{"id":380600,"date":"2011-04-14T23:00:42","date_gmt":"2011-04-14T23:00:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/2011\/04\/14\/help-short-men-won%e2%80%99t-let-me-be-%e2%80%93-essence\/"},"modified":"2011-04-14T23:00:42","modified_gmt":"2011-04-14T23:00:42","slug":"help-short-men-wont-let-me-be-essence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/04\/14\/help-short-men-wont-let-me-be-essence\/","title":{"rendered":"Help! Short men won\u2019t let me be \u2013 Essence"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Okoro Uwale a.k.a Essence started her singing career at a very tender age, but went professional at age 18.\u00a0 The Itsekiri, Delta State-born singer, graduated from\u00a0 Delta State University (DELSU), Abraka, where she studied Theatre Arts. After secondary school education, Essence joined her Church choir. Before she released her debut album, she had backed up artistes such as Kingsley Ike, Paul Play Dairo, Kenny St Brown and others. Upon graduation in 2004, she launched into the market with \u2018Truly Essence\u2019, which has hit songs such as \u2018Like Dat\u2019 and \u2018African Prince\u2019, a remix of Tuface\u2019s \u2018African Queen\u2019. She recently released her sophomore album titled, \u2018Essential\u2019. The dark Kalangol singer shares her story with Weekend Groove. <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

By Ogbonna Amadi, Entertainment Editor<\/p>\n

Facebook love, what is it all about?
Jaywon came up with the concept, but anyone who knows about facebook will know it\u2019s where we share our feelings and information with friends, play around with pictures. There was a time I actually included my age and date of birth on twitter and someone sent me an e-mail, telling me that I didn\u2019t need to add all that.<\/p>\n

And I\u2019ve also heard of girls hooking up with guys on facebook. While it didn\u2019t work out for some, for others, it was a dream come true.<\/p>\n

Since you logged on to facebook, has anyone hooked up to you?<\/p>\n

Of course, they\u2019re on line but I\u2019m still interviewing them one after another(laughs).
How has the journey been so far?<\/p>\n

We thank God because fame and success came when it was supposed to surface. When you grow up, facing tough situations, things can only get better with time. So, I believe I\u2019m getting better everyday\u00a0 than what people were complaining of\u2026<\/p>\n

Why did you decide to go into music?<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been singing since I was five. I didn\u2019t go into music just to make money or achieve fame. For me, it\u2019s the passion that guides me. Music chose me. I\u2019m the last of seven children. My older siblings are much older than myself. So, most of the times, I was left to take my own decisions.\u00a0\u00a0 The TV kept me company and I grew up listening to different genre of music. I listened to the country music, jazz and I loved Michael Jackson a lot.<\/p>\n

In fact,\u00a0 as at then, I\u00a0 fantasied getting married to Michael. Somehow, I trained myself unconsciously- singing other people\u2019s songs. When I was in secondary school and I didn\u2019t know what I wanted to do, my uncle reminded me on how I used to disturb the whole house with my songs and suggested that I give music a shot.\u00a0 At that point, I didn\u2019t really believe in myself.<\/p>\n

And when I got into the University, I chose a course that would be all encompassing, so I went in for Theater Art
Where did you start music from?<\/p>\n

I started from the Church, Bethel Ministry of Late Rev. Oduyemi. Kingsley Ike of the Wamilele fame was my choir master then. He was with Kennis Music and tried to get the Kennis to hear me sing because he said I had a promising career in music. But I told him that I was scared because I was very young.<\/p>\n

When I was in the University, I went for a talent hunt and surprisingly, I came second. Kenny Sait Brown was one of the judges. She told me\u00a0 that I came first on her list and asked me to call her. She gave me her number but it took me almost a week to call her.<\/p>\n

And eventually when I called her, she gave an address to come see her. When I got there, she made me feel at home and I became her backup singer. And she has been grooming me since then.<\/p>\n

Did you have this believe that the music was going to be a success?<\/p>\n

Truly, it was the last song that was recorded on the album. I was tired and didn\u2019t feel like recording it,\u00a0 my producers insisted I did. In fact, I\u2019d recorded lots of songs that didn\u2019t make the album but they insisted I included the song.<\/p>\n

