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Says I Am Not Yet Done With Music
At 66, veteran Nigerian music star, Mike Okri is not looking backwards with nostalgia. He is looking forward with the confidence of a man who has survived the changing tides of the Nigerian music industry and still believes he has much more to give.
For generations of Nigerians, the name Mike Okri is inseparable from timeless records such as “Omoge,” “Time Na Money” and “Concert Fever.” His music belongs to an era when melody, musicianship, songwriting and meaningful lyrics were central to the Nigerian pop experience. Yet decades after he first emerged, Okri remains deeply engaged with the questions shaping today’s entertainment industry.
\Fresh from celebrating his 66th birthday, the legendary singer is reflecting on longevity, the preservation of his musical history and the responsibility that comes with being regarded as a role model. His ongoing efforts to preserve his archives, including plans for a documentary and eventually a memoir, reveal an artiste increasingly conscious of the importance of documenting his own story.
But Mike Okri is not merely interested in celebrating the past. He is concerned about royalties and intellectual property. He has reservations about the way streaming works and believes African creatives must be more careful about blindly embracing technology. He is equally outspoken about Artificial Intelligence and what he considers the danger of allowing algorithms to replace human originality.
And there is more.
Okri reveals that he has a collection of unreleased music, including new material inspired by concepts from the past, and says he intends to gradually bring some of these works to the public. He also speaks about collaborations, classic remixes, building his entertainment business and expanding into movie making.
Interestingly, he also has strong opinion about today’s Afrobeats generation. While acknowledging the achievements of some of the biggest names, Okri argues that the industry must learn to separate genuine musicianship from what he sees as a growing culture of “cut and paste.” He believes younger artistes need stronger foundations, respect for those who came before them and a deeper understanding of their craft.
Yet his tone is not entirely that of an old-school musician complaining about the new generation.
He wants to work with them.
He talks about grooming young talents, building a foundation where younger musicians can learn from those before them, and names several contemporary artistes he believes have shown promise. He also admits that he still has considerable ambition of his own, famously declaring: “I’m a big fish, so I need a big pond to swim in, not a small one.”
In this exclusive conversation with City People Showbiz Reporter, EMMANUEL DANIJI, Okri opens up about his remarkable journey through the years, the secret behind his longevity, what he thinks of today’s music, his unreleased songs, his plans beyond music and what he hopes Nigerians will remember about him many years from now.
Mike, you have remained surprisingly active in recent years, especially with new collaborations and renewed attention around your catalogue. What exactly is keeping you creatively busy at this stage of your career?
I would say that longevity in terms of work is a blessing. That’s what keeps me going. You never get short of ideas when you are like a pivot through which others make their journey.
There’s so much that surrounds me that is a mystery. I accept that and thank God for it. Not many people are privileged to be in a circle of faith and trust in the Supreme God we call our Creator.
So, if I’m gifted in this manner, I should be grateful that I am gifted. It is a good thing to be attached to anything that is a huge success. “Time Na Money” has always been a huge success and, like I said, it’s evergreen.
There’s always stories to weave around it and you can’t fall short of that at any time. I’m privileged to be one of those who have done a song that reminds us of our golden age, our younger days, our high school days, call it what you will, but that’s the truth.
And once you’re seen as a role model in that regard, what you just need to do is have the ability for sustenance. Humility is a watchword. I won’t be faulted for being humble and yet principled at the same time.
You recently revisited “Time Na Money” with younger artistes. What does it feel like to hear a song you recorded 37 years ago in 1989, being introduced to another generation?
Yes, I totally agree that doing “Time Na Money” was a huge turnaround in my life. It was one of the songs that we initially didn’t intend to do.
But when we began to think about how much the youth of our days were not really taking things seriously, and how time seemed not to bother us because of the regular belief that African time is always a time that doesn’t really matter, we realised that we were the ones at a loss.
So, we needed a change. We needed something that would remind us that time waits for no man.
When you agreed to revisit “Time Na Money,” what did you want to preserve from the original and what did you want to change?
Preserving the original has always been important. It is like having a golden Vase kept in the corner of a room, with its shining light on it.
However, there’s always a twist at every corner, depending on how you shape it, push it or angle it.
When you have a good song, it’s like a good book. You always have stories to tell about every chapter you turn.
You describe your sound as “Afro-Mystic Soul.” After watching Nigerian music evolve from your era to Afrobeats becoming a global force, do you think your original musical vision has finally found its time?
It’s Afro-Mystic Soul. It has always been in my mind as something good that can always come from Africa.
People have their different views as to what Afro means to them, but that notwithstanding, it’s like a very big tree with so many branches. I see the turnaround of Afrobeats as such because Afrobeats has been an influence on many other genres, and I see myself weaving it and creating more sounds from it.
It’s like creation itself, where God created and man is limitless in the areas of invention and ideas.
There is currently renewed interest in preserving your musical history through the Mike Okri Challenge. How important is it to you that your story is properly documented while you are still here to tell it?
It’s always good to celebrate people while they’re alive rather than when they’re gone.
I see myself making this progress and setting it up, God’s willing, so that I’m able to do it in my lifetime.
It’s a great idea to have a docu-series of Mike Okri telling the story, not just from when I started music, but right from my very young age—when I was a toddler, then a lad and so forth.
It will be a wonderful storytelling experience in the form of a docu-series. That will also move me to the next stage of writing my memoir when the time comes, should God allow it. I pray so.
Looking through your old photographs and materials, is there any particular period of your career that you now look back on differently?
There’s always a time to piggyback to when you were younger.
If it were based on any man’s opinion, you would say, “I wish I was still as young as I was when I was younger.” … (laughs) But you would grow old, and old age is not a crime. It is not a sickness and it is not a disease.
It’s a way of life that you wish to attain and proudly say, “I made it.”
The pictures are a reflection as well as a passageway to renewed hope. You look back and say, “Back then, this is who I was, and now this is who I am.”
There are certain qualities that will always remain your character. If that is unshakable by the challenges of life, then it’s a good thing to tell a good story about yourself.
That is what the pictures will reflect.
Today’s Artistes have the freedom to release music independently through streaming platforms. Do you think they are better positioned financially than your generation?
The traditional ways of releasing albums through syndication may take longer, but there was a discipline in knowing the professionals from the quacks.
If today is giving independence to people, it should still reflect that not just anybody takes over the business from talented stars.
I see the limitations of today in so many ways until we really call it to order.
It will be a cacophony. It will be a means through which every dog will bite and there are no limitations. If there’s a way we can regulate, if there’s a regulating platform, then we can still say, “You know what, we can’t go this far. This is how much we can go.”
If those regulations are not in place, then the profession and the music industry are doomed to fail.
You have spoken about royalties and intellectual property. How satisfied are you with the way your catalogue is being managed today?
I really can’t talk much about my intellectual property and royalties because we have a case to answer with my former record labels.
The reason I say this is because there are possibilities for settlement. But should anything go otherwise, I’ll keep you guys in check and let you know the new development.
Has streaming finally created the kind of business structure you wished existed when you released your classic records?
The streaming platform is a good effort to try, and I don’t see anything as perfect. The imperfection of man is the reason why nothing is really, really perfect.
However, as we step into new grounds, all we need to do is find lasting solutions.
I see the streaming platform facing a whole lot of challenges too. It’s not something we should just dabble into without proper fact-checking and learning how to deal with it. We really need to begin to work out some modalities by studying what really makes the streaming platform work.
I am one of those in the forefront trying to work with professionals in the field and ask questions, because if you don’t ask questions, you’ll be left in the dark.
