Popular juju musician, Yomi Peters, is a younger brother to another celebrated juju music star, Sir Shina Peters. Yomi has performed all over the world and after sojourning in America for a decade, he returned to Nigeria with a mission: to revive juju music, a genre whose popularity is now at a low ebb.
While Shina came up with Afro juju, his younger brother, Yomi is the creator of juju shuffle, a brand he says he created, especially, to revive and place juju music in the forefront in the Nigerian entertainment sector.
These two brothers are not only celebrated because of their genre of music, though, their fans also pit them against each other, with the fans believing that one is better and more talented than the other.
But speaking with The Point recently while he was being officially unveiled by Hamzzat Dennis Ayandiran’s Deniver Global Holdings Ventures as the first artiste to be managed and promoted by the entertainment branch of DGHV, which is also into other businesses, Yomi says he has moved on from the feud with his elder brother, Shina.
According to him, “As a musician, you have fans, who will always want to compare you with other musicians, who also have their own fans, and this will lead to a situation whereby they’ll start arguing amongst themselves that you that they like is the best, better than the rest, and I’m thankful to my fans for believing that I’m the best, as I am, indeed.”
Confirming that he returned from America to save juju music, he says, “I was doing very well in America. I’ve performed all over America and Europe, as well. Even now, my businesses are going on in America. But I returned to Nigeria because I’m sad that juju music is no longer the rave as was the case before I left Nigeria for America. And since I came back, I’ve been performing and doing my research on what the problem is and I’m very happy to tell you that my research is concluded and I’m going to enact the solution now.”
He discloses that his deal with DGHV will help him return juju music to the spotlight.
“Returning the glory of a music genre is not something you can do alone. You need the support of several people, some in minor supporting roles and at least one in a major supporting role. Deniver is that my major supporter. They understand my mission and vision and we’ve signed a deal that will not only revive juju in Nigeria, but all over the world,” Yomi says.
But will Deniver buy him luxury cars and build a mansion for him as part of the deal, since promoters also include such goodies in their deals with artistes? Yomi says, “This is not a company that I see as one that I’ll demand I want this, I want that. This is a company that I see as my company. It’s like a family because, if I want something, you know it, I can ask for it, because a lot of companies have been talking with me about signing me on. But this is a company I believe in the Chairman and his wife, I believe in myself, and I know that when they put two plus two together, with God, with the media, with all my fans, we’ll get there. Also, the MD is like a brother to me. So, anything he’s doing, even if I’m not his artiste, I have to be part and parcel of it and do my best for him. So, I know there’s a lot of good things that’s going to come up. I assure you about that. But don’t forget as well that our major focus is returning juju music to the pinnacle. That’s what I’m most concerned about.”
Speaking further on his latest album, the Juju Shuffle creator says, “What happened about the album is, when you’re working on an album, the beginning is usually rough. If you don’t exercise patience, you won’t see it through. So, doing an album is a gradual process. You can do twelve tracks. You will hustle on the number one track, it may not boom. You can work on the second track, it may not boom. You can struggle on the third track, too. What it just means is that the first track has to push you a little bit, the second one, too, and on and on like that and it may be with the sixth track that you hit it and wow, it’ll help you recoup all your losses within one or two months. So, that’s why what we’ve been doing is trying to do something every day, trying to make sure we’re on track, trying to make sure we’re hustling to get there and we will, by the grace of God.”
Yomi, who discloses that he’s currently shooting a music video, speaks further, “The video is being done for Deniver Global Holdings Ventures, the Happy Birthday track. We’re trying to do three tracks to add to the Iyawo track that we did. So, when we finish the four tracks, you know that people love to buy video, because video is both audio and visual. In Nigeria, that’s what’s in vogue. So, we can use it to promote the album and make our money. Then, we’ll now go to the studio and do another real album. But this one is a promo; we want to bring Deniver Global Holdings Ventures into limelight first.”
Yomi, however, says unlike many other musicians, he does not consume any performance enhancing drug. He says his energetic stage performance and singing of high keys on his feet for hours are just manifestations of the grace of God.
“That is how my daddy, King Sunny Ade, does. If King Sunny Ade, my daddy, can still have the energy, who am I? What is my age? Even Deniver, the energy in him, you cannot believe it. One day, you’ll still see us singing together on stage and catching fun. I know God’s in control. The energy’s from God, not my making,” he says.
