Call him Otunba and you will make Prince Adeniyi Shobaloju’s day. Based in the United States of America (U.S.A.), the music promoter of note and CEO/President of Glory International Inc., among other companies, recently visited Nigeria. In this interview with Assistant Life Editor, TERH AGBEDEH, he dwells on his business, the music talent he just found in Nigeria and a lot of interesting issues.
What do you do?
I am the chairman, chief executive and the president of Moashob and Associates in Nigeria, then the chairman chief executive of Glory International Inc. and Forbes Property Management LLC. I am into entertainment, promotion, real estate business in America. I have been in the entertainment industry for over 30 years. I have helped so many artistes in Nigeria, including Wasiu Alabi Pasuma, Dele Taiwo, Obesere, Atawewe, Malaika, Daddy Showkey, Daddy Fresh and Baba Fryo.
Not just juju or fuji musicians?
No, the Mandators and a few others, including Chris Mba for a very long time.
So what you do basically is take them on music tour abroad?
I hunt for talents. When I discover any, I package them to stardom and figure out how I can allow them showcase their talent to the world. When I discover that you have a unique talent, I try to give you all my professionalism to make sure you remain with the concept and be very innovative with your concept of music. At the same time, I try to let the music lovers understand what you have for them. So I make them popular, locally and internationally. I took the few artistes I mentioned to European tour for more than four times. I also appreciate any talented artiste who comes out with a very unique concept in music because I realise that when you are playing music, and are a copycat of the music of other artistes, it is like you are playing a second fiddle. So why don’t you come out with your own concept?
Why is it that most of the musicians you work with play indigenous music?
I have been out of this country for 20 years and I missed so many things. I know that everything is not going to be stagnant. I also understand that some artistes will definitely spring up, so a majority of the hip-hop artistes started springing up maybe about 10 years ago. Majority of them may know my name and it is like I was pulled out from the Nigerian showbiz for more than one decade. The reason is because when I relocated to the U.S.A., I decided to do something else. I published a newspaper and a magazine. I also published a magazine in London.
Talk about the magazine and newspaper.
I first started as a trained journalist; I cut my journalism teeth at Lagos News published by the former governor of Lagos State, Alhaji Lateef Jakande. That was in the early 1980s. After that, I joined May Ellen Ezekiel (MEE) – May her soul rest in perfect peace, with Classique magazine. I was one of the foundation staff, though I told her I would like to be a freelancer because I had other plans. I was with her for a couple of years before I decided to introduce a community newspaper in Lagos State called Shomolu Pilot. I based this publication in the Shomolu Local Government Area. I was on the newsstand for over four years before I tried to see if I can convert the community newspaper to a state-wide newspaper.
I left journalism for politics. I contested election in Ward A2 in Shomolu – that was in 1991. But a couple of months after, (then Head of State, Ibrahim) Babangida destroyed the whole thing a couple of months after. I returned to journalism and artiste promotion. That was when I set up an artiste management consultancy services. I realised they had potential, talent, but nobody was there to expose them to the world. They also had teeming fans who loved their music. So, I decided to go into the fuji line. I realised that a lot of them (fuji musicians) dropped out of school, so they need enlightenment, to be trained. When I got into packaging them, it really helped them a lot. Everybody knows I picked Pasuma up from the grass. By the power of Almighty God, I packaged him for seven years. I took him on European tours for three consecutive times and to American tour. I am happy for him now that he still exists in the music industry. I took Obesere to about 26 states of the U.S. for music tour at that time.
Did you ever take Fatai Rolling Dollar on tour while he was alive?
Actually, I didn’t but I met him over there in the United States. There was one guy that used to be more or less under me that did a job for him. That is because, like I said, a few years ago, I concentrated on the property business.
It seems that is raking in more money for you than artiste management?
Yes, of course, because that is exactly where I get my money from. I was able to have over 20 properties in the U.S.
It must have been the passion you have for artiste management that has kept you in the business?
Yes, I came back because I realised that we still have the potential. Not only that, I realised that there are so many areas that we have never touched in showbiz in this country. I also realised that showbiz is a very viable business. At the same time, because of my keen interest in Nigerian or African culture, I still want to put in my best. That is why I decided to look around. I don’t care whether you are a fuji artiste, juju artiste, hip hop artiste or whatever, as long as you have talent, uniqueness, innovative knowledge and I can discover that potential in you, then I am ready to help you out.
As a migrant, how easy was it for you to acclimatise in the U.S.?
Forget about the United States of America and talk about Nigeria. If you are living in Delta State where you have already fully established yourself, and you decide to relocate to Lagos, of course, you are going to start from the scratch. That is exactly what happened over there. I started from the scratch because I was living in London. When I left Nigeria in 1992/93 for the UK, I was in London for a very long time, I published a magazine called The Entertainer in London. I did the magazine with a business partner called Keyinde Ayanwale. I also brought onboard somebody like Loye Hamzat and Babs Adegbenjo and we took the magazine to a higher level until I decided to pull out.
How long were you in the UK before you left for America?
I spent about five years in the UK.
Why did you leave the UK?
I believe that I am still on the journey and until I get to my final destination will I say that this is my place, my base. So, I think I am spiritually inclined. I hand everything that goes on in my life over to God to take control. I say to myself, this is not my base. I have done what God has asked me to do in the UK and I decided to move on. When I got to the U.S., I started everything from the scratch and was able to start another publication called The Glory International magazine.
