Saturday, May 8, 2010
• Story of how King Wadada toiled and
picked KORA award
In Nigeria many talented artistes have been
forced to bury their idea for want of
sponsor, but Austin Peter popularly known
as King Wadada refused to kill his.
He became a musician from birth as the
mother confessed that the only way to calm
King Wadada down was to play reggae
tunes to him as a baby. Unfortunately when
he came to the world, he was welcomed by
very harsh conditions as his parents
struggled to provide for him.
When the parents died, Austin resorted to
farming but later found his way to Lagos in
the late 80s where he became a cobbler to
raise money to produce his first album.
King Wadada did not only produce the
album, he was rewarded as he won an
award every musician would always dream
of. Recently, he clinched the Kora 2010 Best
Reggae artiste award in Africa.
He told Saturday Sun the story of his life as
a cobbler under the prominent motor
bridge at the Ikeja downtown in Lagos from
where he raised money come rain or shine
to bring his dream album to fruition. Today,
that album has given him the leverage of
his life and is his turning point.
Never in their wildest dreams did the Peters
bargain that they would have a son who
would finally grow to carry dreadlocks. King
Wadada’s father travelled to Ethiopia to do
farming where she met a beautiful lady,
Mercy. What attracted him was the fact that
she was hardworking and was always seen
with her parents on their way to farm.
He approached the family and Mercy got
attracted and they married. That union gave
birth to a boy who never allowed her
mother to sleep except when music was
playing. “I got my inspiration right from the
womb as my mother told me that when I
was in the womb that whenever I got
restless, if she played music I would
immediately calm down. Years later we had
to relocate to Nigeria, where my father
continued with farming. Then I had started
grooming my hair into dreadlocks to
portray the vision God gave me. Life was a
lot easy with my mum till she died. Being
her only child I had to survive knowing full
well that life can never be the same with
another woman.”
Years later, King Wadada’s father died and
King Wadada who was in his final year in
secondary school decided to tow his
father’s line. “After the death of my father, I
discovered that if I could survive, I had to
fend for myself. The only alternative was
farming, so I engaged in full-scale farming.
Meanwhile I knew that if I were to make
anything from my calling to preach the
gospel through singing, I needed to travel
to Lagos. In my days in farming, I cultivated
cassava, maize and yam and when
harvested I would take the produce to our
local market for sale.
I did that for years till I was able to save
some cash that enabled me to travel to
Lagos. I was told that the dream of any
artiste would be fulfilled as the street was
filled with gold.”
Chance cobbler
With the money he saved, Austin boarded a
bus to Lagos with the hope that the little
money he made through farming was
enough to actualize his dream of producing
his first album.
“When I got to Lagos, I discovered that life
was very difficult. Nobody, even one’s
village people were ready to assist much.
With the little money I had, I lodged in a
hotel where the money quickly burnt out.
That was when reality dawned on me that I
had to do something to survive. It was
obvious that I can no longer go into
farming and I wasn’t ready to work in an
office as it was against my belief. I can’t
work in the office as a dreadlock man. A
dreadlock man does not work with
Babylonians (hypocrites in the name of
Christians). They don’t reason the same way
a dreadlock man does, Babylonians reason
in an artificial way but we reason normal.
I had to carve my own work as I would not
do artificial job. I noticed that most of the
people in Lagos are too busy that they wear
dirty shoes. I decided to help them to clean
their shoes. That was how I happened on
cobbling as last resort.”
Now homeless, King Wadada joined other
homeless boys to sleep under the bridge. “I
slept under the bridge at night, worked as a
cobbler in the day. I opened a mini shop
right under the bridge. I was the first
person that started cobbling under the Ikeja
Bridge around 1990 and sustained it till
1992. When I got some money, I rented a
house.”
Fela’s tutelage
Excited that he had got enough money, King
Wadada got himself an accommodation and
moved to Fela’s shrine. “I was determined
not to lose the reason I came to Lagos, that
encouraged me to save as much as I can, so
in less than a year I was able to secure a
room. When I got the room, I went to late
Fela’s shrine and begged to be allowed to
serve him so that I can acquire experience
in music. I started working with him as one
who helps to pack the equipment after
every show.
While I did that, I also tried my hands on the
instruments, when he discovered my talents
he demanded that I should sing. I used the
process to preach to him but I didn’t have
the guts to preach the word of God to him. I
always sang ‘Praise God hallelujah to him”.
Initially he wanted me to play for him but
he discovered that I was not that kind of
person. His line of music was not my vision
as a spiritual man. When I gathered enough
musical experience and discovered that life
was not okay for me at the shrine, I left. Fela
played afrobeat and he was the king. He
was a goodman but my vision was not the
same as his.”
Back to cobbling
Despite the wealth of experience he got at
Fela’s shrine, King Wadada discovered that
he was penniless and had no money to foot
the bill needed to produce his album. “I
immediately went back to the cobbling
business, but this time I relocated to the
local airport. For some years, I did cobbling
and was able to raise money to put my
album Holy! Holy! Holy! together. It was in
the year 2000 that I finally released the
music. The day I touched the CD, I was
crazy. I couldn’t believe that my dream has
finally come to pass. I wondered whether it
was Austin who played locally at the streets,
in Edo State that had come that far. My
happiest day was the day I realized my
dream album. God improved my lyrics as he
gave me more directly from Him.”