So when the song hit the airwave, I started getting calls from people who informed me that they love the song and wanted to know who sang it. Suddenly, it blew out of proportion and I was told that I was going to shoot the video.<\/p>\n

We shot the video and God\u2019s hand was really on it because people love the video .And I feel blessed.
What would you have done if you didn\u2019t put that particular song?<\/p>\n

I always thank God everyday because since we started recording, I\u2019d prayed that God would put his hand on it. And I\u2019m grateful to God. I\u2019m the kind of person that don\u2019t like to take credit for what I didn\u2019t do. I didn\u2019t come up with the concept of the song. And if you asked me a million times, I\u2019d still tell you that it was Jaywon who conceived the idea of the song. He\u2019s a bundle of talents and I thank God for his life. God used him to bless me and I\u2019m grateful.<\/p>\n

Did you feel left out before then?<\/p>\n

I think an artiste feel more fulfilled when people sing his\/her song. But you know that when you are on stage and you don\u2019t get a feedback from the audience, you\u2019d get discouraged. So when you sing on stage and people acknowledge you, it gets you intoxicated, more than cocaine. Apart from Facebook, Talangolo too did well and I thank God for everything.<\/p>\n

In terms of financial reward, are you okay?<\/p>\n

By the grace of God yes. At least,\u00a0 I can\u00a0 pay my bills and I\u2019m not indebted to anybody. And some people are already saying that I\u2019m getting fatter.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t you think that your body size scare away men ?<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t want to scare men away o!. But if they are scared, they should stay away. Funny enough, it\u2019s the small guys that approach me and I usually wonder what gave them the guts to come around me. I like the guts of short guys and I think it\u2019s because they\u2019re used to fighting for everything, and perhaps, they don\u2019t take no for an answer.<\/p>\n

Describe your ideal man?
First of all, he must be God-fearing and he has to call me everyday because it\u2019s a serious crime if he doesn\u2019t call.<\/p>\n

Does he have to be tall?
Oh yes. At least,\u00a0 a bit taller than me but it\u2019ll be nice if he\u2019s very tall.
So what happens to the smaller one who have been coming around you?
I don\u2019t know o, that\u2019s why I didn\u2019t answer them<\/p>\n

Have you always been this big?
Yes, I have big bones. I took it after my father.<\/p>\n

Did kids tease you while you were younger?
Yes, I got a lot of it especially from the mean kids. But if you know who you are, it won\u2019t affect you
What kind of names did those kids tease you with?<\/p>\n

They dared not (laughs). I wasn\u2019t a terrorist but they feared me. I think when I was much younger, I was muscular and looked more like a boy. I had to fight for everything and I still fight for everything but now I\u2019m more of a grown up lady.<\/p>\n

When did you have your first boyfriend?
I was about 20 years old.<\/p>\n

What did he say to you that made you fall in love with him?<\/p>\n

He was bold because others had this feeling that my face scared them. So, he was my first boyfriend.
What\u2019s his name?<\/p>\n

Lanrele.
He broke your heart?<\/p>\n

Yes.
You fell in love with some other guy?<\/p>\n

What did I know about love, I was younger. It was my first time and I was excited but it wasn\u2019t so fantastic.
How can you describe yourself?<\/p>\n

I\u2019m a simple girl but my friends complain that I don\u2019t behave like a diva. But I\u2019m an Itsekiri woman from Delta and we are real. Whenever I\u2019m on stage, I behave as such but whenever I\u2019m off the stage, I love to be who I am. Lagbaja got it right and he\u2019s enjoying himself.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Comments are moderated. Please keep them clean and brief.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

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Okoro Uwale a.k.a Essence started her singing career at a very tender age, but went professional at age 18.\u00a0 The Itsekiri, Delta State-born singer, graduated from\u00a0 Delta State University (DELSU), Abraka, where she studied Theatre Arts. After secondary school education, Essence joined her Church choir. Before she released her debut album, she had backed up artistes such as Kingsley Ike, Paul Play Dairo, Kenny St Brown and others<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-380600","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-business"},"yoast_head":"\nHelp! 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