•Set To Celebrate 10th Anniversary Of Turn It Up With BIG B
In a few days’ time, one of the popular annual Gospel concert “Turn It Up With Big Bolaji” will hold in the ancient city of Ibadan. It’s the 10th edition and preparations are in top gear, even though this year’s edition is going to be slightly different. It’s going to be the Virtual experience, yet one thing is certain, the Holy Spirit will move like never before.
Turnitup With Big Bolaji is a vision born out of passion 10 years ago to propagate the kingdom of Jesus Christ, and over the years the convener, one of the best Gospel singers in Nigeria, Olarewaju Bolaji has never looked back. For several years Bolaji Olarewaju, popularly known as Big B, has been driven with a passion to find a unique platform to present the soul-saving gospel of Jesus in a way that millions of unchurched people can acceptably receive it. The singular drive gave birth to the radio program TURN IT UP with BIG B on the 11th July 2010. This program fuses entertainment with the soul-enriching gospel of Jesus Christ to reach the teeming millions of souls across the globe.
Olarewaju Bolaji is a certified Estate Surveyor from a Reputable Nigerian higher institution, he however is a full-time MUSIC Minister. He was converted and raised at the headquarters of The Sword Of The Spirit Ministries under the strict tutelage of Bishop Francis Wale Oke. He is an ordained minister with the Redeemed Christian Church of God and has been serving with the ministry for the past 19 years.
Olarewaju Bolaji is a member of the board of directors for the Living Spring Music Festival which has been in existence for the past 36 years. TurnItUp, his radio programme features music, interviews, comedies, inspirational words from prominent and seasoned speakers. Big Bolaji is a well-travelled minister of the gospel, who is making a great impact both within and beyond. He is an erudite worship leader, a Psalmist and Levite unto God with a unique blend of humour. He is married to Tolulope and blessed with two children.
He pioneered a different flavour of Praise which creates an Alujo remix from every worship song…a style which blends our foreign music consumption with the dominant rhythmic, dance-oriented African cultural roots. A style now widely accepted across all shades of denomination
Big Bolaji is widely regarded as “Baba Awon Boyz’’ (King of The Boyz) but in reality, he is not just the King of the male folk, but a confirmed ‘‘AreaFada’’ which includes females as well; An appellation which stems from his Youthful disposition/relations and his support posture to create platforms for many young people who have crossed his path, many who are now dominant faces in their respective endeavours.
The veteran praise leader who differentiates his musicianship with comic twists, trending lingo infusion over gravy instrumentation is a Jack of Many Trades and Master of them All. As a Concert Producer – “Turn It Up” is a dominant name which converges the city of Ibadan as a result of his Sunday Morning Radio Show known by the same name.
As Trustee of one of the Oldest Music Festivals in the country – (Livingspring), he is an experienced Event/Technical/Production Manager, which has seen him project manage several Kingdom Projects.
Olarewaju Bolaji was recently our guest on City People Instagram Live Chat with the Publisher, SEYE KEHINDE and he speaks exclusively on how he started and how he got his popular name BigB. Below are the excerpts of the interview.
How did you cope with the Covid-19 Lockdown?
Its been very interesting. Adjusting to the sit at home situation was not the problem, it was sitting at home with no inflow but plenty outflow. But I’ve learnt a few lessons being at home, one of them being that you can always use what you have within your immediate reach to do a little bit more than you thought you could do. Because some of the things that we thought we needed at every given time for things to happen, we didn’t have them and we were still able to achieve certain things. So, for me, it’s been interesting.
I have always been fascinated with the fact that you can speak very deep and rich Yoruba, especially when you’re on stage, and yet, you also speak impeccable English, how have you been able to be a master of both languages?
(Laughs) I think it’s a God-given. And besides, I’m an Osun boy and I grew up in Ibadan. And the fact at every point in time, communication is key. Most of us singers, especially gospel musicians just assume that the holy ghost will just come and zoom over people and impart what you’re singing into their minds forgetting that a part of you has to connect before the holy ghost does that. So, sometimes I find myself breaking the ice with a joke, breaking the ice with a little parable which works for me. And I noticed that’s what the preachers do too. So, Egbon, I grew up in Ibadan, I’m from Gbangan. That’s not a very good connection for my Yoruba accent (laughs).
Tell us, how did it all start for you? What shaped you into what you are today?
I think as a little boy growing up and listening to elders like Sikiru Ayinde Barrister, Haruna Ishola, Rashidi Ayinde, the early days of Kwam 1, and just seeing how easily they connect with their music and got their message across has always dazzled me. Then my late mother was well into the artistic world. She was one of the founding broadcasters of the WNBC, at some point she was the choir coordinator for the Anglican Communion for South-West, St. Peters Aremu, so that part of me was always there. So, by the time music started growing in me, it was a natural inclination. For some people, talking comes to them naturally, writing comes to them naturally, for me, singing comes to me with a lot of ease. So, over time, after all my trouble-free days, not troublesome days, egbon (laughs) the Lord showed me mercy. It was just like a one-off, and somehow, we stayed with it and we grew. Jesus allowed me to grow the way I was with my drinking and my smoking and soon, we decided to leave everything. And we are at this point now. So, it’s not like there was no spiritual heaven to earth trip that I made, it’s just something that comes to me naturally and God allowed me to grow with it over time.
