His real name is Mohammed Usman Adamu, but everybody calls him Magnito. He is a wave making rapper born on the 15th of September. He is from Benue State, Idoma by tribe but he was born and raised in Abuja. His stage name was inspired by the movie X-Men. He graduated from the University of Jos where he started rapping as a hobby. After his graduation, he moved to Lagos to pursue his musical career professionally. When he found that rap music was not really paying his bills, he decided to add singing with the infusion of comedy to his lyrics. Magnito became a household name in Nigeria after his song “If I Get Money Ehn” was released. It was followed up by a remix featuring Patoranking and titled “As I get money ehn”. He recently had an interview with City People Entertainment Reporter, PRECIOUS POMAA and he talked about his journey so far and how he loves to be creative.
How do you feel about today?
I feel happy because Patoranking dropped his album and we are having so much fun here.
Your voice sounds exactly the way you sound when you sing?
Yeah, everyone says that, Maginto your voice sounds same way when you sing and am like, yeah that’s how music is supposed to be because you can’t be saying, Yo, ama nice guy and you sound all good and then when you talk you sound like an empty barrel. It really doesn’t make sense when you fake it and not be yourself.
So tell us, how has it been so far for you?
It has been good, we thank God and I have been dropping songs and everyone liking the songs and right now I started a series on my instagram and its getting so much buzz and we’ve had big shots on it and its doing well.
Why do you sing mostly about women?
Those are the ones you know. If you listen to some of my other songs, I rap and sing about myself and my environment (laughs). But if women like you, your music will definitely fly. Also, if women love your music, your music is going to go everywhere. If only men like your music, the acceptance can never be the same. The reason is when a man is playing a song in his car and a girl is saying, I can’t feel it, the man will definitely play her own kind of song. And when you play her kind of song for too long, you will get used to the song and even like it. So, I would rather keep my female fans very close. My female fans are really very important. I do music for the girls.
But basically, how do you get inspired because your lyrics are quite different?
I get inspired when I hear a good beat. I’m a good writer, so when I hear a beat, I know I have a new song to write. I have a new song I just wrote, but it does not have a beat yet. I have been making other songs that are accepted by the fans and will keep doing more. And I like to be very creative, I don’t just like to do music because of the fun of it, I do music to pass a message, positively ones especially. At times, because I want to make people happy, I make a few good music in the commercial and main stream aspect of music. So, I think I stand out.
How challenging has it been for Magnito back then and now?
Yeah, the Magnito of then was concentrating on basically the rap, trying to prove to people that he knew how to make rap music. But thank God I have been able to understand that’s it’s not just about myself alone, I have to do it for my fans out there, so I had to switch the vibe and when I did, it started working out.That was when I dropped ‘Kaka’ Before ‘If I Get Money’, ‘As I Get Money’, Girls’ Loud’, now Genevieve and in 2 weeks from now I am dropping ‘If to say I be girl’ featuring Falz D Bad Guy.
What inspired the song, Kaka?
It’s just a song that came; I didn’t really write the song down. I got the beat from Patrick Ellis and voiced the song. Patrick Ellis shot the video for me and made everything happen for me. We promoted it and it went viral. We didn’t even push that song like that. We shot the video and just put it on Sound City.
How do you come up with the name of your songs?
Yeah, my songs are always telling one story or the other, what is the meaning of love, Yama, loud. I just don’t do music and say ‘my baby o, Susan’ for the heck of it, I do it because there is a story to tell. If you watch my videos you will be able to understand the message of the song or when you listen to the songs you will be able to take one or two lines from the song.
What is the preference for fair-complexioned girls in most videos?
They are attractive, so they put them on TV. But personally, I would rather roll with a dark-complexioned girl. Television is meant to be flashy and that is why we wear blue clothes and pink shirts. We put light everywhere, so you need the light skin girls to make everything look bright.
So what should your fans expect from you, Ep or an album?
Yeah, I dropped my first Ep last year named Fresh Out 01, I am working on other Eps and they are ready. Dropping them is not the problem but getting the awareness to people first so they can understand what you’re doing. I signed some new series on YouTube which is the relationship and we’ve done over 9 episodes already and we are starting another one ‘The Cup Story’. So there is a lot that I am doing, and I’ll be dropping the Ep later.
Are you in any relationship?
Yeah, I am in many relationships, but by the grace of God I will settle down with 3 or 2 of them [laughs].
