Music couple, Tunde and Wunmi Obe, have proved that it is possible for a couple to practice same profession and still remain committed their marital vow. Since the couple appeared on the nation’s entertainment scene more than two decade ago, they have worked hard to remain relevant, releasing works that have stood the test of time. In this interview with GBENGA ADERANTI and SEGUN AJIBOYE, Tunde, who said he was lucky to have a wife like Wumi, speaks on their career, marriage and other issues. Excerpts:
YOU have just dropped a single. When was the last time you released an album before that?
The full album T.W.O. Legit came out in 2010. But we have been releasing videos since then. The last video was Atewo. It came out in July. So, give or take, we have been off the scene for two years.
What is the title of the one you have just released?
We released two singles of the album TWo Plus. It will be coming out before the end of the year. But the single is Green White Green, in which we feature Tuface Idibia and another one called Wedding Day where we featured Teniim.
What secret has sustained your marriage with Wunmi?
First and foremost, it is about taking your profession seriously. We’ve been around for 26 years. We’ve been together since 1988.
Even before you got married?
Yes, we got married in 1998. Ten years later, we started as Tunde and Wunmi before we became Tunde and Wunmi Obe (TWO). We’ve been together ever since.
So you were friends for 10 years before you got married?
Yes, friends, partners, whatever one wants to call it. We were planning towards it. We were in school together.
So you knew you were going to be married?
Yes, it was a natural thing. We were like twins.
You’ve been around for 26 years and we’ve not heard any scandal about you. What is the secret?
First and foremost, we have to look at our backgrounds; the kind of homes we grew up in does not even give room for certain kinds of behaviour. Our parents were very strict with our upbringing. Secondly, two of us respect each other a lot. So, whatever the disagreement we might go through, it is always between the two of us in-house. It never escalates beyond where it should be.
I’m not one of those who believe that you should have a scandal to be relevant in the industry, because some people use scandal to create a name for themselves. You are aware that your colleagues are interested in scandals than good stories.
So, how have you managed to remain relevant for 26 years?
People should enrol in my school; I will teach them how to live without scandals (laughs). But jokes apart, it is all about consistency. If people can rely on you to always give them good music each time you release a new track, people should always expect that it should always be above average, always on point, there is no other secret. And also, we created what I call ‘class brand.’ Once you do that, you will find that people will always want to identify with you, especially when they are doing certain events. Few people fit in to certain events. We do more shows in Aso Villa than most Nigerians.
But not many people get to hear about this?
Because those things are dinners; maybe you are hosting a president and we are there. It is not the normal crowd party; not the normal concert.
What other things do you do apart from music?
That is going into my own area where I don’t talk about. Definitely, you know that as an entertainer, someone who has been around for a long time, there is no doubt that I have other businesses.
I mean other things like waking up in the morning and going to the office…
I monitor my investments. I have my hands in some things here and there, but I don’t always like to go into that.
Do you make more money from your Aso Villa shows than any other place in entertainment?
Not necessarily. I charge everybody the same. The truth is this: consistency is not just about your music; it is also about how people perceive you. If you call me for your engagement and you find out that I was charging you double because I found that you have more money, you would not appreciate it. So, we have a fixed fee and it is the same. Once we are leaving our base, which is Lagos, we charge you on all-fare, accommodation, transporting equipment from Lagos and other things that go with it. We don’t charge exorbitantly just because they asked us to come and do gig at the Villa. It is the same gig.
How does it feel to sing for the President?
Truth be told, I think I have performed for every President. It is an honour; a privilege. I’m not the only one; there are so many Nigerian artistes who get to perform at the dinner at the banquet hall, Aso Villa. It is a gig as far as we are concerned. You gave us your brief, tell us what you are expecting from us in terms of presentation, and we do it.
One thing we noticed about you is that you always come out with different things. What is the secret?
I think that is part of what has made us to last this long. I think being predictable itself is a minus. When we started music in the 80s and the early 90s, the artistes that were performing then were serious musicians. We’ve now moved from analogue to digital. If you now step into the studio to record, you had better know what you are doing. And then music was all about message. As we progress, we try to marry the two. In the new album, especially, we try to make sure that 90 per cent of our songs have messages, and that is what has carried us through the test of time.
“If you are going to pass a comic message like Mogbo, Moya, it has to be something you can also identify with not just comedy. But if you really sit down to look at it, you will realise that everybody sees these things happeningaso ebi, what colour did they take? A lot of people attend parties, but they don’t even know the organisers. It is when you get there that somebody points at the celebrant. And most people have attended such parties. It is a comedy but also a reality.
And in the other songs, we do speak the truth. Like in the last album, we did Fine bara. If you are in Nigeria and you have not experienced it before, then you have not been here for long. When you are coming out of somewhere and someone says, ‘Excuse me please, can I have a minute of your time? You see, actually I have an uncle, he is sick, I need to go and buy blood.’ They tell you all manner of stories. Someone in a suit comes to tell you, ‘I have an appointment, but somebody just snatched my purse.’