Is it still on?
I started in 2004 and was able to publish it up to 2011. I stopped it because I had been spending a lot of money in the production and realised that the technology has already overridden print publications because people have been made to read information stories online instead of purchasing a magazine. Most of the time, part of my clientele are those people that really want to expose their events, like a birthday party, any kind of ceremony. If you want people to know about it, you can call my company to come and cover it. But as soon as Facebook, YouTube and Twitter emerged, they dropped the publication because if I can display all my pictures and videos online, do I need to pay any publication to do that for me?
It seems we are getting to that place where everything will be digital and online?
Of course, yes. Everybody who wants to progress in what they are doing, going digital would be the best because I can tell you categorically that with all the time I have been spending in Nigeria, I realised that about 70 per cent of Nigerians have access to the internet. So, such people will not be interested in going back to the olden days. Definitely, we have to follow the trend.
It is said that Nigerian music is very popular abroad. Having been to the UK and U.S., would you say that is true?
It is true because you need to understand that Nigerians living abroad are updating themselves on a daily basis and they know what is going on in Nigeria. So if any artiste emerges in the Nigerian music industry, the Nigerians living abroad know about the artiste. So if that artiste can come over there to perform, the artiste will be surprised and excited to see that Nigerians living abroad enjoy his music.
How about the people in your host country; how is their reception to Nigerian music?
Some of them like Nigerian music. It is just that majority of time, they don’t really like those people that want to play the kind of music they play; they want to see a different kind of music. That is why these fuji artistes have a lot of patronage from white people. When you start playing your talking drum, they watch you keenly. They also want to see the way you dance, the way you dress. But when you bring the kind of music they are already playing, they don’t show interest.
Are you saying that for a Nigerian artiste to be popular in U.S. or UK, such artiste has to play indigenous music?
I think the best thing is to be indigenous because you want to show them the new thing; they don’t want to be seeing those things they are already familiar with. For example, you play the guitar, keyboard, drum set; these are things they have been playing. Even if you play it in your own way, they will not appreciate it as they do with someone who holds the bata or talking drum. Music has a universal language; even if they don’t understand the lyrics, they will understand the rhythm, as rhythm will always be the same language all over the world. When Awilo Longomba released one of his albums, Nigerians were dancing to his music, but most of them don’t know about what the lyrics are all about. That is exactly what is happening over there as well.
You said God told you to leave the UK for U.S.; is it getting to that time you will leave for somewhere else?
I believe that God controls the journey of human beings and I always say that each and every one of us is a messenger of God. What you are doing now is delivering the assignment given to you by God. So you will leave this place for somewhere else. It is only God that understands the journey because man proposes and God disposes. You may decide to stay in here but God says, ‘no, this is not your destination; you have to move on’. But the way I am looking at it, I have already relocated all my family to the U.S. And with all my investments there, I believe I am in my destination now; so I don’t have any plan of relocating to anywhere else. But I will not leave Nigeria; I will still come down here to see (talents) because I am not looking for their money. There is no amount of money they can pay me that will really change my mind, but I am just doing it to support these artistes. I believe that whatever you do, (it is good to) help people to make a change in their lives. When you do that, your reward is in heaven. It is not only about looking for money. Whether you are a Muslim or Christian, what can take you to heaven is how you use your position to help other people. And that is exactly what I have been doing from the beginning. Those music lovers who know when artistes like Pasuma, Dele Taiwo, Obesere, Atawewe, Daddy Showkey and others started, will tell you that Prince Adeniyi Shobaloju is the one that discovered them; he was able to help them. Look at them today; they are now big artistes. I am so glad about that.
So your arrangement with Taiwo Omotunde begins immediately?
I am so interested in him. This is the first time in over 30 years that I am going to discover a very dedicated, consistent, serious, focused artiste. I look at him as an underprivileged artiste because sometimes I (wonder) where this guy had been all this while. He is so consistent. If you ask him to come tomorrow, you will see him. If you ask him to bring something, he will get it ready, and he listens. So, I decided, in partnership with Akin Adeoya, putting in the best of my ability, to help this guy locally and internationally. I have been trying to work on his performance in the U.S. for the next summer. I believe that if he gets to the U.S., they will really love him because I can see that he doesn’t have anything in his life than the music in his blood. He is educated and exposed, so he listens to you. He is also not overconfident; so I will be very interested in getting him exposed to the world.
What is your favourite song?
Actually, for a good promoter, you don’t have a favourite song. All you have is whatever the people or the artiste call his or her own favourite song; you are supposed to package it, sell it to the mainstream of the music lovers and let them make that judgement. You also allow the interest of all the music critics to come in, listen to the song that you believe is your favourite song, let them criticise it, let them make a comment. From there, you will be able to know what to do. As far as I am concerned as a music promoter, when I listen to music, I know if it is going to be a sell out. The reason is that apart from being spiritually-inclined, psychologically, I look at the kind of music, the songs you are trying to sing. And as long as it is a very different song, and nobody ever heard about it, then I think, because people want change, they want a new thing; they don’t want to be listening or hearing what they know over and over again. They want to see innovation and that is what can change the world. If you bring innovation, you are going to breakthrough as long as you are unique and don’t play second fiddle. That is why I love these hip hop artistes singing in Yoruba; that keeps our children in that culture, instead of listening to American music or music from the UK. They may play foreign beats, but they sing in an indigenous language and that grooms our children that would have forgotten about our culture.