Daily Independent (Lagos)
Ifeoma Meze
30 June 2009
interview
Lagos — Chinwuba Igbokwe a.k.a Kaka, the second son of Christy Essien Igbokwe the acclaimed 'Nigerian Lady of song' is one of the fastest growing artistes in the entertainment industry. Aside singing, he is a producer/a songwriter. In this interview with REPORTER Ifeoma Meze, he explains his journey into music and why he featured his mum in the album he is about to release, among other issues.
Excerpts:
How has the music life been?
It has been hectic. It has always been filled with a lot of lessons to learn. I learn new things from the music industry everyday. You meet new people and definitely, when you meet new people they tell you new things. They show you new ideas and from there you choose the ones that work for you and leave those that do not work for you. It has been a very interesting journey so far.
What kind of songs do you produce?
I produce any kind of song, from techno to highlife, traditional music, hip-hop, and R&B. I just fell in love with every type of music. Basically, when I started with producing, I was doing more of traditional music because of where I was based. I was based in the East. I produce their sound and do most of their sound mixing. Now, technology has made it easier. You don't really have to play the instrument, all the sounds are in the computer. So what I did basically for them was to give them local sound but digitally.
But presently I produce most of the kind of music we have now. I get to know the kind of music that the person I am working for is into then I produce the song to fit the person's style. I do the full packaging of the music for the person. After making the beats, I record the artiste. I mix and master his work.
Which artistes have you produced for?
I have worked for Chudi Ike. I did the track Sarewa for him. I have also worked with Oni. I did some of Fragrance's songs. Fragrance is a female music artiste. These are some that I can recall because I have done so many.
In your own music career, how far have you gone?
My album is ready now. By God's grace, it will be coming out by last quarter of the year. The title of the album is the arrival of Kaka. It is a 16-track album. It features artistes like Fragrance, Chudi Ike, Oni, Steel and DJ Tee.
I have a single on air right now that I did with Durella titled Bring it over here. It is the first single and the video is on most TV stations. The second single will be coming out soon with the video. It is a gospel song that I did with my mum. I featured my mum in three tracks in my coming album.
What challenges has this career thrown on your way?
I won't say they are challenges, I will say they are more of lessons. I have learnt a lot from the challenges. I found out that you cannot do music for yourself; you have to do it for people. Apart from doing music for people you also have to learn how to balance it out and do it in a way that you will be happy with yourself. I have learnt how to balance and give my own style out and also making people accept it.
What is your kind of music called?
I will say it is good music because I do all kinds of music. I don't have a particular name for it. I cannot call it rap because I also sing and my album, which would be coming out soon has almost all kinds of music.
As a producer, I tried to show my versatility in the album. You hear different types of sounds. In that album there is highlife, Rock, techno and hip-hop.
Did your mum inspire you into being a musician or did you go into music because of the fame and money involved?
I went into music because I love it. It was something that was always inside me. And as my mum would always say, "a python will always give birth to a python; eagle an eaglet." Even if I did not want to do music from day one, it is still a part of me and it must come out. She never forced me into doing music. She was not surprised when I said that I wanted to do music. My going into music has nothing to do with the fame because I am a very shy person. I don't really like getting too much attention. If it was because of money, I will definitely still be at my former job as a geologist because I was paid well.
So, you are not going back to the job anytime soon?
Maybe later I can dust up my certificates again because I can't do music forever. So, maybe, I will later work as a consultant because what I read in school cannot be a waste too.
Do you get some inspirations from your mum's kind of music?
Of course, I get inspired from listening to her songs. There is nothing like new music. Everything we are doing now has been done already. Like the electronic voice effect that musicians use in enhancing their voice, in the 70s, people were doing it. In Tupac's California Love it was used there and the song was done in the early 90s. Everything we are doing now in music is just recycling. Most things I am doing now were picked from my mum's era because it is just a natural thing.
How did you feel featuring your mum in your album?
It was not easy working with her, because I was working with someone that is much older than I am. Someone that is more experienced and has been in the field longer than I. It was not so easy to pick out the kind of song that she would feel and fit into and matching up to the standard of what she was doing. So it was a real challenge.
Was it the most challenging point in your career?
Yes. It is because I had to step up to meet up with her standard.
Do you think musicians should generally be educated for them to know what they are doing in music?
Music does not really have anything to do with education but it has everything to do with God. My mum was very successful but she did not go to university. So it has nothing to do with education, it has a lot to do with you and your common sense. You don't get common sense from school. It is something that God gives you. Wisdom is something that you have to ask God for. If you are wise, you will definitely make it. But I am not saying that you should not go to school.
A lot of people might think you are doing well in music because your mum was a good musician. What would you say about that?
It is harder to have a parent that did what you are doing because it will be hard for people who love your parents' work to accept yours even when you both are not doing the same kind of music and in different eras. If both of my parents were professors and I am an artiste, people will accept my song faster but because of my mum, people do not compare my song with other artistes. They compare me with her. You see people saying things like "can it match up with the songs she has done?" It is more of a challenge and more tasking. So it is easier for artistes that do not have any of their family members in music.
What is your view on the kind of lyrics we have in music now?
From day one music has been food for the soul. It uplifts the spirit. So I think the lyrics we are doing now is okay. Though to some people, it may sound useless or not intellectually sound, the funniest part of it is that everybody wants something simple. This is still part of the reasons I said that the music we are doing now is the same music we had back in those days. If I bring some of the music we had then, you will complain about the lyrics too. I think we are there. If the music is not good, people won't buy or listen to it. There are some songs that the lyrics are not bad and they are not making it while there are some that the lyrics are very bad and they are making waves and it is just simply because it is connecting with the people. Once you are able to get the song right and it is able to connect to the people, then you have done your homework very well. All you have to do is sit down and wait for your pay cheques.
Who are your role models?
In music, it is my mum, but if you want to talk about other people that I also respect, all of them are dead. They are people like David and King Solomon. I am looking up to them because I want my life in years to come for people to be asking questions like 'how did he do it?' I want to be known like them.
What problems do you think the industry is facing now?
The problem is just piracy, and it is an international thing. If music could survive piracy back then, it can still survive piracy now. It will always find a way of surviving. If we can establish a structure where artistes get their royalties, Nigerian music industry will be a better place than how it is now. But, so far so good, even with the piracy people are still making it.
Do you have any advice to upcoming musicians?
I will advise them to be very prayerful. Pray for God's guidance because you might have the best voice but if it is not your potion to be an artiste and no matter how hard you try, you won't make it. There are other things you can do and make bigger waves than many artistes. So, I advise them to pray to God to show them their potion and not force their way through something just because others are there.
Not many Nigerians out there know much about you.
My name is Chinwuba Kaka Igbokwe. I am popularly known as Kaka on stage. I am an artiste, producer and a songwriter. I am the second son of Christy Essien Igbokwe, from Umudioka in Anambra State. I studied Geology in Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka.
I have been into music for a long time but I started music professionally ten years ago as a rap artiste though I did not release any album. I was doing mainly mixed tapes that I sold in school just to get that local champion feel.
Then eight years ago, I started producing music for other people. And because of the way Nigerian industry was, it took a long time for me to grow. It took me like three years back to really break into the mainstream and leave the underground.
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