{"id":274289,"date":"2011-01-17T07:35:28","date_gmt":"2011-01-17T07:35:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/?p=48102"},"modified":"2011-01-17T07:35:28","modified_gmt":"2011-01-17T07:35:28","slug":"releasing-albums-not-my-priority-olufunmi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/01\/17\/releasing-albums-not-my-priority-olufunmi\/","title":{"rendered":"Releasing albums, not my priority \u2013 Olufunmi"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>
Olufunmi<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\nOlufunmi Olajoyegbe is that angelic voice that broke into the Nigerian music scene a couple of years ago. This soft yet firm mother of two tells Lolade SOWOOLU in this interview, why she has been away from the music scene for so long. She also explains the sensitive nature of being a gospel artiste and the challenges therein.
\nWhere have you been?
\nI\u2019ve been in Lagos and I\u2019ve been very busy. I spend more of my time ministering in Churches and concerts. I haven\u2019t brought out a new album for a while and I have so much pressure from people to do so. Our last revival held September 17 in Parkview Estate, Ikoyi. I\u2019m also Vice president of SPAN \u2013 Society for Performance Arts of Nigeria. The president is Sarah Boulor, so all that has kept me busy.
\nWhen did you start gathering Christians in Performing Arts in a fellowship?
\nIt\u2019s called Get into God fellowship and we started in 2004. We\u2019re not a church. We keep in touch, support and encourage each other. We have major events too throughout the year.
\nWhat\u2019s happening to music?
\nBy next year (2011) I\u2019ll have something new. I\u2019ve lots of recorded songs. It\u2019s just to put them together. I think I need to make that a priority.
\nIs it because you found other passions that your music is taking a back seat?
\nI wouldn\u2019t say so. Music is still something I love to do. It\u2019s just that bringing out an album or video doesn\u2019t define the totality of music for me.
\nYes, that\u2019s what makes you visible on a social level, so to speak. But I\u2019ve been ministering consistently in Churches. I\u2019m just doing what I believe God has called me to do and that\u2019s where my greatest joy in life comes from. I see myself first of all as a gospel minister, not a gospel singer. I see gospel music as part of my ministry.
\nAt what point of your life did you encounter God?
\nI first gave my life when I was 11 years old. I lived in the presence of God for three years. I was in a missionary school in Ethiopia, but I was born here in Nigeria. I walked very close to God as a child. They said I began to preach at about 7 years old. Somewhere along the line I backslided and came back to Nigeria. In 1988, I gave my heart to God again. Since then I would not say I have always gotten it right but I\u2019ve always held on to the fact that God is the most important part of my life and holding on to that has taken me through the hard times and to find value in my life.
\nHave there been times that you felt tempted to compromise on God?
\nI have this powerful knowing that God is never wrong. There\u2019s been times that I felt like giving up on different things- a music project, a friendship or times when you just feel overwhelmed by one thing or the other. I\u2019ve found that keeping your eyes on Christ will bring you out finer and stronger than you were before. It\u2019s like putting gold through the fire. It\u2019s representative of every human being who has a relationship with God.
\nWas your last album a commercial success?
\nIt depends on what you define as commercial success. Money wise, I wouldn\u2019t say yes. I\u2019m yet to meet anybody in Nigeria whose album has been a \u2018money\u2019 success. But a success in terms of testimonies from people who\u2019s listened, I\u2019d say yes. God by his grace used the album to touch hearts. I have three albums in all.
\nWhat is your take on the way gospel music is positioned in the music industry. Is gospel well represented?
\nThings can always be better than they are. There are lot of excellent gospel artistes on the scene now. Gospel is very different from secular.
\nYou can\u2019t handle gospel same way you would secular. And it\u2019s the same way abroad. Gospel artistes abroad don\u2019t make as much money as the secular artistes. You\u2019ll always have to consider that divine element. God could call you to go to some remote lace to go and minister. It\u2019s a totally different platform but there\u2019s still a lot of room because gospel is gaining ground.
\nWe need to work together. We need to have a forum where we can discuss, plan, identify the challenges we face in the industry and begin to devise solutions to make sure we can reach more people and make a living off our career.
\nWhat I see happen is that a lot of people are gospel artistes for a while and then because they can\u2019t live off it, they become secular. I don\u2019t believe they have to be that way. I\u2019d just say it (doing gospel) will not be as easy as the world (secular) because there are so many shortcuts you cannot take as a gospel artistes. You just have to be strong.
\nWho are some of the people you have worked with in the past and coming works?
\nI\u2019ll start with the past. I\u2019ve worked with TY, we did a song and video together, Bouqui, Mike Aremu, and quite a number of artistes. For my new works, you have Evans, he\u2019s a talented singer, songwriter and minister. There\u2019s Wale Adenuga, Chima, try back-up singers and some more I don\u2019t remember now.
\nAre there chances of working with a secular artiste?
\nI don\u2019t know. I\u2019ve not really considered that. It\u2019d be something I\u2019d have to pray about. You know there are some areas where the lines are grey and you just need the leading of the Lord to know what God wants you to do. I never say no outrightly because I don\u2019t know what God\u2019s doing but I know God will never lead me into something that\u2019s not going to bear good fruit.
\nAny particular health habit? Do you do anything deliberately to keep this figure?
\nI don\u2019t really put on weight. I don\u2019t do anything deliberately but there are things I love to do. I love Salsa, I love dancing. Even in my bedroom, I dance Hip Hop (laughter). I love dancing and that keeps the weight off. God has blessed me with certain things by way of instruction, for instance, the Lord told me not to take pork sometimes backs. And I find that if I eat pork, I have trouble with indigestion. so I don\u2019t touch it.
\nMedically, they say port isn\u2019t good for you too. I love sweet things but I can\u2019t take a lot of sugar, I react to it. That\u2019s another good thing for me.
\nThen I don\u2019t have a very large appetite so I don\u2019t eat a lot and I tend to like food that are healthy anyway. So I guess God has blessed me with liking things that are good for me. I love cakes and ice cream but I don\u2019t take them often, when I do, I burn it off with the Salsa.
\nAre you likely to release a Hip Hop track.
\nI don\u2019t know; we\u2019ll see what God does.
\nTell me a bit about family
\nI\u2019m married, I have two teenage boys \u2013 19 and 16 years old. And we\u2019re a happy family.
\nYou seem to soft spoken that one can\u2019t imagine you rebuking a child?
\nTrust me, I can I can be very strict.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Olufunmi Olajoyegbe is that angelic voice that broke into the Nigerian music scene a couple of years ago. This soft yet firm mother of two tells Lolade SOWOOLU in this interview, why she has been away from the music scene for so long. She also explains the sensitive nature of being a gospel artiste and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-274289","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard"],"yoast_head":"\nReleasing albums, not my priority \u2013 Olufunmi - Ghanamma.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/01\/17\/releasing-albums-not-my-priority-olufunmi\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Releasing albums, not my priority \u2013 Olufunmi - Ghanamma.com\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"Olufunmi Olajoyegbe is that angelic voice that broke into the Nigerian music scene a couple of years ago. 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