Have you ever wondered how Bonsue Fuji star, Adewale Ayuba has sustained his brand for decades? We can tell you. A few days back, City People got him to tell us about his new album Fujify Your Soul. He also took us back memory lane, how he started singing from age 7. It was a very revealing interview.
Looking back now, like how many albums has he done to date? “I have done like 22, 3 international, 21 in Nigeria. “At what stage is his brand now? “I give glory to God, because I know my mates, I know people that we started together and I know where Bonsue music is today. There are some families that we performed at their wedding and I am still singing for their children now. It shows that the music is still there. I am so happy at what we have been able to achieve. That is a gift from God.”
How did he coin the name Bonsue Fuji? “I chose Bonsue Fuji because that is the name that my mother used to abuse me with when I was young. Anytime they send me on an errand to do anything, before I get their I will forget what they have sent me, because I will just be singing. So, anytime they want to send me on an errand they will say don’t be going to sing Bo, bo, bo, Bonsue and forget the errand we sent you. So, because of the love I have for my mum, and that Bonsue sounds nice, I decided to use Bonsue.”
Many people often say that Adewale Ayuba does not behave like a typical Fuji artiste. They see him as too serious minded and disciplined. What explains that? Is it his upbringing? Is it his home training? Or exposure?
“Firstly, I will say thank God, because everything goes to God. The 2nd one is the influence of my parents. That was part of the contractual agreement I had with my parents. It wasn’t easy for me to sing Fuji. So, at some point they sat me down and told me what I need to do. They said Wale, if you want to sing this music, you can’t smoke, you can’t drink. When you grow up to the level when you want to marry, you must marry one wife”.
“So, I now see music as a character that I perform on stage. That is not me off stage. It is a character. It is only when I get on stage that I will be performing it. That is it. I thank God for that”. Career wise, it has been how many years now, of playing music? “I started singing at the early age of 7 and I am 58 now. That is 51 years ago. “How has it been when he looks back? “I give glory to God, particularly in Nigeria where you have to think of many things like who will be our Manager? Who will manage our wardrobes? You have to write your songs. I am happy. But the other thing is I want Fuji music to be known worldwide. I want God to use me for that.”
At the time, he started Fuji music, like play, like play, what was the situation like? How did he start? Who were the people he was rolling with at that time? “Like I told you, I started at the age of 7, when I didn’t even know my left from my right. There was a spirit in me that was pushing me then. Anywhere I find myself, I will just be singing Fuji. When I see 2 to 3 people gathering in a place, I will just start singing for them. I will go and meet them, can I sing for you sir? Not that they ask me to sing for them. At any social gathering in Ikenne, I will just go there I will just be singing for them. Music comes to my mouth. Then, we had a restaurant at the back of our house, where they are selling drinks. I used to listen to the big artistes who were reigning then. You know then, they used to release album almost every month. Artiste like Sikiru Ayinde Barrister, Haruna Ishola, Kolawole Kollington. Immediately, I listen to that album, the next beat is already in my head. So, I am good at anything music. I chose Fuji because you don’t need much money to start it. You don’t need too much education to start it. There was no chance to do that. How can I tell my parents that I want to go to any music school? Did I even know that there was what was called music school at that time? Fuji is a combination of local instruments, Sakara, Apala, the ones you can communicate with. And they are cheap. That is how I found myself in Fuji music.”
What has been his sustaining power in music? Because every career has its own challenges, ups and down. How has he been able to wade through all of this and to remain very relevant? “That is a major question. That is why I said Talent comes from God. And the level I find myself now, I think it is from my father in heaven. It is not me. I told you the little my parents did. A lot of things my Producers did. Because there was a time I did not know the meaning of Music Production until I met Mr Laolu Akins and Sony Records where I released my Bubble music. That was the first music that brought me to limelight. They have impacted on my growth. When you are talking of print journalists I can’t forget the likes of you, Mayor and others. They all came together to form themselves into Bubble fans. They were writing good things about me and pushing my career. Music is not something you can say you are the only one that did it. But being relevant is from God. I thank God, I happen to be an obedient child to my parents. That is the thing that saved me.”
Bubble was the album that brought him out, what happened to the albums before Bubble? “Yes, I had past albums before Bubble. My 1st album is Ibere, I did one for Dele Giwa, 2nd one is Igida, the one for Obafemi Awolowo. But I realised that then, as I was releasing all those albums, you don’t see the elites dancing to my music. When I was in school, my classmates will say you that you, you are singing Nigbati, nigbati music. You don’t see people that went to school dancing to my music. They call it sluggish music. They hardly want to come to my shows or to play with me. And I realised then that the orientation of Fuji music is Arabic, Muslim background. It is either you sing in Yoruba or in Arabic words. That is what happens in Fuji. That was the situation until I now met Sony Music. They came to me. They now asked me why I said I don’t want to release any more album. I told them what I observed. I said the elites don’t like my music. They said No. You can do it. You can change all that. You just need to change your lyrics. I said what do you mean by lyrics? They said the song you are singing change it. Don’t let it be Yoruba, try to sing in English and Yoruba. Then, change your tempo. Try to Funkyfy your fuji music. Don’t let it be sluggish. I said wow. It happened when Sina Peters just released his ACE and that one really motivated me. I said wow, so I can change this music. We were on the same platform then, on Sony Music. That is how Bubble became a big hit. That is how I changed the Lyrics: Listen attentively, I am going….It is my desire to move higher…I try to make sure that 80% of the song is in English, while the 20% is in Yoruba. So, I changed the tempo to become a little Funkyfied. That was how my music changed.”
