Djinee’s name may have been forgotten by music lovers, but the impact of songs like ‘Ego,’ ‘I No Dey Shame’ and ‘Over Killing’ cannot be forgotten so soon. Djinee, whose original name is Osayamwen Nosa Donald, tells OLUSHOLA RICKETTS what went wrong with his musical career, his relationship with MI and Ice Prince, and why he’s still single. Excerpts:
Why did you stop music at a time?
I had a new single in December entitled, ‘Shootout To My Lover.’ Before then, it is true I was a bit away from music because I needed to find my sound. I wasn’t exactly comfortable with the sound I was making at a time. At times, success comes with its curses. ‘Over killing’ was a big deviation from my original sounds like ‘Ego,’ ‘I No Dey Shame’ and ‘Lade.’
I went on a different angle with ‘Over Killing’ and it made people to expect certain music that I was not comfortable doing. So, I needed to find myself and also I needed to do a bit of travelling within and outside Nigeria.
Why did you produce ‘Over Killing’ since it wasn’t your original sound?
I was comfortable with it, but it was not a song I would have loved to do. Music is all about inspiration and the song came to me at a time.
music is a tough job. Some people cannot deal with distractions. Some people may be able to manage the stress of a woman and job, but I cannot. I have to be honest about that
Does this mean you regret singing ‘Over Killing?’
No, I do not regret I did the song. I love the fact that God gave me the song. I am sure Nigerians do not regret discovering oil, but there are pains that it brought. But after ‘Over Killing, I tried to make sound that I was not really comfortable with. The song won me a different audience. Up till now, I am in a very funny situation. I have two different kinds of fans – the ones who believe my music ended when I did ‘Over Killing’ and the ones who believe my music started with ‘Over Killing.’ How did I marry the two? That was the dilemma I found myself in. I tried to satisfy ‘Over Killing’ lovers, which made me to stop telling stories with my songs. But I like telling stories.
When I wanted to release ‘Shout Out To My Lover,’ I went to meet Cobhams Asuquo. I went back to the source, as Cobhams produced ‘Ego,’ ‘I No Dey Shame’ and other huge songs that people still make reference to till today.
Sometimes, it takes a while to get to a point of self-realisation. Thank God I have been able to gather things for myself and I was not hungry throughout that period of self-discovery, because it would have been really bad.
What led to your feud with MI? You used to be very close in the past.
There was no fight. I don’t understand where those news came from. I’ve worked in the media before. When I was working at Sound City many years ago, I was always out for the truth. I think the press should be the vanguard of the truth. Whatever you allow to stay out, stay out. I think people should ask questions and get to know the artiste.
When I saw the news that we had settled our feud, I called him up. Last year, when we did a show together, people felt that was where we finally settled. There was no time we fought. Since we once lived together, people expect that we should always be seen together but it is not possible because we have different things we do.
I had a concert this year, which MI attended. Jesse Jagz, too, came but Ice Prince was not in the country.
Is it true that MI was your personal assistant at a time? It was in the news some years ago…
You are probably mixing things up because MI would not have said that. I guess what he said was taken out of context. When I started out too, some people helped me. But for the media, I really do not talk about MI and I. I don’t want to say things that happened in the house to illustrate how close we were. We were living like brothers. MI, Ice Prince, Abuchi (MI’s manager) and Jesse were staying with me. Even my blood brother did not have a place to stay in the house. So, there is no beef; we still spoke today. There was a mutual friend of ours that died recently and we spoke on the need to check on one another more often.
How do you feel about the growth of MI and others?
It was God that helped them; those guys worked. I feel excited for them. The world is unfair in our thinking. Sometimes, I like to think like Nelson Mandela and Mahatma Grandhi, people I have read. The reason I am not hungry today is because of the genuine joy that I feel for certain people. The only thing I ask from them going forward is to extend helping hands to others as well. I always like to look out for people I feel we share so much together.
Don’t you feel bad that they seem to be more relevant than you in showbiz now?
You are who you say you are. I know what I do every day and every week. When you say pop music, the names that come to your head is the popular ones, but we have people who are making money than those popular ones. Perhaps, you only pay attention to mainstream music. I don’t consider that as an issue and I cannot feel envious. I am not saying I am making more money, but do I look hungry, as well? I am excited doing what I do and I am excited for those guys as well.
How come you sing love songs but has never been linked with a lady romantically?
Don’t you know that a doctor cannot treat himself? This music is a tough job. Some people cannot deal with distractions. Some people may be able to manage the stress of a woman and job, but I cannot. I have to be honest about that. I am not saying I have been single for years. Things happen; you could try with one or two ladies but it didn’t work out.
Don’t your parents mount pressure on you?
They don’t. I am lucky to have such parents. As an Edo man, they don’t really pressurise you into marriage because they know that I would be the one to live with the person in the long run.
