AS an artiste, you are associated with two record labels, Chocolate City and Loopy Music. Please explain your connection with the two labels?
Chocolate City is the label I’ve always been in, it all started with Choc City. I am currently signed onto Chocolate City and I also serve as Vice President in charge of music. Loopy Music on the other hand is my own record label, which I started with a couple of gifted people that I personally need the world to see and hear, because they are uniquely talented. Loopy is a project that I put together and believe in. It’s like a wife-daughter relationship. Chocolate City is like a wife, Loopy is a baby daughter. There’s no divorce or breakaways; the ties that bind us are unbreakable.
How was Loopy Crew formed?
It was a gradual process, steadily reaching out to my people back in Jos who I have always known and I must carry along. It’s been like God has blessed me and given me something here, so I have to reach back home and bring out the others who have a difference to make in the industry and the arts.
Did you set up Loopy Crew because of your perceived beef with Chocolate City?
That’s just a rumour as you can see presently. I started Loopy Music ever since my early days with Chocolate City. Loopy Music is even part of the Chocolate City family called Choc Boi Nation. We (Chocolate City), Loopy Music and Jesse Jagz Nation do a lot of collaborations.
Being the one that sort of discovered Brymo, how do you feel about his intention to leave Chocolate City?
I feel no disdain or such about it, because life is about exploring, discovering, and just going ahead. So such things are just about a person wanting to try other possibilities. There’s no boundary to how far we can go in life, so even if Brymo wants to explore, then of course it’s fine; success needs to be pushed to its limits, and the path to greatness is always taken individually.
What about the exit of Jesse Jagz; what impression do people deduce from the whole saga?
There’s no bad blood; Jesse is my blood brother and is still my family musically.
Jesse is branching out and broadening his horizons, and that’s all that it is, an excessively talented guy who’s doing his own thing. He is also part of the Choc Boi Nation that I mentioned earlier.
Is there more to recent happenings at Chocolate City than meets the eye?
For Chocolate City, it is and has always been about making the best kind of music, about exploring dreams and creative possibilities.
What role did Jeremiah Gyang play in getting you signed onto Chocolate City?
He was the one that introduced me to the amazing guys at Choc City, when all I had with me was a dream to take over the world.
I learnt you also managed him sometime in the past
Yeah! It was more like a P. A. kind of thing.
What has the last three years been like trying to build a solid corporate base and contributing to Chocolate City as Vice President?
It’s been so much responsibility; a blessing of being the V.P. But, of course, the workload is not the sort to be done at a finger snap. The process of making decisions, implementing them, and ensuring the perfect running of all operations and projects involved is quite tasking. It’s not been an easy run, but the hard work is paying off and we are still doing our thing.
What was it like then when you spent so much time in America trying to be like an American before you returned home?
America was cool, hard times and good times – studying and all that. The experience of being there was also eye-opening. Being away from home helps show you the presence of distinct differences in all factors of life, while you still hold on to the truth that there is no place like home. I was looking for greener pastures there and it brought me back home.
America was useful to me in that it helped me gain some of the knowledge of how music and especially underground rap thrives in America. I used to participate in rap competitions in Michigan and I performed very well. After I started off, I visited America as a BET award nominee and was interviewed by the popular queen of daytime TV, Wendy Williams, among others.
Did your music career start almost immediately when you came back from college in America due to visa issues?
Of course not, I would have still continued rapping in the U.S like I was on a small and low-key scale before I came home. But the period I did come home was when I launched my career here.
Has your career robbed you of the opportunity of going back to school, at least for now?
I wouldn’t say that. I am still in school, the university of life, as it were. I’m also working on my degree currently, in a few months you will know how far.
Despite the fact that you hail from Taraba State, a lot of people refer to you as a Jos boy. Is it because of your Jos boy mentality?
A Jos boy is one who grew up in Jos and acquired all that creative energy into something productive. So yes! I am a proud Taraba-born Jos man.
What was it like when you came to Lagos from Jos in 2007 to live with Djinee in a bid to promote your music career?
