By Victor Enengedi
Often regarded as one of the most exceptional musicians of his generation, award winning entertainer, songwriter and singer Darey Art Alade is a lot summed up into one personality.
In this compelling chat, Darey speaks with NET about love, marriage and other projects that he is working on.
You have often been regarded as one of Nigeria’s finest musicians, how does that make you feel?
Really, it makes me feel like a new artiste. I never for once feel like I have arrived. Lately I have been telling anybody that new artistes should watch out for me. I feel like I just started. I feel like I have my whole life ahead of me, so it’s like starting all over again. It’s like being born again. That’s my approach for this year so my work is going to be hectic, I’ m still on my grind. I’m really thankful that people have thought of me in such a way, but I don’t think of myself in that way.
Few years ago you had a reality show, ‘Most Undareyted’ on TV, nothing has been heard of it since the first edition?
We are going to relaunch it soon. A lot of these things take time and other resources. We will like to focus on one thing and idea at a time and right now we are focusing on Love Like A Movie. When we are done with Love Like A Movie, then we’ll release new materials, new videos, new songs and then we’ll continue with the rest of the TV show maybe we’ll bring back Most Underayted show.
Let’s talk about the ‘Love Like a Movie’ concert, what is it really about?
In details, it is music performances by myself, and some of my friends who will be making appearances; 2face, 9ice, Iyanya, Timi Dakolo, Praiz, Waje and others. We will be doing some special stuff together that you are not expecting. You may be thinking they will come and do some of your favourite songs, but it’s going to be different. We’re going to combine that with Circque du Soleil. Circque du Soleil is extreme theater. These are guys using sand to draw what I’m singing. Our normal concept is just to come on stage, either lip-synching or jumping up and down with dancers when the CD you would release is even better than what you are performing. We’re giving you something else. I’ll be singing live they will be doing some real acrobatics live, and they will also be doing the sand artistry live too. It’s really exciting stuff and we are combining all of that with music, theatre, drama everything together non-stop action for about 1hr40mins.
2face, Psquare, Ice Prince, Others to perform at Darey’s Love Like a Movie Concert
How and why is it different from other concerts?
‘Love Like a Movie‘ is an unforgettable evening. We want people to go home right with a picture in their mind not on their camera or their phones, but something that they will keep inside them until the day they die. It’s not about the money that the production is gulping, it’s about the creativity that we can do this without going outside the country. We can produce something that is worth an original and totally magical. That’s the idea that we want to leave with people. It’s all centered for lovers so please come. Even if you are still toasting her, I’m telling you by the time she finishes watching the show with you, I guarantee I can put my money on it, if she no gree for you after, forget am.
It sounds like a big budget concert, how do you find the finances to put all this together?
We thank some of our sponsors and partners like radio and TV stations; AIT, Wazobia, Cool, Classic FM and a few others. The show will be refreshed by Fayrouz. Lagos State Inland Revenue Service (LIRS) is supporting us and a few other people that we are still talking to. Also good natured individuals who would buy tickets on afritickets.com or call our cell phone no and buy tables. These are the people that are making the show happen.
Are your artistes on Soul Muzik performing as well?
Oh yes, they are going to be there; Mo Eazy and Zaina, and you are going to enjoy their creativity and talents.
So what’s the next step for Soul Muzik?
The plan is to release new materials and our studio is going to go live after the concert. So people around the country will always come and get quality recording and production and some other things that I can’t tell you here.
In the spirit of valentine, although you often times try to avoid the question, I’d like to talk about marriage.
You are not going to get a lot out of it really but you can try (Laughs).
You are married with two beautiful kids, how has married life been so far?
I don’t understand what you are looking for, I’m enjoying myself, and everything is working together.
Can you tell us something about your wife?
She is one of the most fantastic creative people that I know, she’s a graphic designer by education but by profession she’s an interior designer. We work together; she does interior and I sell paints. You can see the combination in terms of business. Once our clients finish taking their curtains or furniture, they want to paint the house, they come to my own side. She’s even into entertainment as well but she walks behind the scenes. She knows everything that is going on. She’s a really smart girl apart from been beautiful and really great.
How do you find time to pull all of it together?
I think it’s scheduling. It’s been very hectic I won’t lie. It’s just scheduling. You know everything has its time. There’s time to wake and time to sleep, time to work or play, time for travelling, so, any little time that I have no matter where I am in the world, once I have a break, I go home and spend time with my family. It helps. You know if I stay away too long it doesn’t help things. One day, you could come back home and your children would be like, ‘who is that’. You don’t want that, so you have got to keep ‘oiling the machine’.
Unlike many celebrity marriages, yours has lasted quite a while, do you mind sharing tips on how you have been able to keep it together?
It’s just the grace of God. Nigerian men are fond of being too braggadocios or too hard, but we must know that every coin has two sides, and if you realize that without the other side you won’t have a coin. If you have that kind of mental approach then you know that it’s not that you’re more than the other person but always try to have the balance and once you have that in mind, you pray about it and work on everything, it’s just the grace of God, there’s no magic or anything so I can’t tell you that you must do it this way or that way. It’s just different things for different people. I think one thing that cuts across whoever it is and wherever you find yourself coming from is balance. You always have to strike a balance because there are times when you are better than the other person but it doesn’t mean that you will always be better. The other person too will be better than you in certain areas. Praise that person when their praise is due so that the person can also praise you. if you take that and apply that to life in general, I think everybody and Nigerians in general would get along a lot better and we will tend to respect ourselves and each other and we can encourage each other so when the other person is down you can pull the person up by just smiling because the next day you may be the one that is down.
After the Love Like a Movie concert, what are some of the other projects that you’re focusing on?
Like I said, new music, new videos and a few other projects that are still under wraps. As time goes on, we’ll unveil them. So, always expect something different and fresh as we move on.
As is the trend now with Nigerians acts working with international acts, do you have any new plan for a foreign collaboration?
I have previously worked with Chamillionaire. There’s other people that I might be working with, I can’t give names now because it will defeat the purpose, but when it’s done you will hear bout it. The way I’m even going about it, it doesn’t really need it. I don’t follow the trend. You don’t need an international collabo before you make a hit if you know what I mean. We have many examples. Look at Iyanya with ‘kukere’, he didn’t need a remix with D’banj for the song to be a hit. ‘Onyinye’ by Psquare, before the remix with Rick Ross the song was already big. Examples abound and so it’s not really about the international collaboration but when we do the international collaboration we should get on the charts in the US. So, for me the point of doing an international collaboration is so that the person gets an exposure here and I get exposure over there too.