Sefiu Alao sings a unique Fuji music that is peculiar to him, which has increased the number of his swelling fans and keeps him on top of his game.
Sefiu, some observers believe is queer for not showing interest in abusive songs that are regarded as rungs to climb to stardom. He told City People that he detested abusive songs because of their negative impact on musicians and their careers. Read on:
You sing a different kind of fuji music. Your lyrics are strong and deep. How do you get inspiration to enable you compose songs?
The art of singing depends on how you started singing. What you start with, will be your way. There are different ways to look for songs. Fuji is fuji. But how each one of us presents his own is different. Alhaji K1 sings a different kind of Fuji. He has his style. Osupa’s voice is different. Obesere sings differently. All that we would compose and bring out are different. Some of us like to enrich our songs with the latest slangs in town. For someone like me, I do a lot of research. I am currently doing research on a song I am doing. I have been doing the research for the past 9 to 10 months. Any time I see an Alfa, a Muslim cleric, I usually ask what is the usefulness of money. What are the negative sides of money? How can money punish you? Yes if you have the money you can build a house. You can buy a car. People are praising me. Are there bad sides to having money? What is the negative sides of having money? Somebody said it before me. If anybody says anything to my hearing I usually weigh it.
Once, I see sense in it, I will conduct research on it. One day, I was in Ijebu Ode to play. We sat down to eat at a place. As we were eating, one madman was passing by the street. He now started singing a song in Ijebu. I now asked those with me what the guy was singing. They said that’s how he sings all over the place. I now moved closer to him with my phone close to his mouth, I gave him N2,000 to sing that same song for me. He did. When I got home, I remixed the song. It came out well. That is why I have this habit of listening to everybody attentively. If you say a proverb now, I will ask you to say the proverb again. If you say something that interests me, I will ask you to say it again. When I want to do something, I could call on Elders to sit with me. I do a lot of research with them. They know a lot. They have rich experiences. They have seen a lot. I get a lot of ideas from them. I go back to read all those Alawiye books. I go to read up the writings of professors. That is how I get lyrics for my songs.
From your music, it is obvious that you don’t sing fuji to abuse anybody or target anybody, you didn’t fight your colleagues. Everybody is your friend. How come you choose that way?
It is from experience. When we started music, we started when it was difficult, when it wasn’t noble to call yourself a musician. Our parents didn’t want us to sing. When we started, it was with a lot of struggle. At the time, if you were a musician you would have to go spiritual, some went diabolical.
When we are talking of one town that has produced wave-making musicians, Abeokuta is it.
Abeokuta reigned as the home of good music Abeokuta has produced so many Babas. Abeokuta is rich in songs. We saw how these great men lived their lives. They were constantly battling themselves spiritually. That was why our mums didn’t want us to sing and be musicians. They see how they attack one another. When they came out with records, they would abuse themselves. They will recite ofo incantations. They will even cause one another. They will abuse their great parents.
There was nothing they couldn’t say to one another. Our parents used to warn us then, not to go into music because of the hazards of the job and how they revealed family secrets and history in the open. Our parents are were always afraid of musicians.
When I started music, I still met veterans like Olowonyo. Ayinde had died then. I now realised that for all those who sang abusive songs, their music career usually goes down after the death of the man they sang against. Any song they sing thereafter people won’t listen to them.
Most people would not invite them to perform again. Their music will be dull. So, the abusive songs are of no use. Abusing people is of no use. There are some people who will be my fans and will hate the other person, vice-versa. My fans will hate whoever I am abusing. Their fans will hate me. Abusive songs usually lead to Hatred. Once you are known for singing abusive songs, people won’t invite you to important functions again. They will say you are going to go there to abuse people. It won’t let people regard you as a responsible musician. They would you a tout, an Area Boy, an indecent person.
That is why I never liked abusive music from the beginning. Some people try to abuse me. They believed if they abuse me, I would reply. They would then use the controversy that will come out of it to sell their albums. No. I don’t usually reply. I will just ignore them. I don’t answer them.
There is another reason. Years back, I use to wear shirts and trousers a lot. It’s a work dress. But the elders called me to stop wearing shirts and trousers. They called me once or twice. Whenever any of the Obas & Chiefs see me in shirt and trousers they would call me aside and advises me to be wearing nice Buba and Sokoto outfits. So, the kind of people I move with made me know I couldn’t make progress, singing stupid songs or abusive songs.
