Sikiru Lemon is one of the Nigerian fuji musicians. He started singing since 1995 and has just released his latest single ‘Maturity’ which is currently making waves in the market. In this exclusive interview with VICTOR UDOH, he speaks about his passion for music and his dress sense. Excerpts:
Why did you venture into fuji music? I see Fuji music as part of me. Since when I was small, I like watching Wasiu Ayinde Marshall perform; since then, I got an insight that I could become the best fuji musician. When did you start singing professionally? I started singing professionally in 2004, and since then, I never had any regrets going into the business of fuji music.
aIf not for music, what is that thing you would have done? If not for music, I would have loved to be a teacher or lawyer; I love these two professions a lot because they are all about rendering service to humanity. I love making people happy, but it was quite unfortunate, I didn’t have anybody to send me to school, that was why I decided to marry my first love, which is music and today it is paying my bills.
What is your take about music in Nigeria? Nigeria musicians are really trying, because it is not easy to release an album or produce a single track, it is so unfortunate, nobody wants to help, you do everything yourself. I also think that music in Nigeria will get better soon; as a lot of businessmen and topnotch are investing their money in music now, I have a strong believe that very soon, artistes promoters, government and music lovers will show support to upcoming artistes, then the stress of going to studio, shooting videos looking for sponsors will not be there anymore.
What can you say about top fuji musicians, who have really made a name in the industry? The beauty of some of our senior colleagues is that some of them help the young ones to come up, while some don’t, I wouldn’t want to mention names because it is not good for my brand. All the same, they are all wonderful people to work with.
How was your first experience on stage? It was not easy handling the microphone. I was afraid when I listened to myself through the speaker, and that made me to be shaky; thank God for my band boys, they built my confidence on stage that day. My second experience was when I went to sing at Ikorodu. It was day I will never forget in an hurry, I don’t really know what happened to me, just about ten minutes on stage, I went blind; I was on able to see, I lost my site for two years. Till date, I cannot really say what really happened that day.
Somebody once said that a lot of fuji musicians are fetish; how true is that? Well, I don’t have any comment on that. All I know is that everybody knows what they do underground, probably to get themselves famous, but for me, I only know about myself. Life is all about believing in God; put your trust in Him. Since I knew Him, I never had any course to regret. For me, I believe in God, not man.
Why it is that fuji musicians don’t feature themselves? I bet to disagree! Fuji musicians, we feature ourselves a lot, some of the top fuji artistes use that medium to help the younger ones, though there are caucuses in the setting, nevertheless, we feature ourselves when the need arises.
What is that fashion item you love wearing? I love wearing jeans and Tshirts, it makes me to look smart when I am on stage performing. Most times when they call me to perform at birthdays, marriages, naming ceremonies and so on, I wear the same uniform of the event in order to fit into the occasion.
Top fuji musicians are featuring the hip-hop artistes, are you seeing yourself doing the same soon? Yes, I see myself doing that because it is very good to feature other genre of music, like the gospel music, Islamic music, Afro, hip-hop music and others. It is very good to infuse all these into your kind of music because music is a universal language that brings everybody together.
If you are given opportunity to see the President, what would be your advice on music? If am given the opportunity, I will advise the President to invest more on music because music is life, and life is music. Music is a lucrative business now if the government can put so much resources into it, the nation will become crime-free because ninety per cent of crimes are being committed by the youth; above all, it will change the negative mindset about us in the western countries.
What is your advice to the upcoming artistes looking up to you? My advice to them is to be focused because the music industry is stiff now, hard work is very important. They should believe in themselves. Above all, prayer is the key. Any latest album? One of my latest albums now is ‘Maturity’
How was your growing up? My growing up wasn’t easy. I lost my parents in 1994, then I was very young; I didn’t have any place to sleep, I was sleeping around before the mother of Wasiu Ayinde Marshal saw me and she decided to give me a roof on my head. She was the person who really took care of me, to the level I am today. I celebrate her so much in my life. What is your relationship with Alhaji Wasiu Ayinde? I am not close to Alhaji Wasiu Ayinde, but I am closer to his mother, Alhaja Alimot Shadiat and she is just like a mother to me.
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