Onos Ariyo is a popular gospel artiste known for songs like Alagabara and Everything has changed. In this interview with Yetunde Oladeinde, she talks about her music, participating in The Experience and running a music and photography studio, amongst other.
WHAT are you working on at the moment?
After the release of my third album, titled The Place of Prayer, which was released in 2017, this year I am working on releasing a new album, my fourth album titled Breathe.
What inspired that?
I have been doing a monthly workshop tagged Breathe; I started it last year. It was actually one year this February; its online as well as physical from seven to eight on Mondays. It was for people who longed to know God more, who longed to worship God more. So, I started it online and a lot of people took interest and they wanted to be part of the experience. So, I created a venue for this set of people. But this year, we are still doing the monthly Breathe, but we are going to do it on a bigger scale. Most of the songs in the Breathe album were songs that I got from all these worship sessions that I had in Breathe. So, that was the best thing to call the album. In breathe, all we do is to inhale the breathe of the inspiration from God and exhale everything that God has put in us.
What are the other things that occupy your time?
As we speak, we are in my studio, Mirius Studio. It is my definition of other things. I run the studio and it is open to the public. This kicked off April last year. Basically, we do photography, we do rehearsals, band rehearsals because there are a couple of church choirs that use this place for their personal rehearsals as well.
Do you also produce songs for other people?
Right now, no. Basically, for the music bit, it is going to be band rehearsals.
Is it strictly gospel music?
As I said, it is a rehearsal studio, not a gospel rehearsal studio. It is open to the public. The feedback has been good and we try to make it of international standard. We are still putting different things in place, it has been good and we are looking at expanding and doing more things as well.
You are dressed in red, guess you are already in the Valentine mood. What is this year’s Valentine going to look like for you?
(Laughs) Of course, share love with my husband. I am married to Kunmi Ariyo, he is the CEO of Mirius Event, which is different from the studio. The studio is the baby of Mirius Event.
He used to mange you at a point. What was the experience like?
That was long ago, his hands are full now. He has a lot on his plate now. When I said managed, he wasn’t the one that discovered me. They are two different things. Then he was the one people would call for bookings, to make enquiries; not like he discovered me. He met me singing, he met me doing what I am doing. So, he just came in and made his input. Like my last concert, Praise and Prayer, he was in charge of managing the whole event. I would say that he still manages me in a different level and I have a manager presently. My husband oversees other things, for my events, the breathe concert.
Tell us about some of the awards and recognitions that you have
There is the Wise Women’s award, the ELOY awards for female gospel artistes, Moment of Worship, African Gospel Music Awards and Female Artiste of Excellence based in the UK. Then the Nigerian Gospel Awards as Best Female Vocalist. There is an Extreme Humanity Awards for Women; they celebrate real women with true stories. This was last year and I won Gospel Artiste of the Year category.
What do they mean to you?
Awards basically are man-given. Why I said that is that it is just someone saying that they appreciate you. It is what you do and they recognise your worth. That means a lot, I got a lot of mails, and yesterday I got some from Kenya and Ghana and was nominated for awards. For me, it just shows that you just sit in one place, you do your stuff and people from around the world are appreciating what you are doing. For me, it is a good thing and to know that the songs are inspiring and you are appreciated. Sometimes, I even ask which songs are you nominating me for? Out of curiosity, to be sure that they person is not talking about someone else. So, getting to know that people all around the world get to appreciate you means a lot, and the music is making impact. So, it means a lot.
Which of your songs would you call your favourite?
I have different favourites for different moments. In 2013/2014, Alagbara was a big favourite. It is still a big favourite though. Somewhere along the line in 2016 /2017, Jehovah Ebenezer caught my heart and currently, Your Name Jesus is one of my favourite songs. At a point, it was Everything has changed. That song is very prophetic. I remember when I began to sing the song, I began to see changes. The words we speak are very powerful. That song is very prophetic. When I began to prophesy with the song, I began to see everything around me changing for good. I released Everything has changed after I had my first child and I could feel things changing and truly, my music took a 360 degree turnaround, I could feel things working in my favour.
What are the things that motivate and inspire you?
