Lanre Fasasi, a k a Sound Sultan, has been an ever-present figure in the Nigerian music industry. In a chat with MERCY MICHAEL, he speaks on marriage, fashion and the level of talent in the music industry.
WHAT was it like doing Head Gone?
I’m not an alien when it comes to movie production. I’ve been on several set. I’ve acted. I’ve choreographed. So, nurturing our own baby wasn’t too farfetched for me. It was nothing too difficult for me. Even though it was tasking, the fact that in music, we don’t need that much time to process what it is to do but in movies it takes time and that is the most challenging part of it.
And, of course, the people involved in this project are people that don’t have time. So, time again comes into play. If you have to shoot something with 10 mega stars, trust me you will never find all of them there at the same time. That was another challenge for us. We were shooting every now and then because we needed all of them together in one place. But Baba Dee is a director extraordinaire, I must tell you. We started this thing like a joke. From a joke, it just blew out of proportion and we created the movie. We did it for over eight years. From the time we berthed it and now that’s in the cinemas, it’s been over eight years. So we are really happy about it.
How do you feel when you turn on the radio and all you hear is beat and crap?
Entertainment is about variety and people seek for different things in music. So, there must be variety. I feel everybody has contributed to the growth of the industry. Having said that, from my own point of view, when it comes to music I see music as a great tool that should not be misused. If music is misused, it can tell a lot on the generation. So, for me, I try my best possible to let my song be clean. I want to be able to play my song where my kids are and not tell them to cover their ears.
What has been responsible for your staying power?
If I knew I wouldn’t be here. I go misuse am. Imagine if I know say that this water dey make me well, I go go over drink am. Honestly speaking, I’m not worthy to come here and say this is what I did or this is what I didn’t do but I just feel that God has a way of blessing people.
What makes you feel fulfilled as a person?
Let’s start from the fact that I’m happy. The most important thing is for you to be happy doing what you are doing; seeing your seed germinating into a forest because from one idea, from one line of one song, somewhere really far from where you are, you see someone talking about the song or referring to the song with respect to how it has impacted on their lives. That’s just what makes me fulfilled as a human being. Apart from physical things, that is what keeps me going. It’s like a circle. Circle of achievement. Circle of fulfilment. When you get it, it keeps you going. My brain is the song. The achievement is the water. When my brains see that achievement and the encouragement, it keeps going. That’s just it.
What would you say is the highpoint of your career?
I don’t record highpoint because I know I can still get higher.
Can you tell us your experience on the Amstel Malta competition?
It was really nice because I find out Nigeria still has a lot of talented people. Not just in music but various other fields. What I feel talent is, is when you do something and people appreciate what you do. When you do it effortlessly and people acknowledge it that is talent. What I found out was even musicians were marvelled at what some other people were doing. Everybody must not be a musician. Just find out your talent and be the best at it. That’s it.
How have you managed to be scandal free?
They ask me all this things and I say, nobody holy pass.
You’ve been married for a while now. What is the secret of your staying married despite being a popular celebrity?
Five years is not a while, compared to our parents’ upheld marriage and its values. For me, I am a very conservative person. And God bless their souls, my parents were very wonderful as a couple and as parents. When I wanted to get married, people were like you wan go marry; you go lose all your fans. People have a way of scaring, especially artistes, out of marriage but you will be surprised how many gangster rappers in America have wonderful families, as long as you can keep your marriage away from paparazzi, the better for the family. The more you want to make a star out of all of them, the more they start finding out about them. And nobody is perfect.
How did you propose to her?
The other day I was reading one wedding magazine, then I was ashamed to show my wife because the person proposed on a helicopter. He was flying and he said ‘will you marry me?’
Trust me, I can’t even remember how I proposed to my wife. We just saw that we got married. We courted like seven years before we eventually got married. So, she has known me ever since before marriage. I’ve known her for twelve years now. She’s like my friend, my everything. It just like you and your friend saying you want to do something, you don’t have to start kneeling down. If I kneel down, she go say wetin happen. She no go even believe say na proposal.
What was the attraction?
The attraction is because she’s a very natural person. Anybody that knows her knows that she’s very natural. And she’s a very respectful person. She’s just everything you want in a woman. She’s not my fan like that. She even likes Blackface and Bob Marley. But she’s a nice person. She helps me build my dreams and helps me to me good. She’s the type of person that really loves helping people. If you have a partner that helps you help people it a good thing.
Now, that you married man. How do you handle female attention?
Over the years they’ve understood my stand point so they don’t really over do. I think dem don even share the information around themselves.
What song would say actually brought you to the limelight?
People always say it’s Mathematics but if you ask me I would say Gengen because I used it to win every stage I stepped on, every talent hunt stage I stepped on. That was the song that won me the talent hunt. I won Benson and Hedges ‘Grab the Mic’ 1999. I won some other small, small ones. It was Gengen that I used then, but of course Mathematics did justice to the thing.
Do you have any flare for fashion?
Wetin una wan do with the clothes wey dey my closest?
But you do have a clothing line…
I do, Naija Ninja. It still exists but it’s really resting for now. I wanted to hand it over to someone that really believes in fashion prowess and everything. I tried here and there but nobody could handle it so I just put it to rest and handle my record label with my brother and of course the production company too. I still wear my own designs but I can’t do for people for now.
What’s your fashion fetish?
It should be my hats. Somebody asked if I’m I bold because they have not seen my head before.
How did the whole wearing of hat start for you?
Okay, it was because I was shy in school. I was very shy. So whenever I was on campus I will just wear my cap. It was cap that I first started wearing.
You like colour blocking a lot, why?
I like being very colourful. When you see somebody dressing like a crazy person, just leave am because na only him no wetin dey in mind. Dem say creativity na neighbour to kolo. If to say I dress the wey I been wan dress today, I for be like rainbow because I want you to see how colourful my mind is and how wonderful the world can be.
Should we be expecting any collaboration from you?
There is a video coming out, Sound Sultan featuring Sarkodie.
What is the biggest fashion error you’ve made?
Go and look at my old pictures, you will find out that there are so many fashion errors that I made. No be only me, Tuface, all of us but at that time, na wetin we get we go wear. Na now we dey call am fashion error.
We have two Fasasi brothers, Sound Sultan and Babadee, but how do you feel when you see Sound Sultan outshining Babadee?
When you say outshining, you will be getting it all wrong. It was Babadee that really brought me into this industry. I was doing strictly rap because I was listening to the KRS 1’s, Naughty by Nature…but Babadee was the first person that mixed English and Yoruba rap together. That was in 1989/1990. When I saw how well accepted it was, I started mixing my own too. And Babadee, of course, is a theatre artiste. And the bulk of this movie is really him. The bulk of the movie is Babadee. That’s his main passion. That’s just it. That’s where his passion is. However, over the past three years, you must have danced to Babadee’s hit song without knowing. For example Go Down. But this movie is going to put a crown on the head of Babadee.
