Friday, April 23, 2010
The story of popular musician, Yinka Ayefele is that
of resilience, courage and lots of guts. He is no
doubt one of the most celebrated musicians of all
time who has not allowed his misfortune in an
auto accident to weigh him down into self-pity.
Rather than resort to fate, the juju-gospel singer
has used his talents to put smiles on people’s faces
with his music.
As a celebrity, he is not immuned against scandals
or allegations. Recently Ayefele came under heavy
attacks concerning his success as a musician.
While some alleged that he is a ritualist, others say
he is a drug peddler, among others but the
handsome artiste spoke to Daily Sun about all this
allegations and more. Excerpt:
Background
I hail from Ekiti State where I had my primary and secondary
education. I was unable to attend of higher institution as I would
have loved to. I came to Ibadan and joined Uncle Toyin Ajagun’s
Juju band as a guitarist. I was also a member of the Boys Brigade
before I eventually joined the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria
(FRSC) at Ibadan. I was among the first set of artistes that
introduced musical jingles in Nigeria.
How I started playing music
It was after my accident. I was a broadcaster with the FRCN,
Ibadan national station, as a free-lance presenter. After I had the
accident from which I sustained spinal cord injury, I had the
support of both the electronic and print media. From there I
produced an album in my name, Yinka Ayefele. The first album
was Bitter Experience and it opened the way for me to become a
musician.
Expectations
I really wanted to return to broadcasting, but little did I know that I
would become a professional musician. Eventually when I
discovered that music is more profitable, I decided to remain in it
and I’m enjoying it.
My kind of music
My music can be described as Gospel Tungba music. It is my
own way of preaching the gospel. Although people say that
music may be both secular and gospel, there is no way one
would hear the beat, my percussion, lyrics and not be forced to
listen to the message in the music. Muslims and Christians alike
listen to my music. It is my way of preaching the gospel.
Fulfilment
Music has been extremely fulfilling to me. It has succeeded in
exposing the real Yinka Ayefele. I was in broadcasting in Ibadan
but only people around Ibadan knew me. But music exposed me,
not only in Nigeria but also beyond Nigeria.
Composition
When it comes to composition, I do not want to sound
monotonous so I have people who work for me and help
compositions. Some of them include Uncle Laye Adis, a musician
too, my younger brother and Kayode Emmanuel, a guitarist who
always give me songs. So it is not only my efforts.
Albums
Up till date, I have 15 which did very well in the market. My
marketer can testify to that and my listeners too can. Even people
out there can testify to this. My music is everywhere and it has
made a lot of impacts.
Sacrifice
My greatest sacrifice is the restriction that comes with the fame. I
cannot go to any public place or even a supermarket to shop for
my wife or anybody. It has always been from my car, to my
office, to the studio and back to my house. So I’m very restricted.
Challenges
The greatest challenge for me is piracy. Seeing the way people are
accepting my music, one would think that Yinka Ayefele is a multi-
millionaire. But the way my music is seen is not the way I am
reaping from it. Piracy has really affected my music. Fans who
buy these pirated copies of my music do not mind, since they
contain my music and picture. To me, that is the greatest
problem. Another problem I am faced with, especially when I go
for performances here in Nigeria, is the Oraisasor Urchins. They
always ask for financial settlements and after settling a group,
another would insist that they are the right group to be settled.
Attitude
If you are close to me, you will realize that I am not snobbish. I
am very friendly and down to earth with everybody. Like I told
my band members, no one calls me chairman. We are all
colleagues and so I do not want such preferences. I only have the
opportunity of being successful musically but there are other
musicians who are better than me.
Allegations
People who have said that I am a ritualist or that I have used my
spinal cord to attain success are all enemies of progress. Those
are all rumours. I can never negotiate any part of my body for
success of any kind and anybody who knows well about spinal
cord injury would know that it comes with regular and persistent
pain. I am very lucky to be able to make use of the upper part of
my body.
I don’t know who is behind those rumours but maybe they say
those things about me because they want to make money.
Recently, a soft sell magazine published my picture on its cover.
They featured many names but why was I singled out with my
picture? As a matter of fact, I have sued them already to the tune
of N1 billion. Also, when I traveled to America there was a rumour
that I was jailed for drugs.
When I eventually returned, the same people that peddled the
rumour celebrated me. It is very unprofessional. They are only
out to deceive people. It has become a part of us in this part of the
world. People could just insinuate something, work on it and then
spread it. But this is the prize to pay for being successful.
Music, then and now.
I think the Nigerian music industry of today has really improved.
Today our music from days past is referred to as old school. If
you listen to contemporary music, you would notice the
improvements. Everybody is working hard to bring out
something different. We can play like the western countries but
they can never play like us.
The Whites cannot play the Bata or the talking drum but we can
play their keyboard or any other musical instrument they have.
Nigeria has the largest number of musicians in Africa. There are
lots of hidden stars here, even students. If you listen to the demos
made by some young students, you would understand and
appreciate the potentials we have in Nigeria. But here, artistes are
not properly celebrated. When I was in LA, USA, a store was
locked up because an artiste came in to shop.
Financial gains
I cannot say that I have attained my financial fulfillment. I am still
working hard to get there. Though no one can be contented with
any amount of money but I am very comfortable.
Lessons learnt
I have learnt a lot of lessons. I have learnt to endure a lot of things
because in dealing with people, you must encounter different
kinds of people from different backgrounds and perspectives.
Successors
I don’t have anybody that I am grooming but there are a lot of
people who are bringing themselves up to be like me. In the next
five years, I don’t know where I will be because I did not know I
would be here today.
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