Nollywood actors discover that conquering the music scene requires a different skills set
Tonto Dikeh was and is still admired as an actress. But when she strayed into music, releasing two singles, fans did not transfer the admiration for her acting to singing. In reality, the actress can take some positives from the rejection of her singing efforts. Itz Ova and Hi, the two singles, were lynched by critics.
“Whoever produced her knew she has a bad voice for singing and masked our listening torture with the Autotune effect. But even the Autotune rejected any attempt to make a bad voice worse and Tonto came out sounding like she was in mid-stream orgasm instead of singing,” said Charles Novia, famous movie producer. On the social media, the two songs, which yielded numerous gags, were savaged.
The positives? All through October, the two songs had more downloads than any other Nigerian song on music websites and attracted more attention as well. The 27-year-old remains undaunted by the hostility to her musical debut and is expected to release videos of her singles soon.
Before Tonto, others had had misadventures in music. It did not take so long for actress Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde to realise that a pretty face and generous curves cannot compensate for dire singing. The star of Last Flight To Abuja was roundly criticised for her debut album, Gba. Naija Lowa, a track on the album, attracted derision aplenty. The star actress, however, told this magazine in an interview that her album was well received. By who or where remains unclear.
Her second attempt, Me, Myself and Eyes, released in 2010, also bombed. The 12-track album, which featured cuts like Feel Alright and Missing You, neither made many feel alright nor suggested that she has been missed on the music scene. Despite two unsuccessful attempts, Novia reckons that Omotola deserves to be cut some slack because she is an A-list actress.
She began her singing career in 2005 when the Actors’ Guild of Nigeria banned some actors for one year on account of exploiting their A-list status to make excessive monetary demands from producers. Those affected were Genevieve Nnaji, Stella Damasus, Nkem Owoh, Ramsey Nouah, Pete Edochie and Richard Mofe-Damijo. Along with Omotola, Nnaji, Damasus, Owoh and Nouah all took music as a second career.
Damasus had been a performing musician before becoming an actress. She sang in a group, Synergy, with her late husband, Jaiye Aboderin, and produced a hit single, Love Song. She had also been a studio singer with Kingsley Ogoro’s Klink Studio. Stella believes that fans who think she recently began singing must be infants. “Those who think I joined the bandwagon of movie stars trying to play music must be new in the industry. I started singing in Jazzville and have done duets with Segun Arinze, Mr. Cool and back-ups for Sammy Okposo, collabo with Blakky and OGD All Stars,” she said.
Stella’s new offering, Love Me Quick, was released last month and the video, shot in USA, Cameroun and Nigeria, is due for release soon. Damasus claims that if she was not a genuine talent, she would not have performed at corporate shows organised by MTN, Airtel, Worldspace, Peugeot and the American Embassy among others.
Her colleagues do not have that type of resume. All have slipped on the music circuit. Genevieve’s One Logologo Line, released after signing with Ghana’s EKB record label in 2004, faded a few weeks after release.
Nkem Owoh’s single, I Go Chop Your Dollar, similarly flat-lined and had the misfortune of being banned by the Nigerian Broadcasting Commission, which saw it as a homage to Advance Fee Fraud. Owoh, star of the hugely successful two-part Osuofia In London, remains a screen giant, but a musical cretin just like Saheed Balogun, Desmond Elliot, Ramsey Nouah and Bobby Michaels.
Jim Iyke’s singles Who Am I featuring 2Face and another track, Born To Do This with Puffy T are evidence that the controversial actor is a musical minnow.
Music producer, Fliptyce, argues that the singing actors failed because they think their success in acting would readily translate to success in singing. He said some others have joined music because the industry is thriving and they just want to cash in on it. “I do not think they have the talent to sing at all. They just want more stardom from singing but many of them find out that there is more to music than they think,” he said.
Fliptyce, popular for producing P-Square’s Chop My Money, said the rate at which Nigerian music has travelled across the world is another reason some actors want to try singing.
Solomon Oyeniyi popularly known as K-Solo’s submission isn’t far off. Having produced hits for Timaya, he reckons that many actors do not go through the right channel to achieve their music dreams. He believes that just because you are a successful actor does not mean you will be a successful musician. “There are prerequisite to becoming a successful musician. We have rules that must be observed irrespective of who you are,” he explained.
He added that upcoming artistes sometimes learn the ropes for many years from more established musicians, who help to develop their skills or talent. “Musicians must be groomed. There are lessons to learn and trainings to undergo like voice training, notes and other basic elements of music,” he argued.
Klever Jay, a successful recording musician, believes that everyone has the liberty to express themselves via music but the acceptability of their song will be the judge. “It is not for musicians to criticise actors who try singing, I think the fans will judge their performances,” he explained.
The Koni Koni Luv and Igborotidaru star submits that it is not easy for a musician to compile lyrics and record an album. “To be successful musician you need more than zeal and determination. You need to know the rudimentary steps and follow them,” he said.
—Seun Bisuga/TheNEWS magazine
