Zenith

  • Latest News

    Saturday, September 14, 2013

    I Left Bank Job To Sing Gospel

     Samsong, a Nigerian gospel artist, based in Abuja. He has had a successful recording career with radio hits like Count your blessings, Bianule, Odogwu, Kele Ya and Higher High as well as a handful of accolades such as The Psalmist Award in 2000, nominee “best Gospel Artist” by Nigerian Entertainment Awards (NEA) in New York in 2008, NDAA 2011 best gospel, NGMA 2011 award and many others. He has graced the stage with Gospel greats like Marvin Winans, Donnie McClurkin and Panam Percy Paul, as well as successful mainstream artists like Donell Jones, Kenny Latimore, 112, TuFace, D’Banj, Faze, and Styl Plus.

    He was born Samson Uche Mogekwu in Delta State, Nigeria. He discovered his talent for singing while in high school. It was also in high school he was popularly called Samsong.
    He attended college, and majored in Accounting. In 1991, he formed a quartet known as
    Praise Creation. They were signed to Ivory Music Label, and released their debut album in 1996 titled “Best of Life”.
    The group however broke up, and Samsong became a solo artist, releasing his debut cd in 2002, titled “Count Your Blessings”. His album was a success, garnering airplay, and resulting in winning The Psalmist Award that same year.
    The Delta State-born singer in one of the big names on the scene as his hit track, Bia Nule, is on countless playlists of lovers of good music.
    In this interview with Kemi Yesufu, he talked about his brand of gospel music, life as a family man and the challenges of operating from Abuja. He equally shared his opinion on the flamboyant style of modern churches and the recent sex scandal involving an Abuja Pentecostal preacher.  Enjoy it:

    Most popular gospel artistes are in Lagos but you did the opposite by staying put in Abuja. Why is this so
    I am married with two kids, so my family is the major reason why I have remained in Abuja. Another reason why I still live in Abuja is that, it’s a serene and calm place. I am the kind of artiste that needs a quiet place to create music and a good neighborhood to raise children. And Abuja is a combination of these two important characteristics.

    Abuja is fine for recording music and raising children, but how good is it for you business wise
    For artistes, living Abuja has its disadvantages, in the sense that Lagos is where opportunities come frequently. I have had people call and ask me that I drive to their churches for a performance and they get disappointed when I tell them I am in Abuja. But I believe also that if you are good at what you do and people want your services, they will arrange for you to come meet them wherever they are. Over the years, I have been able to add value to my brand and people are ready to support me even if it means bringing me in from wherever I am. Interestingly, most of my performance deals come from clients outside Abuja. I am doing well business wise, though it might not be like what the secular artistes are getting.

    You just mentioned how secular artistes are making loads of money in comparison to gospel singers. Do you get tempted to switch to secular music
    I will say that the temptation is great for gospel musicians to shift to secular music. But for me, music goes beyond just recording songs and performing shows. If you ask me, music is a spiritual phenomenon in the sense that the message in my songs has to come from within. I have remained a gospel artiste because of this conviction. I believe strongly that I am on the right path with singing gospel. I feel even more confident now because the light is brighter for gospel artistes. Compared to when I started, the gospel artiste now has a wider audience to listen to his music. I believe that I can do much better moving into the future. I am born-again and I want that to reflect in my music.

    How did you get the idea for your hit song, Bia Nule
    It is quite interesting how I got the idea for that song. I call Bia Nule my spirit song because it came to me while I was driving and I started singing it though I am not fluent in Igbo language. I stopped my car and recorded the song on my handset. Even after I recorded it on my phone, I kept wondering how an Igbo song came to me just like that. I wondered what I would do with the song, I contemplated giving the idea for the song to someone else, I thought of giving it to an Igbo speaking artiste. This is despite the fact that other gospel artiste friends like Asu Ekiye and Sammy Okposo had told me that my voice would be great on songs rendered in a Nigerian language. I used to tell them that I preferred to stick with contemporary gospel.

    Even when I decided to keep the song for myself, I recorded the first version of Bia Nule with the chorus people and placed it at the end of the track. It was my manager who advised me to make Bia Nule the main chorus. In fact, there are four remix versions of Bia Nule. It is the fourth version that most people know.

    A number of people see the elegant stallion, Onyeka Onwenu as a tough woman. How was it like working with her on the One Love remix
    It was interesting working with Onyeka Onwenu. For me, she is the easiest person to work with. I connected with her in an interesting manner that shows that she isn’t a difficult person. She was at a show in which she had to perform One Love. She had just completed a rigorous political tour, she was a bit tired and when she started singing the chorus for One Love, I just felt that I should join her and give her support. The organizers gave me a microphone and when she had done her part, I did a freestyle verse and went back to the One Love chorus. On my way back to my seat, she stopped me to say, she would like to do a remix of the song with me. I followed up and we went to the studio together to record the song. When it was time to make the video for the song, she did it without much ado. So, I am yet to see that difficult side of Onyeka Onwenu some people claim exists.

    Some critics aren’t happy with the funkiness of today’s gospel music. They have argued that gospel musicians are trying too hard to get into the mainstream. What is your opinion?
    In terms of beats, lyrics and style, I will say gospel musicians aren’t doing badly. Like you mentioned, there are some gospel videos that compromise the essence of the genre. These videos contain scenes that shouldn’t be in gospel videos, like scantily clad women and suggestive dance steps. I don’t subscribe to gospel music or videos that make people question the artiste’s motive. I also don’t subscribe to using beats of secular songs to make gospel music. But then, I am a sucker for excellence, so I understand those who have tried to take gospel from the realm of being boring to a place where you have DJs who play strictly gospel music. With well-packaged gospel tracks, more young people are listening to gospel music. Rather than allowing our younger ones to be swayed into the nightclubs, we should make songs with good beats and Biblically backed lyrics that will at the same time, appeal to the church people.

