Much has not been heard from Africa Rapper Number One, Jude Abaga, popularly known as M.I. (Mr. Incredible), However, the Crowd Mentality crooner is still very much around, working behind the scenes and making preparations for his latest music effort. He recently featured in an animated movie, ‘Gammy and the Living Things’ as the central character with other Nollywood greats like Pete Edochie, John Dumelo, Segun Arinze, Joke Silva, Bimbo Akintola, among others. The Musician, songwriter, record producer and entrepreneur, speaks with SAM ANOKAM on his role in the flick, his latest work, business and other relevant topics.
ROM rapper to a voice actor, who or what convinced you?
It is just the vision of our leader who reached out to me a long time ago. When he showed it to me a long time ago, I was in the office looking at it and wondering how they intended to get this done. The vision seemed so big, but by the time I read the story, I saw the work they were putting into it, the structure and everything, I fell in love with the project. It is really a testament to his commitment to excellence. I am very proud of what we have done and of being part of this project. All the actors, the whole team did a great job.
What was the experience like?
It was good. They treated us really well. They had a beautiful studio where we were recording every day. We had a lot of excellent help as well. Voice animation is not all about what you see; you have to have good expression. It was really fun
You voiced the character, Gammy, do you see any similarities between you and the character you played?
I would say, I had been where Gammy was. When I was in Jos before moving to Lagos, where my career started, I had this dream of making it big. A lot of times, when you want to make it big, it is like where you are is too small, or people around you do not have the same big dreams as you. That is where Gammy is. Gammy represents any young Nigerian who was born, maybe outside of a very rich family or a big city. You have big dreams; you want to go change the world.
They used a lot of music. Did you write some of the songs, and what are you personally currently working on?
I am working on something new, but for this project, I love what they did. It is very important to the team for you to find classic Nigerian songs and to work them into the project in order to preserve the legacy of classic Nigerian songs. And they followed the right process. I know they worked with an orchestra.
Do you have any plans to go into movie production or acting?
To be honest, I love movies and I have done one or two here and there. However, there is nothing really major for now. I am on the music side. If anything, I work with one or two friends on the music for their film project. That is another world. It is so complex. When you see a film come into the cinema, you should know that those guys have done a whole lot.
What should your fans expect from you and how soon?
I have a new project called, ‘The Wolf is Coming.’ The wolf means, to humans everywhere, that whatever occurs, it is the story of all of us making it through as an African and trying to leave value on earth despite ups and downs. ‘The Wolf Everywhere’ in every story is always the bad guy but let us hear from him to know what really happened. Why is the wolf always at the receiving end? The first single is out but the actual story telling of the wolf is not yet completed because I want to find a way of telling the story as well as put out the music.
Why did it take you this long to come out?
I am doing many other things. I have an agency. Most creators, big artists, actors, do not have a talent agent that can help them find opportunities globally or help them work with brands, even though they have a manager or lawyer, but they are not getting as much worth. I want to fix that problem. I am building an app, an agency platform for that purpose. That takes a lot of my time. I still put out music here and there once in a while. It is not the same as before. When you get to a certain point, you have to leave space for the up-and-coming ones. That is the way it is designed. When I was a younger artiste, I remember the OGs then, when they went for interviews; we used to say, where have you been? It is just the way God designed the world.
What are your thoughts about the rise of Afrobeats making waves all over the world?
It gives me so much joy. It is like being a parent and seeing your child going on to win the world cup or becoming the heavyweight champion or something. It is like when I was a younger artiste in 2009, I went to America. I was trying to see if I could make my way there, and at that time, every road was blocked. Through the years, it is not just this version of Afrobeats that we have to remember. Even if we wanted to start the recent story, we would start from Keke and D-One, who used to go to the Grammys and come back. We start from Tuface whose African Queen went on to be in American films. We start from D’banj who started having the first record deal with Kanye West. We started from Psquare, who started doing campus shows, and Asa, who was touring around the world. It is a collective effort that has led us to this moment when we have CK, Rema and all these guys. I think we should look at it as a whole community, paving the way for each other. In fact, the same way we are looking back at the OGs is the same way the young ones are opening the doors for us as well. If a young artiste tours the world and they produce and spread Afrobeats, it makes people in those places look back and say I wonder what the old music from these places was. We are one community. We are one family of Afrobeats, African culture, and African creativity. We are all playing our roles and it feels to me with such pride to be part of the team.
Are Nigerian musicians doing enough in the business aspect of music-making?
I don’t think that the artists can do it all. They need organisations that will focus on the business and artists being focused as artists. That is what I said about what I was building. It is very difficult to be a musician, to write your songs, focus on your styling, craft, performance, get yourself mentally in the right spirit, be on the road for hours, etc. I was talking with CK two days ago and he was telling me he is in a phase where he is recording. When he finishes recording, he will start promoting, when he finishes that, he will start touring, and he says there is no time. I was just talking about the loneliness of being on the road, travelling to all these places with one or two people just by your side. It is not an easy journey, it is not an easy road. It is not on the artiste to do the work alone, it is a collective effort and companies need to be there – companies like Mavin, Chocolate City, FilmOne, among others. We need more of those and hopefully we will get there.
Where do we hope to see M.I. in the next five years?
I am hoping that the vehicle I am working on has achieved its goals, and it is one of the biggest talent agencies in the country, ready to provide lots of opportunities. I would love to see five million people using our tech to connect global opportunities, working and connecting with partners all over the world, so we can make money and change Africa for the better.
Is Chocolate City currently grooming new artistes?
We are not running one way. I think that initial love of M.I. Jesse Jagz, Ice Prince, in Chocolate City can never be the same. I don’t know if you know that Young John is Chocolate City and he is one of the biggest artistes in the industry. Right now he has the number one song in the country. Even though when people think about Chocolate City, they may not think about Young John in the same way. I would even say that he is a third generation not just second generation.
Chocolate City has had Young John, CKay, Blaqbonez, et al. Before then, we had Koker, Dice Ailes, Nosa, and Victoria Kimani. When people look at the whole picture, this is probably the record label that has the strongest legacy. I won’t say they are the biggest of course, they have, with respect, Mavin and some other labels out there. But in terms of the strongest legacy starting from Jeremiah Gyang in 2004 to M.I. in 2008 to Jesse Jagz and Ice Prince, 2010 till 2014, that period we had Nosa, Victoria Kimani, then you had Dice Ailes with Otedollar and Koker with Kolewerk. We now have Love Wantintin and Young John. The legacy is insane; they have kept it going, and you have to give Chocolate City their respect.