Some people see it as the truth, others see it as a lie. But these things do happen, and if we make a song about them, people will be like, ‘Ah, this thing happened to me o.’
One would not have expected you to know all these. Your father was an ambassador and your wife’s father was a publisher…
Common, we all live in Nigeria, so you can’t escape it. Even if you are coming out of the bank or anywhere, once they identify you, even at the airport. It has happened to me at the airport more than anywhere else. Somebody will come with a story or a bandage that he is supposed to have surgery, with pieces of paper in his hand at the airport. I don’t know how they enter the place. They say, ‘Oh, there is surgery; this in the bill for the surgery.’ He would lose the hand and say, ‘If they don’t do the surgery, something bad would happen.’
The person would look so pathetic. You come back three weeks later, maybe the person said he needed N50, 000 and you were able to squeeze out N5, 000 from your pocket, and you say if you see another nine people who are as generous as me, you can rush and do your surgery. Some people will even squeeze out N10,000 and say just go and get the rest and do the surgery. Three months later, you still see that person with dirty bandage! There is nothing wrong with that hand. He has wrapped the hand, stain it with something and he is still there with the same paper saying what he needs this money for. Then you wonder if this is his own profession. He is a professional ‘fine bara’.
You mentioned the black tie earlier. Is it a deliberate effort to carve an identity for yourself and Wunmi?
A lot of musicians tell you that they are from the streets. Some come out and say ‘my music is for the street.’ We try not to brand our music and say it is for the street or it is for the upper class. We just play good music. It is for everybody, but in terms of the brand, the packaging, it is an upper class brand, and that is why you find that more of our events and shows are tilted in that direction.
Even if I try to be street, people will look at me and say,’This is not who you are.’ So, branding is not about you trying to be somebody; it is about embracing who you are and selling that to the public. Champagne and beer will both intoxicate you, but probably a bottle of champagne will buy 50 cartons of beer. So, you go for your pocket.
What informs what you wear?
I’ve always like clothes so I don’t believe in following anybody’s trend. I just do my thing, but I’ve always liked clothes, be it native or suit. I’m a suit person. I like a lot of suits. I have a natural ability to put things together. I’ve never used a stylist like most people do, because I’m my own stylist. I know what suits me best. Everybody has different body types.
How many suits do you have in your wardrobe?
I’ve never been somebody who checks my record to brag about things I own. But I have them many.
What other fashion ornaments do you use?
Yes, I wear rings, wristwatches, chains.
Some people would say they don’t use gold because it itches or for other reasons. Which of these do you not use?
That is when you’re not wearing real gold. Real gold does not itch. Perfume is my weakness. I have a few of them and I use them depending on my mood.
Which brand is your favourite?
There is one which everyone knows on me; that is Easy Miyaki. I have been using that for about 15 years. I have others that I like, like Boss.
What made you fall in love with Easy Miyaki?
There is a fragrance that becomes you. People say any time they smell it, they think of me. It has just become part of me and I love it. There are perfumes that become a part of you.
How often do you and your wife go out together?
It becomes an event thing when we have somewhere to go together. But sometimes, we grab ourselves and say look, let’s run away from all of this; let us just switch off our phones and let us have two, three days of our own.
When you are out, how do the people see you or receive you?
I try not to go to places where I will be rushed like that. You know you go to a place, when people approach you, they do it in a respectable manner. I don’t like people jumping all over me. I try to avoid such scenes.
Does it mean that the two of you don’t sometimes disagree?
I don’t think we have something others don’t have. It is the God factor if you are lucky enough to meet your real wife. I always tell people, no matter how patient a guy is, I could be in another marriage now and that won’t last a year. I could be married to another person whose behaviour does not suit me. There are women whose behaviour you cannot stand. I’m lucky and she is also lucky. Two people who are level-headed. The thing is like we take our relationship very seriously in the sense that If you are in any relationship, don’t try to lord it over your partner. I’m the boss. The bible said it: the head of the family. But I respect my wife’s opinion and I carry her along in everything we do.
There is no way you give your wife respect and she would not reciprocate it, except she is a very bad person, and my wife is not. If I give her 80 per cent or 90 per cent respect, she tries to give me 99 per cent; always trying to top it. I’m lucky in that regard and I think we talk a lot; we communicate a lot. We sit down on issues. We don’t leave room for misunderstanding. A lot of people bring their marital problems to me. A guy will be telling you that he noticed that the wife has been doing X,Y, Z as against what she used to do in the past. The first question I ask the guy is what did you do? He says ‘I’m watching her. She thinks she is smart; I will mesmerise her when I start doing my own. You’ve already set up your marriage for failure.
