24 years old Ogun State born rap
star, Adeleke Victor Matanmi music
career is fast on the rise since the release of his debut single “So Crazy” which was released last year
after pitching his tent with MAGiKAL
Entertainment, a young but versatile Nigerian record label.
Brain poised to be the next thing to
blow in the Nigerian rap scene as his singles has been enjoying so much love
from fans across the globe. His tribute to the Late Dr. Nelson Mandela “The Bridge” got heavy airplay and has
been described by many as a song filled with so much depth and content.
He recently dropped his third
official single “Salute” which is
currently ruling the airwaves. According to Brain, “Salute” is a
song he composed to give props to top African rappers.
The wordsmith is the first son of a humble family of
four children and hailed from Ogun State. He is a final year undergraduate of Industrial and Labour Relations at the Olabisi Onabanjo University. In this exclusive
interview, Brain speaks about his
versatility, passion, his take on the Nigerian music industry and preparations
to take his game to the next level. Excerpts…
When and how did you start music?
For me music is a passion and it runs
in the blood, my father also loves music and plays music whenever he’s around,
my brother is a professional dancer and my younger sisters are choristers in
the church. It started when I was in the secondary school, where I would sing
for my classmates to cheer me until I joined a group in 2005 where I did my
first recording.
In my first year in school I went for
an event to perform and was denied at first, but people that had seen me
performed requested I must perform and when I did my performance eventually
became the high point of the event and from that day on; no looking back for
me.
What influence your lyrics or what
inspires you to write?
I’m greatly influenced by happenings
around me because I tried to be as realistic as possible with my songs.
What difference are you out to make
in the music industry?
I am original and true to myself, my
voice texture, the way I rap and sing brings out the uniqueness in me. I am
also a versatile with my kind of songs; I can even sing reggae and the likes. And
I listen to different songs from great personalities like legendary Fela
Anikulapo, Evang. Ebenezer Obey, Sir Shina Peters and so many others. With the
blend of all of these great musicians it helps me avoid being stereotypical with
my songs. I am signed to Magikal
Entertainment with a debut
single ‘So Crazy’ and
my three videos “Watcha
Looking At”, “The Bridge (Tribute to
Mandela”) and the new one, “Salute” are
on the screen for viewers pleasure. “Watcha
Looking At” announced my
arrival as the next big thing in the Naija’s rap stage.
How are you coping combing music and
education?
Combining education and music is not
so easy because music is quite jealous; you have to create quality time to
write and record meaningful songs, perform at events and do a lot of other
things that being an artiste entails. But to the glory of God I have been able
to balance the two without conflicting each other. What I do majorly is to
study when I am supposed to be and also to do music during the time allotted to
it. So it gives little or no time to play around.
Are your songs also the regular
“commercial” music we are presently experiencing from many young Nigerian acts?
My songs are surely not the regular
“noise making” as I sometimes see it. Songs are most times meant to address
societal issues or used a medium to pass out messages. In as much that I want
to do the regular party or feel-good dongs, I still want to pass out message to
young people out there, just like one of my forth-coming single “Take It Easy”. The song
addresses the issue of young people wanting to make fast money without working
hard. So also “Raincoat” featuring
Oyinkansola which my management released last year December as an awareness
song for the deadly HIV/AIDS. The song also treated the issue of stigmatization
as well. Commercial songs to me are songs that allow an artiste to cross over
his original genre and not just noise making or ass shaking songs. Laugh!
What
has stardom done to you?
Nothing much. I’m still same old me.
Though the spotlight is gradually robbing me off my freedom, because I can no
longer walk on my street without people greeting me and pointing fingers. Boys don dey obtain me sef. Lol. I’m not
complaining ooo, because it is a good feeling that after all the hustle one is
starting to get noticed.
Now
that you are fast becoming popular, how have you been coping with the female
fans?
I tried to be nice to everyone
because as you know, it’s the female folks that constitute most of male
artiste’s fan base, so you can’t ignore them; I only know where to draw the
lines.
What’s
the most memorable thing a female fan once did to you?
I was on a club tour, and “Lubadi”
was played and a female fan just jumped at me on stage and kissed me on the
lips. That was quite crazy because I didn’t see it coming.
Who are the artistes or producers you
are looking forward to work with?
A whole lot of artistes and producers
because you have to make different tunes that appeals to a wide audience to
last in this industry. And I’m hoping to work with great personalities like 2face, Don Jazzy, Future, Sarkodie,
elDee, Tiwa Savage and
many more.
So
how far are you planning to take your career?
To the farthest length I can take it,
God’s willing. I don’t want to be a one
hit wonder and I’m currently under the developmental stage of my career. I’m
not in a rush to “blow”, so it’s one step at a time. There are so many good
artistes that have gone under due to bad management, and I thank God I’m
working with right camp, my management always drum it into my ears that
anything worth doing, is worth doing well. I want to do music that people can
relate to in the next 20 years and feel it’s brand new.
What’s
your take on many new music that lacks messages that now filled the airwaves?
Well, I believed many artistes are
all about “blowing up” now now and they don’t care whether their songs have
messages or not. Even if you are singing a party or club song, there are ways
you put your lyrics together and people can picture what you are saying and
relate with it. The bottom line is that, many artistes are lazy and they limit
themselves to Nigerian songs, and this is why you see most of the songs
sounding alike. What works for A may not work for B. Artistes need to explore
and research every time; and thank God for the internet. There’s nothing you
want to know about the music artistry or business that you can dig up online.
Information is key in this business. Most artistes don’t even understand why
they are doing music or what they want but they only just want their faces on
TV and “blow” which is rather unfortunate.
Many
young artistes have made it and lost. What are your plans to avoid you going
the same route?
You are quite right on that, but I
believed many young acts are now wise and know there is nothing like investing
in the future. The more reasons you need to work with a record label or
management company that knows their onions and that give you lead, advice and
direction. I planned to start investing certain percentage of my earnings as
soon as the pay starts rolling in. And like I said earlier, the more reason why
artistes need to write songs with meaning and depth. You can do a song now and
you get paid some 5 years or more after. A company can pick it up for a
commercial, or they use it to score a movie and things like that. The
opportunity is endless.
What’s the passion that drives you?
First of all it’s God and the fact
that what I have is a talent given to me by God and it is meant to be an
instrument to touch lives. So I don’t see myself doing anything else besides
music and I am ready to go all the way, giving all that it requires to touch
lives with my music. I am also passionately driven by reaching people and
affecting them positively. Also with the philosophy that life is not a bed of
roses and tears of thorns; it’s simply a mixture of the good, bad and ugly. You
can’t eat your cake and have it.
What
are you currently working on?
What I called my summer banger? “Lu
Badi”, it is a song with loads of fun plus a
dance track and I’m putting my Hypertek guy Dammy Krane on this one
alongside my long time pal, Didi. My record label MAGiKAL
Entertainment is currently working on the strategy of the promotion of
the audio and the video across all platforms. Though, I’m working on various
new materials and should be dropping my mixtape to be hosted by DJ
Jimmy Jatt (that’s exclusive, lol) soon.
Your
advice for budding artistes.
They need to discover their real
talent and be themselves and not wanting to be like someone else. Work hard,
pray and don’t joke with research. Knowledge is power and one needs to be
equipped with the necessary information. Above all, humility is key, it sure
open doors.
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