    Still talking about funky Christianity, a popular Pentecostal pastor in Abuja was enmeshed in sex scandal. Two women accused him of being a philanderer. And some observers have blamed the Hollywood style of certain congregations for such a scandal and similar happenings in the church. What is your opinion?
    I don’t think what you described has anything to do with modern or old time religion kind of Christianity. These problems don’t arise due a church’s style of Christianity. I think we should localise the problem to the person(s) involved. There are many funky pastors out there, who are principled. It is not about old fashioned or modern pastors because there are old school preachers who have had similar problems too. To avoid problems, a pastor just has to stand by tested values and principles.

    When a secular artiste is on stage, he simply has to entertain the audience. How is it in the case of the gospel singer?  Does he/she have to minister and entertain at the same time
    You know, the gospel is the good news. In the same vein, the gospel artiste is the propagator of the good news. More than the physical, gospel music is about the spiritual. In the midst of the singing and dancing, there must be the move to recognize the presence of God. When a secular musician is on stage entertaining, it is not about God. That is the difference between gospel musicians and their secular counterparts. For me, it is not a challenge to entertain and minister the word at the same time. There are even some pastors who are quite interesting; their preaching makes you laugh; yet they get the word across to the congregation.

    The decision to make music a career, was it an easy one
    It wasn’t easy at all. I left the banking industry to do gospel full time. It was challenging in the beginning. Family and friends couldn’t understand why I left the bank for gospel music. There was a guy who asked me to show him a gospel artiste who was doing well financially. At that time, I couldn’t point to anyone. So, I just took a plunge. I thought in my mind that I might as well be a trailblazer and inspire the people who will come behind me. It was tough starting out. I remember trekking to churches to create work for myself after leaving the bank. I used to live in Iwaya in Lagos and I would trek from home to Dolphin Estate, Ikoyi, looking for churches where I could perform. I would look at their signboards for their visiting time and I would note in down. I would return to those churches to speak to the pastors. Some of them let me in and others said that their services were tight and they can’t accommodate me. It wasn’t all of the churches I performed that the pastors gave me money. Sometimes I trekked home. But after I managed to record a CD, I always had money for transportation because I would sell my CDs. Today, I thank God that I made that decision.

    You got wedded as a celebrity. Was it hard choosing a wife
    (Laughs) Yeah, I had female friends but I knew that my wife was the one when I met her. I was never indecisive about marrying her. I won’t tell you God spoke to me or being spiritual about it, I just knew that she was the woman for me. She is beautiful and calm. I asked friends about her and from all they said, I knew she would give me peace. I guess my wife’s attributes made it easy for me to pick her as my life partner.

    You’ve had this Afro hair forever. Why this look
    Well, I haven’t had this look forever. I started wearing my hair this way in 2004. I was leaving Lagos for Abuja and I thought about creating an identity for myself in the new place. If I had money I would have bought a power bike or sports car, so that once you see me coming, you will know it’s me.  I didn’t have money so I resorted to growing my hair. I doubted if I could grow my hair because I had tried it earlier. But after a couple of months in 2005, the hair was good enough for me to stop wearing a fez cap. Now, mention the name Samsong, people will say ‘oh, the gospel singer with an Afro’.

    In other words, you hair is your trademark
    Yes, it is.

    How do you spend your ‘me time’
    I play games and watch movies.

    Foreign or local movies
    I watch foreign films a lot. But I watch Nigerian films too. I also love to play with my children.

    Do you find it difficult being a father and a musician
    It is not easy being a father and a musician. Children love to have your attention and you know that a creative person needs his/her quiet time. Sometimes, I want to create music and it’s the same time the children want me to play with them. But the genius in all creative people has taught me how to balance fatherhood with being an artiste.

    What does the future hold for you
    My last two CDs were The World of My Dreams and Church Boy Reloaded. My last album had great collaborators like Chioma Jesus and Frank Edwards. I am working on my next album, which I titled DNA. It is also going to have major collaborations. I just concluded shooting a Christian film entitled, Here I Stand. The film is basically about not judging people from afar. Sometimes, you need to know what actually happened that led to someone behaving in a certain way. The film is also about Christians watching the company they keep. Christians have to be friends with those who share their belief.

    How was your time on set
    My character, Drew, is a Christian who struggled between the secular world and Christianity. I had to change my hairstyle from Afro to weaving many times. It wasn’t easy. I suffered headaches with the frequent change of hairstyle. But I am happy that I pulled through the production. The director said I am a natural and that I got into character easily.

    Would we see Samsong in Nollywood then
    Not anytime soon. Funny enough, I got an offer from Nollywood yesterday but I turned it down. I am a musician; I don’t want to be dragged into many film projects. Again, I won’t take any role that isn’t lead or supporting actor. I don’t have anything to prove by acting in many films. More importantly, I won’t take roles that have sex scenes or immoral. I have worked hard to build my reputation and I don’t want to be involved in anything that will make people to be confused about me. You see that I haven’t mentioned money, at this stage of my career, what is important is building my brand by maintaining a good reputation. Money doesn’t come first.
    • Blogger Comments
    • Facebook Comments

    0 comments:

    Item Reviewed: I Left Bank Job To Sing Gospel Rating: 5 Reviewed By: BrandIconImage
    Scroll to Top