; if it’s only N200,000, I do send regularly. If there is no money, I send N50,000. We shuffle both just to get to the next level and raise them well. It is not the amount of money used in raising them that matters but how you raise them.
Do you still communicate with Zion, your first son with your ex and how have you been able to do that?
Of course I do that. We communicate through Whatsapp, Face Time, email, and sometimes, I call him just to know how he’s schooling and what he is studying in school and how he is doing with the white Oyinbo and all that; so with the technologies that we have now, it is easy to see them to communicate with them.
Do you see any traits in any of your kids taking after music?
Out of the three grown-ups, I have three already, one can dance but I don’t know how many hours without getting tired; one can pick any song and there is another one that can play keyboard, drums, so we have a band. So I am just waiting for them to grow so that we can just start a band together.
What is your current relationship like with ID Cabasa?
‘Ayefemilete’ was produced by Cabasa which was the second single that I released. ‘Agbawabura’ was produced by Cabasa which was the third single I released and aside from that, we are working on so many songs. Obviously, you will be seeing so many singles out of all the songs I’m talking about, you will be seeing Cabasa production from the singles as well.
If you were to do a song about yourself, what title would you give it and why?
If I am to do a song about myself, I will say ‘my story, my sin’ that will be a perfect title because people will not tell you that you have done something wrong; so it is from a story that people can say you have sinned and how best can you describe a life of a man or human being without a story.