Okay, so, at what stage is Big Bolaji now?
I would say it’s time to gather the seeds and gather the spoils. I mean, the years you have put into the work you’re annexing them together so that in the next 5o years you will not be toiling. For me, it’s just a time to gather and begin to see how can impact with what we do and how we can also birth other people to do what we do without having to do so much in terms of leg work. Increase impact, increase knowledge, watch my children become greater than me, hopefully not in size in Jesus name (laughs), but in impact and in what they do. So, for me, that will be the focus.
How did you get the name, Big Bolaji?
Oh, yes, I was coming to minister at a programme for a fellowship in the University of Ibadan, Redeemed Christian Fellowship, RCF, I think about some twenty-something years ago, and they needed a name to put on the poster, so they put Bolaji Ilorin, that didn’t look nice. The music directors then Kehinde Lemoshe and Taiwo Lemoshe now said, put Big Bolaji now, that one sounded nice. So, they started with Big Bolaji. Then some daughters of mine, Solutions To Our Generation, I went to them in Ago, and they were like, Big Bolaji is too long, that Big B sounds more international and that’s how Big B came to stay and we’re just stuck with it.
I have also noticed that you perform at a lot of events organized by Reverend Esther Ajayi, tell us about your relationship with her…
Ooh, mother! That is one outstanding mother. I’m not even talking about the things she does, I’m talking about being a mother. My elder brother, Muyiwa Olanrewaju, introduced me to her. Prior to then, I’ve been watching this amazing woman online, the way she does, the way she prays, especially the way she talks when she’s preaching in church. You’ll hear her say, give me energy and I’ll give it back to you. Don’t give me slowness here. Things like that really got me. So, the first time I was going to meet her in London, it was like I was going to enter the ground. I was like, am I really looking at this woman live! And from that day, it just felt proper, it felt right. It was a good connect for. And she’s been a good mother. Sometimes, she’ll just send me text messages at odd times and they’ll be in line with what I’m going through at that point in time. She called like two weeks ago and it was at a point when I was wondering, ah, Mama has not called us all this time, hope nothing is wrong. And as if she was reading my thoughts wherever she was, she just called, and it’s not as if she had any programme, she said she just called to check up on me and said how is your wife, how are my grand-children and then she concluded with a word of prayer. At that time, that was like light to my world. She’s a good mother. I had a lot of people who were persecuting me then, but today, a lot of those people are lining up to meet her now.
Share with us some of the challenges you faced at the early years.
Hmm, my early years. Let me go to my secondary school days, I had my secondary in London, then they said to me you’re being too troublesome, I don’t know if that was too much trouble for my people at that time. But I remember that at a time, Scotland Yard came to the house to arrest me. So, my people said, let’s organize a holiday for you now, go and see grandma in Naija and all that and they sent me to Nigeria. I had a stop in Paris on that trip for about three days. I was feeling very good with that trip not knowing that it was a planned matter. And I was in Nigeria for 19 years before I could go anywhere. I did my nursery and primary school here, in Subuola. I think I was the 4th or 5th set in Subuola in Ibadan. I did my first term (secondary school) here in Nigeria then leaving that for a place where education is better structured and then coming back again, it really messed me up proper. I got messed up. I couldn’t get myself together. I did JAMB. I did NECO. I did WAEC. I went to a technical school, Osogbo, went to Federal Polytechnic, went to federal polytechnic, Ofa. I did a Diploma in Ife that didn’t profit me in any way then ended up reading Estate Management in Kwara State Polytechnic. All through that time, a lot of things were going wrong. I was trying hard to get back to London. You know the way young boys do. I remember Professor Lambo’s children, Lanre and Koye Lambo, we tried all stuff together, all stuff, I’m telling you. But in all of that, God kept trimming me and kept aligning me to what he wanted me to do. Then he got me to the track of listening and trusting Him, which was very hard. It’s still very hard till date but I do it better now. Then, stepping into music, it was a challenge because it’s something I like doing, but beyond what I like doing now, how do I do it and make it profitable? How do I do it without getting abused or hear people say, you’re siphoning money from gospel? So, that, too, brought me to a point of trusting God on another level and trusting Him for creative ideas to use. So all that were challenges and are still challenges but we’ve just grown older and we now have more knowledge, asking our leaders a lot of questions like how did they do this, how did you do that? When you had woman’s problem, how did you do it? When you had money issues, how did you do it? When people are rejecting what you have as a ministry, how did you do it? So, you know, that has helped me thus far.