It was hard. But that is to be expected, everyone has a story to tell. If it was very easy for me, I wouldn’t be here now. It’s the struggles and battles that turn the boy into a man. As you grow older physically, career-wise and even pocket-wise, a few things change, including you yourself. So, of course, it was hard to come to Lagos with N3, 500 in my pocket and a dream in my head. Everything makes sense when you look back at where you started from and where you are currently.
Is it true that you also attempted stand-up comedy before you ditched it finally for music?
Ha ha ha… Oh yes! It is the sad truth. However, as a hip-hop artiste, I have come to realise that every rapper needs to have a sharp wit and a sense of humour which are key components to have a successful rap career.
What is the thinking behind your unique album titles: M.I & M.2?
My first album was actually called Talk About It, but with that and M.2, the thinking is like cataloguing the phenomenon that is M.I, the ideas in my mind, the state of my mind and perceptions, delivered to the world through the technique of rhyming that is also part of being M.I; M.I 2, the sophomore was actually “M.I the movie”. It chronicled every single track like a movie giving the listener a chronological order of ideas, events and dialogue. It was meticulously planned and detailed.
How did you feel when your first album became the number 7 trending topic globally on twitter at the same time when international artistes like Kanye West and Nicki Minaj dropped their albums and they were not trending?
Of course I was euphoric; I felt so much gratitude to the fans and everyone. I felt almost like I should find a way to individually thank every single person on twitter for making it possible. Like tracking down every handle on twitter and express gratitude, because it came as a surprise, and the acknowledgement was undeniable. Then it reminded me that God is the standing guard behind me. He guides my steps.
How are you able to conjure intense lyrics as a rapper which adds to the depth of your songs?
That’s because I am Mr. Incredible yo!! (Laughs).The ability is from God first of all, then back in the day as an aspiring rapper, when I was training myself, I realised that despite the natural flair to compose lyrics, there’s a need to learn to do it as intelligently as possible. So conjuring lyrics is about taking your thoughts, mixed with your feeling, and putting them in your technique as a rapper. It takes a solid mental process to use knowledge and reasoning to ensure that every word used is serving a purpose; no word should be wasted, every line and every bar must account for a thought you wish to express.
What has it been like trying to sell your music to the international market?
Like any venture that wants to go international, it is no chicken feed. Beautiful music sells itself though. MI:2 was popular globally and the amount of airplay it receives today is still shocking to me. Even the first single off my 3rd album ‘Chairman’ is doing well, especially in Africa. I heard an interviewer the other day who was in Nigeria for the first time and she was describing to me how much they love ‘Chairman’ so much in South Africa. Music is becoming global and I am pleased and humbled at the same time to be a part of that movement.
What has the response been like after the worldwide release of your latest song ‘Chairman’?
It’s been welcomed greatly and I’m thankful for it. The airplay has been massive and all the O.A.Ps and DJs have really graced me. Sometimes I just turn on the radio and ‘Chairman’ is jamming on it and I’m thankful that it has gotten some positive reception.
Why the title ‘Chairman’?
The ‘Chairman’ is like an M.I3 kind of phase; lately in my life, everywhere I go to I’m addressed in that same term. The word just keeps following me and popping up at every time and place I find myself. Every ‘hello’ or ‘how far’ is responded with ‘ah Chairman’; so it struck. I have also come to a certain stage in my career where we have moved on to bigger things. ‘Chairman’ is an apt statement; people are beginning to understand exactly why. And it is suitable for depicting the return to hip hop office and not as just any man but as the ‘Chairman’.
Do you have any vices?
I’m human, it comes with the territory. The most important thing is: Do you learn and grow? Do you stand and go? Or do you wait for a saviour who will never show up?
Have you ever been embarrassed by any of your other colleagues in the industry?
None that I can recollect; it’s very hard to try to embarrass the ‘Chairman’ (laughs).
How smart are you with relationships?
Hmmm…what I’m going to say about that is that, I’m private about relationships. A lot of caution and respect is allotted to it. So I would say that, I’m smart to understand the extent to which my public life interferes with the private peace I enjoy.
Have you ever cheated in your past relationships?
Which past relationships?
