He charged the Nigerian music scene in 2009 when he remixed the hit single, ‘Champion’ in which he featured the late Dagrin and other stars. Since then, not much has been heard from Olayiwola Ibrahim Majekodunmi aka General Pype. But in this interview with ADEWOYIN ADENIYI, the artiste who stole music lovers’ hearts with his Jamaican patois style of music speaks about his comeback, relationship with screen diva, Juliet Ibrahim and other issues.
YOU’VE been off the music scene for some time now, what has been happening to General Pype?
Over the years I have been putting Obalende Records together because anything without proper planning is never going to come out fine. So, I’ve been making some songs, recruiting a team that I work with because it’s pointless if you don’t have everybody in place.
How true are rumours that your former record label prevented you from releasing songs due to court injunctions?
There was no such court injunction and I didn’t have any restriction on recording or dropping songs. As a matter of fact, my relationship with the said record label wasn’t the issue because officially I wasn’t really signed to Storm Records. When I discovered that they didn’t even have any legal obligation to help my brand, I felt like, why were they putting my name up on their website and not doing anything to help me? I had to move on and go restart my career, having the mindset that if anything goes wrong, I will be the one to get the blames.
Why did it take you so long to return to the scene?
Over the years, I’ve been trying to drop a song or two, which takes us to the fact that without planning in place, everything is useless. So when I saw the reactions to the songs that I put out without promotion, I had to go back to the drawing board to rearrange my team and myself.
How do you plan to make a comeback especially as others seem to have picked up the baton?
Let’s get this straight; there is no way I ever get to compete with them. There is no competition at all. I can never be them and they will never be me and if there is anything like respect for those who deserves it, I am one of those pioneers in my generation to ever have the guts to want to sell reggae music to the Nigerian market. Them no worry me. General Pype is the magnificent seven stars general, nobody touch that.
Do you feel that your genre is getting the respect it deserves?
If I start comparisons like this, then there is no respect in it at all. I will never ever compare myself to Daddy Showkey or my Baba, Majek Fashek. He is a very close person to me and we talk once in a while with so much respect. Because this is what I do for a living, this is what I intend to build my whole Jubasticuline on so there should be a level of respect set aside. It’s like a blessing to me because imagine only me doing reggae in Nigeria; we might not have the chance to have like a reggae festival or a reggae show. So when we have people doing reggae, we can call four to ten names on the bill and we can have a real reggae event.
Don’t you feel threatened that Patoranking is making waves right now?
If you listened to me for the past two three minutes, you should understand what I’m saying. There is nothing like threat, no competition and no doubt in my heart. Moreover, entertainment is like legal drug money. Nobody is touching anybody’s money.
Why don’t reggae artistes collaborate with each other since reggae is about one love?
It depends on what angle we are looking at it from. Like in Jamaica, even the thieves in Jamaica have a union. When I dropped Champion then, the producer will not give the beat to only me, he will give it to every available dancehall reggae musician in town and he will be like don’t make it look like say that guy better pass you. You sef show your talent on the same beat.
There is this oneness of purpose in reggae music but if you hear this reggae artiste talking about one love and the other one talking about another thing there is no oneness in the whole thing. It is something I can’t control but over the years everybody that has shown interest in reggae, I have always shown them ultimate love.
You have a new single out there, All The Loving, where you featured Burna Boy and Phyno. How is the new single doing?
It’s just me trying to do a wicked home chattered dancehall package and luckily Burna and Phyno were present, so we all put our efforts together to make it happen.
Is the video dropping soon?
Yes pretty soon.
How is Obalende records faring?
Obalende Records is doing fine. We are working with only General Pype right now because we have to successfully put General Pype out there before we talk about other artistes.
Why the name Obalende?
Thank you for that. The fact that I do a crossover kind of music at some point in my life I might not be available or around this part of the world and whenever you hear my music and you see Obalende you don’t need to be told where General Pype is from. I just need something to show love and respect and to associate myself and stamp my neighborhood on the map.