Alaba market impetus
Although King Wadada does not believe in
challenges as he takes life the way he sees
it, he blamed the woes of some artistes on
the fact that there seem to be no good label.
“The one that seems to be doing well would
demand outrageous amount to sign an
artiste. The last time I met one of the top
shots in music industry, he asked me to
bring N10m to listen to me. He can never
sign any artist without a sponsor. That is
why young artistes prefer to patronize
those at Alaba. If you go to Alaba, you will
pay them to copy your music, that is the
way you can be heard as nobody knows
you and if you don’t take that option, you
will die with your dreams. It is a fact that
Nigerian music does not have a good label,
which is why Alaba marketers get the
chance to pirate music. We don’t have good
label except now that Miracle Day Music
Label arrived. I would not fail to appreciate
Uzoma Omenka, the CEO, Miracle Day Music
who took it up to ensure that I remain on
top without demanding a dime from me.”
Ordained mystic
Dedicating his recent Kora Award to all
believers of the gospel all over the world,
King Wadada told Saturday Sun that he was
ordained right from his mother’s womb to
live righteous life. “I started singing from
creation. My parents were not Christians but
idol worshippers. I was ordained from birth.
I am a mystic from creation. I don’t do
drugs as I am a natural mystic, and the Holy
Spirit charges me. That is why I dedicated
the award to all the believers of the gospel
all over the world. For them it is their duty
to obey God. The greatest award is to have
Jesus.”
With the strong hope that he would clinch a
Grammy some day, King Wadada called on
young ones who have the dream of being
great artistes to realize that they do not
have to wait for a great sponsor to hit the
market. “I made it through cobbling and
staying focused. Today I am building a
place where my fans will be coming to visit
and listen to good music. I also hope to
groom young artistes in future. I never
indulged in drugs as the Holy Spirit charges
me whenever I want to mount the stage.
For those who do drug, I believe that it is
vain and they just want to enjoy
themselves. They did not choose to do it
that right way. Some of them cultivate the
bad habit. They should simply stay away
from drugs. They should be natural.”
My wife, my eve
Among all the good things in King Wadada’s
life, his wife, Evelyn is prime.
“I was a vegetarian, I never mingled with
women. I didn’t eat food cooked by women
for years. My wife was the first woman I
was tempted to fall for. I have the most
beautiful wife in the world whose name is
Evelyn. She was a back up singer for late
Sunny Okosun. I met her in a show in Ghana
before I released my album.
There were well- celebrated artistes in the
show. I was just invited because of my
relationship with some of the reggae
artistes. While they were arguing about
who is to feature first, the organizers asked
me to take the stage. I stole the show that
day as the audience kept asking for more. It
was then that I sang my maiden album hit
track, Holy Holy Holy. I believe that was
when she fell in love with me. I didn’t know
because I do not toast women nor do I eat
food prepared by a woman.
There were many women rushing into my
room for my autograph but in the lot I
chose to fall for her. I decided to test the
other side of life. She came with the excuse
that she wanted to be my back up singer
but then I knew what she was looking for.
“Surprisingly, that decision got her into
trouble as she got pregnant. Initially, I was
confused, contemplating whether I should
abort the child or not. It was then that I
realized that the Lord wanted to test me. She
is a good woman, now we have three kids.”
Dreadlocks are spiritual
“If you want to know if I am into drugs, I’m
not. Nigerians have this mentality; once
they see someone with dreadlocks, they
just conclude that such must be on drugs or
smoke ganja. Dreadlocks are spiritual and
Reggae music is a spiritual thing too.
Although some musicians get involved in
the use of drugs, and those are the ones
that are not destined to reach out to the
world.
I was not born with dreadlocks but I’m
under a vow. Until the whole world repent
from their sins and accept Jesus Christ as
their personal Lord and saviour, I will not
cut the locks. So, I’m out to preach God’s
consciousness. When people se--e me the
way I am, they may think I smoke ganja but
I don’t. I was nominated for the category of
the Best Reggae Artiste in Africa alongside
other artistes from Uganda, Burkina Faso,
and one other African countries. I was the
only one nominated from Nigeria. To the
glory of God I won the award.”
Reggae not Rastafarianism
“I’m not a Rastafarian. I’m a Christian. You
are not necessarily a Rastafarian because
you play Reggae music. You can dreadlocks
and be a journalist, or in any other
profession. That you are wearing
dreadlocks doesn’t make you a Rastafarian.
Rastafarianism is a doctrine just like
Christianity and Islam. Rastafarians worship
God through Haile Sellassie just like Muslims
worship God through Prophet Mohammed
while the Christians do that through our
Lord Jesus Christ.”
NIGERIAWORLD | NIGERIAWEB | MESSAGEBOARD | ANNOUNCE STORY | NAIJANET | STATE NEWS | SEARCH
Good Evening! Monday May 10, 2010
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