So, if your wife is going wrong, the first thing you should do is not to come and tell. Lock yourselves in the room and tell her where she is going wrong. ‘You say you used to be like this when I first met you, but now, you are doing this.’ Make an attempt to correct your wife. Explain to her that you are missing certain things that she used to do and you’ll like them back. If the woman is the kind of woman that will never change, who will continue to get worse, then it is a different matter. But try first to sort out your matter not through a third party.
You know most people have ego and ego in the fastest thing to ruin a relationship. Ego should not have any room between husband and wife, especially if two people who knew each other from the very beginning. What kind of money will you now have that your wife, who was good then, is no longer good enough now that you have money? You’re now seeing young yellow girls who are now looking better than your wife who struggled with you when there was nothing.
What some people don’t realise is that even a 70-year-old man with lots of cash will get a 25-year-old lady to marry. Is that love? He is deceiving himself. If that woman genuinely loves him, what he should have tried to do is to go to her house with slippers. He would have heard the story of his life.
Does that mean you don’t quarrel at all?
No, no, no. We don’t quarrel in the sense that my wife and I have never in the 26 years of our marriage raised our voices at each other. What we do is that if she does something I don’t like, I don’t talk and I try to digest what has upset me. And that is how I deal with everybody. I call my friend, my wife or whoever to say these and these and these are what you did. The person’s reaction is what makes me to know the next step to take.
But if you have a good wife and call her and say these and these are what you did, a good wife will always apologise first and foremost. My wife has no problem with getting oin her two knees to say she is sorry. Oh yes, she is a good woman. She has no problem with that. And once she apologises, the rest is easy. If you love your wife, you will forgive her instantly whatever she might have done, especially if you know she is a good woman. Where will I find another person to replace her with? Is it now that I realise that she is no more a good woman?
You are from Ondo, and people from that part are believed to have a lot of ego. Do you not to have the traits?
I do in the sense that everybody has a little bit of pride. If you disrespect me, I come at you differently. If you treat me with respect, I’m a very respectful person, that is how I was brought up. From the time we were small, my father used to make me respect our domestic servants, even when we were in America. So, I treat my children the same way. Anybody who is working for my father is not working for you. You treat them with respect. Some of them have children of your age. That was how we were brought up. If you come at me wrongly, you will see a different person. But if you come at me with respect, you will get respect. It is reciprocal as far as I’m concerned.
How much has that training impacted in you?
Just about everything, because I used to see my father, he would leave our big house in Ikoyi to a far away place to eat in somebody else’s house. When they see him, they say, what is ambassador doing here? He was very free with people. I saw the love people used to give him because of his humility and it really impacted my life.
It is one thing for your parents to train you, it is another thing for them to lead by example, for you see them behave in certain ways and you just follow those traits. So, when you see the way he related with people, there was no way I was going to grow differently. Most people that work with me have worked with me over a decade. I have a driver that has been with me even before I had my first child.
How much of your father’s influence do you have in you?
Where we are the same is that he is a very respectful person. He is very generous, nice and funny. Those are the attributes. I think where I think I differ with him is that I’m not as sociable. I’m in entertainment but he was a diplomat. But I saw the same lifestyle in other diplomats too. Whether he is sick, whether he is tired, people were always in our house.
As a diplomat, your job is always to welcome people and make sure you are doing your job. In whichever country we found ourselves, Nigerian would always come for one thing or the other. He took them from the office to the house. He fed them and solved their problems. That is where we are a little bit different. I may not be able to do that I cherish my privacy a lot more than my father did. He did not have privacy; he was always around people and people were always around him. But I try to cut down a little because I realised that not all the people you think you are doing good to think you are doing good to them and they don’t reciprocate. Sometimes you should protect yourself by having a little bit of privacy in your life.
Considering that you are handsome, you dress well and you have a fat pocket, does your wife sometimes feel threatened?
No, my wife is a confident woman. I give it to her any day, any time. There was even a time I asked her, the way these ladies come, don’t you feel somehow? She was like ‘I know my man, if I begin to show every small thing, I’m nervous, I’m panicky, I’m reacting to every single text or call on the attention women give you, wouldn’t you have got tired of me by now? But I just have to give you your own space. I trust that you will do the right thing always.’ When a woman gives you that kind of leverage it behoves of you to respect yourself even more than you would have.
Tell me the good, the bad and the ugly experiences you have had in life.
Well every achievement is good. When you succeeded in the next project or you put something on something and it yields, it is always a good moment. The worst moment I have ever had was losing my father. Of course, it still ranks number one. Losing my younger brother-in-law, Jaiye, that was a nasty experience; something I never want to relive again in my life. It made me change a lot of things about life because I realised that life itself is just a passing phase. I started really thinking about my children. I really started putting things in place for them just in case something happens to me, they wouldn’t go through any hardship.
It changed my mindset about life; that it is transient. Young people are dying, not to talk of those people who are at the other side of 40, almost 50. When you look at life like that, you think that what you leave behind is most important than what people perceive of you. I’ve never been somebody who is really worried about how successful people think I am. What matters to me is how successful my children think I am, and when I’m no longer here.