One thing a lot of people like about Adewale Ayuba’s craft is his stage performance which has been adjudged as Fantastic. How did he develop his dance style? Has he always, been a great dancer when he was young or he had to adopt it? “Do I even know what having a style was. I didn’t know anything. What happened was that immediately we released Bubble. Bubble was everywhere. People were now asking for Video. And we began to plan for the video. They said Bubble is your style. So people have to know how to dance it. They now told me it is you that will have to teach your fans how to dance it. I said haaa! They said yes, you are the singer. You have to teach people how to dance to your Bubble music, because that is your style. I now got myself a mirror, I was playing the music and I will be dancing. That was how I started preparations. When it gets to Only Mr. Johnson, Adewale Ayuba, I will do whatever comes to my brain, because there was nothing like a Choreographer teaching me how to dance, I was just doing whatever God put in my head. That is how we did the video. And everybody was dancing Bubble. Whatever I did in that video, people were trying to emulate and dance. That was what brought me to limelight. Once you have done that one, and it succeeded you can’t stop. You have to continue. That is what turned me into a Dancing Fuji musician.”
After Bubble, what was the next major hit that came? Mr. Johnson Play For Me & Bubble. Some people will be singing the song in Mr. Johnson Play For Me and they will say I am singing Bubble because people don’t know the difference. The record was fantastic. Till now, that is it. So, we have Bubble, Mr. Johnson Play For Me, we have Buggle D.”
We got him to tell us 5 lessons that life has taught him that has helped him and he responded: first, from my parents side, they would tell me, don’t do this, don’t do that. The other side is you need to celebrate people that you are working with. You might be a superstar but you don’t know that you are getting that success because of one man who plays for you. It might be your Sekere player. A tree can never make a forest. That is one lesson. Take care of your band. That is why they call it band. Not you.”
“After that, anybody that comes towards you or comes to work with you, make sure all of them say good things about you. Don’t owe people money. 2ndly, believe in yourself. You were born in Nigeria for a purpose. God does not make mistakes. Just stay focused. He has put you in Fuji music, don’t relent. Be doing it.
Thirdly, after your God is your wife. When you go out to perform, come back to her. The prayers they are given to you, and your siblings is No 1. That is what I think. What you don’t want other people to do to you, don’t do it to other people. Celebrate other musicians.”
Anytime people see Adewale Ayuba, they see Contentment, someone who is at peace with himself. How did he develop all of these? “It comes with the Blessing of marriage. Me, I believe that whoever finds a good wife, finds Blessings from God. All these things you said are from my marriage. The Quaran & The Bible have a Life manner. How you can live life is in the Bible. It is also in the Quoran. It is just a Life Manner. There are commandments that say don’t do this. Jesus Christ says love your neighbour as yourself. There is a law of Karma”.
What is his advice to younger artistes who want to be as successful as Adewale Ayuba? “I always tell them that being a singer is a Talent. You can’t just say you want to start singing without having that talent in you. And where does the talent comes from? It is from God. It is only that God that can promote. So, that is No 1. You have to believe in your God.”
“2ndly, let whatever you are doing be a character. It is something that you are performing, don’t let it be you. Don’t let the stardom get to your head to the level where you begin to see yourself as a Superstar, you can’t talk to this person or that person. I am too big. All of us should know that the best singer on earth is Satan. Like the Bible says, it is Satan. So, we have the lineage of being Satan. So you have to pray to God to hold tight the good sides not to the side of Satan that sings very well. If you do that then you will start smoking, drinking, womanising, you will start indulging in everything that will not help you. That is the problem.”
We got him to tell us about Ayuba & Style. He has always been a stylish person. How has he maintained that for years? “Dressing well is part of the game. You have to continue to look appealing. That is something I learnt from Sony Music. You have to continue to dress well so that whenever anybody sees you, they will say wow! This guy dresses well. Its part of packaging. Your character outside is part of it. You must do it to back up what you are doing. So, I don’t dress well because I just want to dress well. I am doing it for my brand. Our Entertainment world is very, very devilish. I say that because Satan is pursuing anybody that is into Entertainment. That is why many artistes are taking Indian Hemp and drugs. Once you have a talent to sing, why do you need to take drugs to sing. Then, anything you do that you need to use a substance to sustain it, that means it is not yours then. You don’t need to take drugs to make you sing. It is Satan that just wants to waste you.” We also got him to talk about Adewale Ayuba and Ikenne, his home town. What role has Ikenne played in his life? “Hmm! I don’t even know what to say. What role kee? Haaa! I give my success to God. I give it to Ikenne remo because that is my home, that is my town, where I grew up. I don’t joke with Remo land in general”.
“As I am talking to you now I get a lot of shows from Remo in general. If I have 10 shows, 7 is from Remo, up till now, fifty something years after. The shows I get from Remo are so much that they won’t let me play in Lagos. Those in Remo area are paying whatever I charge them. That is love. And that is God. Some people say a king is not celebrated in his town, but not like me oooo. I don’t know why, I give glory to God.
Any regret in life? “None. Any bad thing that happens to one you must know that thing is just the beginning of good things that is coming to your life.
– Seye Kehinde
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