Timaya still sees me as a threat – Oritse Femi

Oritsefemi Majemite, simply known as Oritse Femi
took the music scene by storm when he released his
hit tracks "Mercies of the Lord" and "Oleju" which
enjoyed massive airplay and an evergreen status in
the hearts of music lovers. Though he plays gospel,
there is so much of dance-hall infusion into it that it
cannot be ignored by a wide spectrum of the society.
In this encounter with WG, the Delta State-born
Itsekiri Femi, born and bred in Ajegunle, bares all on
his journey from the shanty settlements of Ajegunle
to the limelight. Excerpts:
How have you been surviving?
It's hardwork and most especially, you must be
prolific and realise you must change as your
environment changes. Presently, Afro Hip-hop rules
the music industry. For instance, if you are a Fuji
musician, Reggae star or a rapper, you must infuse
Afro into it because it is what rules the scene now.
This Afro is generated from Fela Anikulapo Kuti. If
you listen to Fela Music, he usually sings with our
local pidgin English which they call commercial. So,
you must infuse that commercial and Hip-hop in it.
So, I keep including that in my music.
But the most important thing is your own
uniqueness. I try to rediscover my unique selling
point so that anywhere I go, it will serve as my
identity. And one of my most unique traits is my
vocal, the way I sing and whenever I sing, people
understand and identify that this is Oritse femi.
Meanwhile, I try my best and take my time to put out
very unique lyrics. So, I infuse all these into my
music and it has been working for me.
I make sure the content is beyond reasoning. Another
thing that we, Ajegunle boys, lack is publicity. Our
guys have the mindset that they won't play their
music on radio but I keep asking them to try
nonetheless. The industry is now highly competitive
so you have to promote your songs. I always try my
possible best to meet up with that competition. So,
that's why I'm still relevant.
If you hadn't hit the limelight would you have
still remained in Ajegunle full time?
I will move to anywhere in the world. Like I said
earlier on, the world is like a circle you must learn
how to move around but 'Aje' is still my hood and I
still have a belief in it.
What inspired 'Mercies of Da Lord' ?
I was born and brought up in the ways of the Lord but
because of worldly things, I derailed. But my mum,
who is highly religious and Godly, brought it back.
There was a low time in my life when I felt so
depressed but my mum with her inspiration woke
the spirit of God back in me. I was so filled with the
spirit to the extent I never thought possible.
So, that was how the inspiration came out. Actually,
that song was the last song I did in my album, I was
supposed to round up my album, I've already
rounded up the album; I just need an intro into the
album. But when the producer, Ben Droze heard the
intro, he said what I just dropped can be a track, so
we now completed it, making it a full track.
How was it like working with Pasuma ?
Yes ! Pasuma is a nice and humble artiste. When I
walked up to him that I have a song and I would like
him to feature in the song. Immediately I gave him a
clue of the song, he said the song would be a hit. I
swear that was what he said, so he put his own
impact. We went to Clarence Peter's Studio around
his house.
Suspect was the engineer; I now brought my own
producer which is M-Shine to come and produce the
beats while Suspect took the vocal and because that
place is so close to Pasuma's place then, he came in
to do his own part. After we finished the job, it was so
smooth and fantastic. It was like a dream come
through. Up till now, the song is still relevant
because I still perform it on stage and I see people's
response to it.
Your memorable experience?
I think it was when I was in a group called, The
Jingolist. We released two albums. It was a joint
project with my colleague, Chibudo. The first album
was entitled, 'Boys Dibinu', that is, "Boys are not
happy". The second album was 'Money Na Time' and
they had eight tracks each. Later I went solo and
released an album, 'Elewon', which means "Chase
them".
That was when I started singing about the flopped
politicians and the need to chase them away. It was
released in 2007/08 during the elections and turned
out to be a hit. My second solo album has just been
dropped into the market entitled, 'Unfadeables'. I
was motivated to release this album because of the
wickedness prevalent in the world. One of the hit
tracks that is making waves on radio and TV is 'Mercy
of the Lord'.
It has a remix featuring the late Dagrin, Rhymzo and
also my record label chairman, Shining. We have
already shot the video and it would be out any
moment from now. The 'Unfadeables' has fourteen
tracks. It is going to redefine what the Oritse Femi
people have been hearing about. Apart from the
artistes I mentioned before, I've also featured in my
works 2face, Pasuma Wonder, Nico Gravity, B Kleen
and some other popular artistes in Nigeria. It is a
'thank you' album to my fans who have been urging
me on. The fans have been there, saying that Oritse
Femi cannot fade. That is why I titled the album,
'Unfadeables'. It is a street lingo narrating how
people neglected me when I was not known
As the only surviving musician doing this
genre of music, what are you doing to support
other ones?
Yeah! I've heard so much about that and what I
believe is that, we are all players in one position or
the other. For instance in a football match, we have
everyone playing different wings, so everyone must
be noticed in his or her own position. Even if I am
playing the defence role, I will try my possible best to
be noticed. So, that's why I keep holding that place
that I am.
Already, I don't want to mention names. But talking
about Timaya, he is a good friend and right from
time, Timaya has always seen me as a competitor.
You know sometimes, someone can be your friend
and still feels you are the only problem he has. The
last time that I called him that we should do a song
together, he said we are going to do it but he kept
postponing it because he sees me as a threat. He
doesn't want a situation whereby people will be
comparing us. Timaya is a good artiste and he has
his own energy and he keeps doing what he knows
how to do best but to me, I don't see him as a
challenger. I can compete with any artiste in the
world.
What was the first fee you got as an artiste?
My first money is small; N5million. And five million
naira then is 50 million naira now.
How did you handle the excitement?
It was in cheque because the people that gave me
the money knew I have never handled such amount
before and they didn't want to cause problem. When
I saw the cheque, I was stupefied, speechless and
continued staring at it as if it were a dream. I wasn't
too sure but when I saw the money in front of the
cashier men! I was like wow, and from there the
inspiration rose and that should be around
2004/2005
Before then, what was the highest money you
have ever acquired for yourself?
It was one hundred thousand naira (N100,000) and
that hundred thousand naira, I used it to form big
boy for more than one month because the hundred
thousand naira was like a very big money to me then.
You can't blame me because I was born and brought
up in the ghetto. And the hood that I came from 'I
don dey experience flood before Nigeria dey get
flood' because then even the so called mosquito net
cannot be enough for the population of people living
in that area. We have more than 10 million people
who will struggle to get it. So, if mosquito bites us,
we see it as a way of life. So, you can't blame me if I
see hundred thousand naira and I over reacted.
How was your dream like after you collected
the N5 million, judging from the kind of
environment you were coming from?
Immediately I collected the money, my nightmare
changed. 'I dey dream say na Europe I dey' because
then I used to dream about OPC and Area boys
fighting.
Your latest single, Sagbene is presently
rocking the air and people want to know what
next , can you tell us what you are working on?
My new single will be dropping any moment from
now, it is titled 'Double Wahala' which basically talks
about the problems in Nigeria. Even small children
born today know Nigeria's problem. Nigeria is filled
with hardship; there is insecurity, unemployment
and many others.
Vanguard