•Tell City People Their Story
Tunde and Wunmi Obe, popularly known as T.W.O are show business couple, entertainers, television personalities and entrepreneurs. The power couple has been in the entertainment scene for over 3 decades with 5 albums that are evergreen.
The couple had a live chat with City People Publisher, Seye Kehinde recently and talked about how the COVID-19 has affected the showbiz industry among other things… Read excerpts
How did you cope with the COVID-19 Lockdown?
It’s been a long year personally, I mean like I went abroad briefly just to go visit my daughter in February just for three weeks and I got locked out so to speak so I ended up five months
Are you serious?
Yes I was locked out of five months. Without plan, you plan to go for three weeks off for exactly 5 months so throughout that period that was when they were a lot of the lockdown both abroad and here so I was kind of like just indoors throughout and out for me I just said all that opportunity to do other things I continued with my art my drawings I started.
I just got a lot of social media groups, doing a lot of tik-tok and all that I just started churning out videos and things like that. It was a moment of Discovery for me.
It was a period for me to discover the things that I didn’t really pursue that I wasn’t really developing or I didn’t realise I had to try out. So it was kind of like, “Let me disguise and see.
And where was Tunde?
He was back here. The downside was, it was just me and my daughter. He was here in Nigeria with my sons, so we were not together, it was just me and my daughter for the whole of the five months.
So, what were the lessons you learnt within the five months from the experience?
From the experience, I learnt that first of all. You will learn to appreciate people more. You will learn not to take life for granted. You learn to appreciate the little things. You learn to understand what’s more important. One of the major lessons I also learnt was to stop procrastinating. If there’s something you want to do and you have been thinking about it, just do it. You’ve got nothing to lose, just do it. Time waits for no one.
Are the plans for the next 3 months, before the end of the year?
You know initially e had all thought this year is gone. We didn’t know when it was all going to come to an end, or if it was going to come to an end. So, at that time, we are kind of decided in our minds that we should just let this year go. But in terms of T.W.O, we feel like even if we are indoor or whatever the case may be, we will still be working on our craft. We will still be going into the studio, luckily we have a studio in our compound. We go into the studio and work on some more songs, and begin to lay the foundations for 2021 because this year has really gone by. So we will just be working behind the scenes to get things out by 2021.
Tunde, how has the COVID-19 been since March?
T think the whole thing has like everybody else. It took us unawares, it took us by surprise. If anybody had told me that this year, we’ll have to lock ourselves in..I mean for Nigeria, it was about 2 months plus. There’s no activity. We have the whole year mapped out. We had engagements, we had bookings. We had plans for the studio. Everything came to a stop. Unfortunately, the financial commitment didn’t get to a stop, considering the people that work for you. You pay salaries and all. And life goes on, even though life had stopped. Especially for those of us who are in the entertainment industry, who depend on our day-to-day activities to make ends meet. Those on salaries too, some had to suffer half pay for quite a few months. But we thank God, that we are still here.
So, what are the lessons?
Well, for me, it made my humanity more clearly to me. That is the grand scheme of everything, you are just one person and you really don’t control anything. God almighty controls it all. This year we have lost quite a number of people. You will be aware of a lot of them. Good friends that have passed and I have learnt that in all things we should refer to God. Allow him to take control. Just do your own best. Don’t embark on a do or die journey. Do your best and leave the rest to God. I am not so hard fist about things anymore. I am more relaxed. Just taking the days as they come.
Were you able to come up with any songs during this period as you often do?
Well, for me I wanted to write songs to make people happy. I wanted to see if we can come up with something for the people in 2021 that will just be all about joy. You know we had a song in our last album called Ire. Our creativity is always hampered by what we are surrounded with. So anytime we sit down to write, all we think about is the sorrow, death and pandemic. It becomes difficult to be inspired. But we are trying to come up with something to ease the tension because that’s the job of music artists. It’s our job to give life. If you can take note, artists who are no longer with us, people still use their songs. You have to look at yourself beyond the physical. Somebody whose song can still be heard, even when you are no longer here. People can still be inspired by what you say.
So, at his point in our career, I think we have to be aware that as elders in the industry, we should value to all the things that make people go through their day-to-day.
How do you see the effect on the entertainment industry as a whole?
It hasn’t been easy to be honest because anything that has to do with entertainment basically requires crowd, requires a gathering, whether is a concert, or a show, whether is a party or some kind of event, as far as entertainment requires a gathering, and getting rid of COVID-19 with have to take the sacrifice of social distancing. So, the industry has been hit. But we persevere. It’s not been easy, there is no doubt about it, people are not being called for concerts, people are not being called for shows, you know, and this is what brings food to the table at the end of the day, to be honest and it didn’t work out that way for so many months. Even now that things are getting better, there’s a limit to what we can do for the rest of the year. But at the end of the day, you’ll see there are people who diversified. God thinking. There are some who are now advertising food. Some will tell you they now supply eggs. You know, they just have to look for other means of livelihood. But certainly, at the end of the day, we’ll still go back to what we love and enjoy to do. Which is entertaining.
Tunde: One of my dear brothers is now selling bread (laughs).
So how has it been sustaining the brand over the years?