For me, different things inspire me. Firstly, the hunger to know God more inspires me a lot. The truth is that in the kind of music that I do, the music literarily speaks joy, peace and hope to someone and people can connect with your message when they feel that you yourself have connected with that message. The hunger to know God, the hunger to know his love, to know everything about him, the entirety about God; that is where I draw inspiration. Like my last album, I titled it Songs from the place of prayer. Most of the songs were done whilst I was praying and fasting on my own. I had those moments and in those moments, I received those songs.
Sometimes, God speaks to me over my prayer time or my regular prayer meetings.
You started singing with Pastor Paul Adefarasin’s House on the Rock and you have participated in The Experience for some time. What does this mean to you?
I have been on the bill for The Experience for about four or five times now. Pastor Paul is the convener of The Experience, Lagos, and it is the largest gospel concert.
Not just the thousands of people there but a lot of people who also watch online. That, in a great way, has helped my music; it has helped me to reach out to a larger audience. It is one opportunity that I do not take for granted.
Let’s compare when you started and now. What has changed?
A lot has changed, you cannot even compare. The truth is like some people would say, the difference is clear. I started recording officially with my single in 2009 and that is exactly ten years now. My style, production and a lot have evolved. The change shows that I have grown with the time. There are people who started when I started and they did not grow with the different season. God has given me wisdom to grow with the flow, the season and the ability to hear the voice clearly. Over time, I have been able to understand what God has called me to be. What HE wants me to, understand it and be able to interpret it. There are some people who can sing than I can but they are suffering from identity crisis. There is a song in my new album titled Your season.
Let’s talk about the lesson learnt over the years
I have learnt so many lessons. I believe that as many people as are reading this would benefit from it. I am going to divide it to different years. From 2009 to 2012, I did a lot of self discovery. When you come out on the scene, you are basically trying to find your foot and you have to ask yourself, what sound are you putting there? When I came out, I was trying to do, Na this one day reign. I got caught up with that web. Did the songs hit like I wanted them to hit? No, it didn’t.
So, what I had to now do was to go back and really began to ask myself questions, look deep down within and realised that when you are doing this, you have to search within you and understand your strength. God has given us power, individually. You need to find your place of strength. When I began to find my place of strength, I began to see that a lot of things started taking shape easily. When I recorded Everything has changed, it was the first song ever after my first album. I began to realise that people were connecting with the soul in my voice, the message in the song and it was something that I sang freely. I just had my baby; she was three months old then. I went there and just sang from the heart, I didn’t even rehearse the lines. Remember that the week the song and people began to connect to the genuineness of the sound. The week that the song was released, I can’t remember the number of SMS I got. For the first time ever, I heard my song on the radio and I knew that I had not done the usual. At that point, I knew that there was something that I did right and I need to do it. From there, came Alagbara and after that Everything has changed.
Do you have people that you are mentoring?
Yes, I have a couple of upcoming artistes that I mentor and I try to create a balance.
A number of our musicians and actors are going into politics. Are you thinking about this?
If God permits me. Right now, I can’t see clearly. You know that, sometimes, anything can happen. I have learnt that it is not good to say never. There may be something in future that needs my attention. Right now, I am not seeing it. But in future, if I have a burden to get things done, why not? I am thinking of doing something with school girls, a concert that they will be part of and touch the life of the girl-child. The truth is that I have a burden for the teenage girl still in secondary school and they are still searching for direction. They can look to anybody that looks like they have the right direction. I don’t mind doing a concert with them and when we are done, I will give them godly counsel and some nice gifts.
Tell us about your beauty regimen. What are the things we will find in your wardrobe?
You will definitely get rings in my wardrobe. I love to make up and I like to keep it simple. There is a saying, ‘less is more’. If it takes away and not adding to me, then it’s not me. I am my daughter’s role model; I have a six-year-old who looks up to me. If I am doing my nails, she is asking why is there colour? If she sees a girl with her cleavage all down, she will ask me questions. For me, dressing right now is modelling for my daughter. She is learning from what she sees. I have to show her the right example.
Relaxation
I love to travel outside Nigeria, away from the traffic and cool off. I relax more and am more productive in terms of planning and getting things done. I also love to watch movies.
You studied French, are you doing anything with it?
I am working on stuffs in terms of my French. I have not been so intense with it as I would have loved to. I am working on translating a couple of my songs in French and I want to do it right, I want a ready market first. The easiest part of making music is going to the studio, but getting the music to the people is where the bulk of the work is. I have a song with few lines in French in my new album, not fully in French.
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