Going back to the song that brought you fame, Champion, you had the likes of Sasha P, the late Da Grin and Vector who wasn’t well known then; will you say that song brought Vector to limelight?
I and vector were together since school days at Saint Gregorys College, Ikoyi. So, we’ve always been like that. When I sing and he raps it’s always like iron sharpens iron. Vector has got his own vibe. If some people recognised him or noticed him from Champion, fine, but I have never thought of it like, oh I brought Vector the limelight. I am even grateful for the fact that he came to show his vibe on my song.
What was your relationship with the late Dagrin?
I met Dagrin through Sheyman. Sheyman was like Aburo mi kan wa nibi to gbadun eh gan (My little brother is here who likes you so much). I was like oh my God, I can’t wait to meet the person. I sat outside and the moment he came in, I was like, waa na you be Dagrin? (Are you Dagrin?). He was like ah General baba blablabla.
Since that day till the time he passed he never called me General Pype. It was always Baba Baba and that day that we recorded Champion remix in Parkview estate, it was raining.
I remember vividly it was triple nine, 9th of September 2009. He came in that day. everybody was like, “ah who is going on this thing first.” but he said, “Baba se kinlo so ro?” (should I go and tell them). I was like, tell them why you’re different, tell them why you are great.
It’s like you really miss Dagrin…
I miss the guy a lot. I miss him so much.
What are the things you miss about him?
I just miss the fact that he was just so real. He was very real guy, forget all the whole entertainment illusions. Dagrin was a very humble guy, very kind and thoughtful. He used to come to a place in Victoria Island, where me and Vector used to do cover performances. Vector will do Jay Z cover songs and I will do Sean Paul and Dagrin will just come and sit there in the midst of the whole people and as soon as we get paid, I will be like, padi take something. Even though our pay wasn’t more than six thousand naira I will give him two thousand naira.
The most painful part of our relationship is the fact that when he was in the hospital, I was just waiting for the day that he will get out and I will slap him on the head and say why would you do such a thing but I didn’t get to do that. It was so painful.
A day before he died, I was supposed to see him at the hospital. I was supposed to go with my Ex who was a media person. She told me she’ll be going there because they had some media passes. But I said no, I don’t want to see him in that state, I want him to come home first which he never did. May his soul rest in peace.
Are you saying you regret the fact that you didn’t get to see him before his demise?
Yeah, like my dad will say, you don’t need to have billions for you to show love or show how generous you are. Your time, presence and kind messages alone will go a long way. I was waiting for him to return and I would visit him during the recovery process but I regret the fact that I didn’t go there to check on him.
Ever since Dagrin’s death and the arrival of Olamide, people have been comparing both rappers. Since you know both artistes on a personal level, do you think there is basis for comparison?
If you check the industry now, it is not only Olamide that is doing the Yoruba rap and making money off it. We have the likes of Reminisce. The time gap between Dagrin and Olamide wasn’t that much, so in my opinion not to smear the memory of my friend, it’s not like Olamide stole Dagrin’s rhyme book and he has been singing all this years, dropping great songs back to back. He is just a great artiste.
Dagrin opened the way. I believe that, if it wasn’t for people like Dagrin, Olamide might end up doing the Yankee style of rap. People like Dagrin gave birth to the rise of the likes of Phyno, Olamide and the rest but Olamide is a very talented guy which nobody can take that away.
You once featured on Juliet Ibrahim’s song, what’s your relationship with Juliet Ibrahim?
She’s just a kind, loving and sweet person and her personality is why I even wanted to listen to the song that she featured me on because you will be like ah all this actress sef and it wasn’t like I had any buzz in town then. It was just that she felt my person and vibe so she just called me up on that song which I’m grateful for.
It was also rumoured that you once dated Juliet Ibrahim…
Yes, from longtime but it never happened.
Maybe she’s not your taste or don’t you like light-skinned girls?
She’s a beautiful lady but trust me I’ve got my family and she’s got hers. The era that I met her then, there were lots of babes. It’s nice of her to be in the catalog of the people that I know and that knows me.
