Ayoola Ayolola is one of the exclusive winners of Nigeria’s longest running music talent hunt competition, Project Fame West Africa. So far, the winners of the competition are just nine in number. Having won the 2012 edition, he is the fifth winner amongst the nine. And since he won, he has become a household name. He speaks with OSEYIZA OOGBODO about his career. Excerpts:
What’s the latest thing you’re working on?
I’m working on The Ayoola Live. It’s a live jam session that I organised, where a few people come together and I record visual and audio covers of my songs and other songs. I also feature other artistes as well as other friends of mine. That’s for the music part of my career. As for the acting, I just came back from location in Abuja of a feature film, Zero Hour, produced by Rogers Ofime, directed by Robert Peters and I was privileged to work with people like Uncle Richard Mofe-Damijo, Eucharia Anunobi, Alex Ekubo, Rahama Sadau, amongst other people. So, it was a fantastic experience for me in Abuja. Before then, I just got back from America where we’re shooting a TV series called Shagayas & Clarks, directed by Robert Peters, Bayo Alawiye, and also directed as well as produced by Funke Fayoyin. It was a four-man camp, comprising myself, Nse Ikpe-Etim, Tamara Eteimo, Emmanuel Ikubese, and it was a fantastic experience. We shot it in two months in Indianapolis.
You got into the scene as a music artiste, who won Project Fame West Africa. How have you been able to combine music and acting, as they’re both demanding?
What I did, in 2015, I had to take a very tough decision. Before Project Fame in 2012, I had started acting, you know, and I was singing way before that time as well, but acting got me on TV first. I was on Tinsel for about a month, and at the time, that was my biggest role; then I went to Project Fame in 2012 and won it by God’s grace, and I had to put acting on hold automatically because I had to pursue music due to the fact that I won a singing competition. So, I pursued music for about two years. And in 2015, I decided I would put music on hold, and believe me, that was like the toughest decision I had to make. I had to put music on hold and I started pursuing acting. It was a strategic decision because I felt, to an extent, I had opened up the music part of me. So, I think it was my responsibility to do the same for acting. You can only know how well you’ll perform in a cast if you try. So the plan was to put music on hold for a year and start it again in 2016, but the rest is history. It’s been a very wonderful journey so far, filled with ups and downs, but I’ve been doing a lot of acting since 2015 and I’m grateful to God that I took that decision to venture into acting. And it’s not easy, but what I’m trying to do right now is to merge both music and acting. To an extent, I’ve been able to establish the acting part as well. So, the next stage is to merge the two.
I was on Tinsel for about a month, and at the time, that was my biggest role; then I went to Project Fame in 2012 and won it by God’s grace, and I had to put acting on hold automatically because I had to pursue music due to the fact that I won a singing competition. So, I pursued music for about two years
Before Project Fame, you were already acting, and now after Project Fame, you’re back to acting, would you say you are more inclined to acting than music?
Maybe the part no one really knows is that before the acting, I was doing music. I started doing music while I was a very young lad, became very serious when I got into the university and I had to learn the ropes and improve on my craft. I had songs that I was pushing on the internet and on the radio, as well. I think I had like three or four songs that I put up in quick succession on the radio and I was pushing back to back. It was just a very difficult moment in my career, because no one knew me at the time; I had too much to prove. So, music has always been there. I got into acting in 2010, officially. I had never done any acting before then. The last time I did any major acting was when I was a child in a school play, when I was in nursery school. So, my professional acting career kicked off in 2010, after I graduated in 2009.
A lot of your fans feel that you have abandoned music for acting. How true is this?
First of all, I’m super-excited that people still see me. You know why? Because the visibility is still there. And I’m still in music, as I’ve said earlier, and that’s why I’m holding The Ayoola Live, where I’ll perform with my live band and it’s how I’ll reintroduce the music part of me. And the regular aspect of music, video, definitely will be done this year.
Is The Ayoola Live a monthly?
It’s not necessarily a monthly. It’s my own platform and it’ll hold based on several factors. I’m having one, for example, on February 27 in Lagos. You know, February is the month of love. I have another one in April. The last one I had was in America, which was in November. I have another one in America in March.
