Nigeria has a band making waves in the entertainment industry. Two decades ago, Akinloye Shuga Tofowomo took the plunge to help rewrite live band music in Nigeria. Widely recognised as one of the prominent bands in Nigeria, based on reputation, gigs, and awards, Shuga Band is 20. Two decades on the tortuous, but rewarding journey, Tofowomo’s life has become an inspiration to his peers and the coming generations. The band rolled out its drum to mark the milestone with a musical fiesta, tagged: Shuga Coated Concert at the Eko Hotels and Suites last Sunday. EVELYN OSAGIE writes on the man Shuga, his foray into music, band and more.
In a quiet corner of Ogba, Lagos, the bright sun lit up the fields where a converted container’s shed, hosting the band’s rehearsal equipment, was. Then the beat dropped: the new song blended with the setting seamlessly as though it’s been there forever. The energy created by the beat was fantastic, and the ambience at the rehearsal studio was warm.
In the centre of the shed stood a gentleman in his mid-40, of an average height, in a cable-knit jumper and plaid jacket. Nearby was an archive of computers, synthesisers and tapes that told their long story. It was a remarkable one: from a resolutely successful 1990s, to a hugely fruitful 21st Century that included long periods of working independently, rehearsing and jamming the biggest gigs over 20 years, creating soul and brilliant noise.
This wasn’t just any crooner, hawking his craft on the music scene, though: it was arguably the single, most influential live band musician. Yes, Akinloye Tofowomo is still thriving after 20 tough and rough years on the grind. The live music scene, acclaimed to have been transformed by the influence of the man from Ile-Oluji. He turned live band music from a rather unappreciated genre, to a pop-culture craze and one of the most sweeping artistic movements of the 20th Century. The man has an inspiring history that would make an epic novel.
Polio at five
At five, the dreaded life-changing condition reared its head like a hydra-headed monster, hitting him, but Akin, as he is fondly called, could not be stopped. Despite the fact that every child in the family had chores they were expected to perform, the condition didn’t hamper him. With adequate show of love, childhood became his launch pad into greatness. “Three years after, realisation dawned on me that I was, indeed, different from others, and that, most crucially, there were physical limits to what I could do as a child. This marked a defining moment in my life as a child.
“Growing up under the tutelage of a father, who traversed the length and breadth of Nigeria, having worked in places like Calabar, Port Harcourt, Ibadan, and Lagos to mention a few, those years and, indeed, the environments rubbed off on me as a musician,” he said.
Challenge in following my musical dream
From the ancient town of Ile-Oluji in Ondo State, aside English and Yoruba, he speaks Igbo fluently. Graduating with a Diploma in Business and Industrial Law from the University of Lagos and an alumnus of Berklee College of Music, Boston, Massachusetts, Tofowomo found himself at loggerheads with his father over his career path. His father saw music only as fun, and not something that could put food on the table. “With my late uncle, who operated a hang-out on Allen Roundabout, Ikeja, my escape into real profession of music found expression,” Tofowomo stated.
From the classics to his genre-defining Nigerian vibes, Tofowomo set out to leave an indelible mark on Nigeria’s musical landscape. An outspoken patriot, mentor to young artists and a road warrior, Akin Shuga, as he is known on the music scene, has parlayed his passion for music into a multi-platinum career and a platform to support the less-privileged, the hopeless, the down-trodden and others in need.
My early voyage into music
From the beginning, Tofowomo’s interest in music was apparent — as was his ambition to become a unique brand of star. Though he was surrounded by the kind of songs he’s lately taken to singing, he also listened to distant broadcasts of Rhythm and Blues, Jazz Highlife and Old School, following the rapid evolution of early live band music. By the time he became a young adult, he was playing local gigs.
The Pintos, a place where he rapidly became a magnetic fixture, should by now be considered a Shuga Band landmark, as the site of a talent show, he played with his band in an influential period of his early career life.
His voice, a gift, with a striking presence, brought him audience, and the testament then – he was a talent to watch, even till date.
At Pintos, he played various genres of music and brought it all back home.
Though a man of unsung glory, his stage craftsmanship, rich, musical career and powerful influence set a new bar for popular music, and countless artists.
Unlike anyone else, he could and still writes songs that combine timeliness, universality, poetry, and melodic brilliance.
Challenges on the road to success
Tofowomo is fast becoming an icon of Nigeria’s progressive music movement. His recent song: “I can walk”, a clarion call for a reorientation, speaks of his growing disenchantment with the folk scene, and signalled unambiguously that he was aiming for something even bigger than what he’d become.
Making a living as a musician is hard. Tofowomo might sleep on a mattress stuffed with Naira bills in a house made of Rolex watches and Ferrari parts, but down at the other end of the scale, for working performers, life can be tough.
‘‘The choice is a tricky one: to establish a career takes an enormous amount of work and time. The cycle is difficult to break. For the early years on the grind, you can’t help but sacrifice girlfriends, houses and comfort to a lifestyle of hard work, constantly touring and playing anywhere between 10 and 15 premium gigs every month. With a growing healthy reputation, niche following and a humongous workforce as a ferocious live band, things barely improved. You are able to afford the good things of life money can buy, but it’s more work. We make enough money to let the band live, but we don’t go beyond our means, ever. We scrimp and save. We never spend anything we don’t have, and when we do, it’s got to be painfully important. To some, it must seem like a baffling choice. But then, standing onstage at a wedding, birthday or a funeral reception, singing feels more than worth it,” Tofowomo said.
Music: my labour of love/my winning ace
An astute businessman and talented musician, as diverse as his live shows have always been, his repertoire has also reflected his love of multiple genres. An ubiquitous in the ’80s and early ’90s pop culture, this balding, middle-aged Nigerian is absurdly a rare breed. If the middle of the road had an equator, it would be Tofowomo.
On his 20-plus years in the music business, he enthused: “I love what I do. I look forward to entertaining people. When show time gets here, I’m ready to go, ready to go play for them. It’s a labour of love. I just thank God I make a living from what I enjoy doing.”
He career as a live band musician, during which he normalised playing from memory, rewrote the rule book on what kinds of pieces could and should be played at functions, thereby, changing the public tastes. As a teacher, he’s also been instrumental to drawing attention to talented emerging bands, which are not just getting the gigs, but are finally getting the recognition they deserve too through the Association of Music Band owners of Nigeria (AMBON), where he is President.
With a multi-dimensional style history, Tofowomo is the king of reinvention.
The accolades keep coming
Over the course of his career, he has received numerous accolades, including humanity music service award-Toronto. He’s been presented the City People lifetime achievement award 2017, band of the year 2013, 2015-2017, beatz awards band of the year 2016-2017, ThisDay best Nigerian band-2017, and was honoured as a Rotary Club of Nigeria Polio Ambassador in recognition of his fight against polio.
Any conversation with the renowned performer, however, rarely include any of his accomplishments. He’d rather turn the spotlight on the many causes that are close to his heart. He’s always been a staunch supporter of Polio survivors, and for the past several years, he has provided scholarships for countless underprivileged youths. Tofowomo also lends his time and talent to numerous other charitable organisations he’ll rather keep off the radar.
Not only is the Shuga band’s success impressive, but the band also did a lot to make live band music popular in the mainstream. Besides being complete musician, Tofowomo is a poet, writer, philanthropist, and activist.
Watching him today— a singer-songwriter, constantly touring and playing mostly new material — it can be hard to put his achievement into perspective. To celebrate his 20th anniversary and his new single, he held Shuga Coated concert at the Eko Hotels and Suites last Sunday amid much pomp and ceremony. “I am grateful to God for everything,” the elated Tofowomo stated.