The main thing is not trying to compete with anybody. As individuals, you are who you are. Your brand as Seye Kehinde is Citypeople. Citypeople is Citypeople. That’s it. It means you have to concentrate on yourself and what you are doing. Then you have to work on that thing that you are doing and you feel people like. So, I believe everybody has their own fan base at a point in tie, things change, and there will always be a new kid on the block. That doesn’t mean there are people who have been around for many years won’t have their fans who love what they do.
So that is the beauty of music, not everybody will like a particular song, at the same time, not everybody will hate it. So somebody will definitely appreciate what you are doing, and you try to deliver what they want.
So what’s your message to your fans?
Basically just to say thank you for keeping faith with us over the years. I mean, it’s not easy being at people’s faces. Wunmi and I have been singing for 32 years. So we’ve been on stage at different times in our lives, and different stages all over the country and all over the world, and people have always embraced us, and I can even say thank you, because what more can I say? Thank you for the support, thank you for the love, because it’s because of them we do what we do, because if nobody is listening to you, you’ll stop doing what you do. So, a big thank you, and there’s a lot more coming from us. Expect beautiful songs in 2021.
How do you see the music industry today, as have a lot of new songs, new artist and all?
I have never been somebody that like graphic songs. When I say graphic, I’m trying to be decent. Like songs that adorn sexuality and vices, they are not the kind of what we do. But there are a lot of artists that are doing very very well. Every generation has its own artist, and every generation captures the attention of the people. So, I appreciate a lot of what they are doing, but I will still appeal that people can stand alone with their craft. Don’t say because one artist has done something successfully, the next artist that come up want to sound exactly like that guy. It doesn’t work that way. He has come up with his own sound and has been accepted. Do something that is peculiar to you. The only thing I advise is for artists to recognise the tempo in vogue, and you blend with it, so when the DJs are playing, your song can sit in comfortably. I’m listening to a lot of them from the background and I’m giving a lot of them thumbs up.
Wunmi: One thing also want to point out is the fact that we have to also commend these artists and hand it over to them because it is through them that the world has taken notice of Nigeria, and the Nigerian music industry. They have sold us to the world. Foreign artists are now enjoying our music, they are looking forward to relating to our artist. Not only that, because of their massive following, they have given Nigerian youths a voice. Take for instance the protest that is going on now. It is the artists that are leading them. And it is also these artists that the foreign industry is taking notice to be pursuing our cause. So they have put us on the map.
Would you say they are a bit lucky, because for you and Tunde, you always go through the rigours of writing songs, composing songs and a lot of that, but for a lot of the new artists today, the jump into the beat as it were? I notice that change in the style and I’m wondering, aint they lucky with the new way they have adopted?
Yes, if you think back, I was born in the late 60s. so I grew up in the 70s to hear music for the first time, and the music makes sense to me back then. As a Nigerian, at that time, being from the Southwest, I hear people like King Sunny Ade and Chief Ebenezer Obey Commander. A lot of their lyrics make so much sense, I usually wonder how these people sit down and think so creatively this way. So for you to create something as music, people will ask you, what is it that you want to say.
So that is the generation where we came from. If the first thing that came out of your mouth was what you sing and the people didn’t accept it, you won’t do that again. But if you give it to people and they accept it, why would you not want to do it again or cut corners to get your song out? It’s a means to an end really. I mean those of us who still have to construct lyrics, looking for rhymes, our lyrics are almost like poetry, and when you listen you’ll say this is beautiful. But the internet has made everything easy now.
Back then when we started, for someone to hear your song they’ll have to play your song at least in one radio station, and they are not that many. For someone to actually see your video, it has to be aired by a television station, and they are not that many. But today, I can finish a song in the studio and put it on my platform, and those that are following me will see it immediately, and you can gauge their interest in the song. You can see their reaction instantly. You know just like a comedian, when the crack a joke, instantly by the reaction of the people, the know whether it is funny or not, based on the crowd reaction.
Musicians do not have that luxury back in the day. We record the whole day, we listen, and we give it to one or two people. We used to invite a journalist to our house and play the song for them, we spend hours analysing and everybody will make their comments, giving suggestions on omissions and additions. Then we go back to the studio and correct. But now, instantly, you can get people’s reaction. So, that’s how far the world has gone today. Things have totally changed. You can be a star almost instantly if you are lucky enough to be. So, things are changing and music is changing also.
How do you get inspiration from your songs?
Majorly it’s more or fewer things that are happening around us. Things that happen that we notice and we feel we should address. You know when you come across a lot of people, and they talk about some factors relating to economic challenges, and we write and sing to put smile on their faces. From the time, that’s how we do. Remember when we did mogbo moya, we were in a party band we see a lot of people trying to match the colour of the day, even though they were not invited, and they even don’t know anybody. They just want to collect the gift that they give out. The same for Adupe, just to thank God for everything. Sometimes, God will just tell you, don’t ask me for anything, just thank me and praise me for the ones I have already done.
Because people are fond of getting on their knees to say “father lord I need a house, I need that Range Rover, I need this, I need that”. But people forget that sometimes, you just need to worship him. Worship him and let him be God in your life. That was why we did Adupe, we just want to say “Thank You, God”.
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