Idols West Africa winner, Timi Dakolo, while
speaking to me has opened on politics, leadership, his
career, marriage, fatherhood describing it as every man’s dream.
He told me that if given the chance or opportunity
he would be a better leader than most of the politicians we have today. Because he honestly wants to impact the lives of people not just through his music.
He went
on to say that “Marriage had really transformed me,” “life is not just what it
used to be any more I must confess". I can’t do a lot of things I want to do
anymore because now I am married and it has made me more responsible.
Timi
Dakolo (born; January 20, 1981) is a
Nigerian singer. He is the winner of the first season of Idols
West Africa in 2007, beating
the runner-up, Omawumi
Megbele with 63% of the votes.
With his victory, he took home many prizes including a recording contract with
Sony BMG.
His
grandmother Ateni Dakolo, who lived in Port
Harcourt raised him, and he
credits her as his early singing teacher. Dakolo started singing in church at
the age of twelve. In 2003 he joined the singing group Purple Love as a founding member.
Read the
rest of my interview with Timi Dakolo after the cut......
You came from winning a competition,
to being a father, an inspiration to others; what has changed from coming tops
at the reality show to where you are today?
Timi:
I Think a lot as changed, reponsibility, me, i look at life differently and
then..... like it’s said in the Bible..... When i was a child, i spoke like a
child, understood like a child, acted like a child but now that i’m a man....
i’ve put awaythe childish nature and things away; more responsibilties, i look
at things in a different propective.
I
don’t do things because i want too but because i need too. I’m more at home
than i”m outside and about, people look up to me, i’m a lot more financially
stable, I have a music; don’t want to be
a flash in the pan, want to be here to stay.... be here for a very long
time....
I
look at many of the musical legends.... I want to be like them ....people come
and people go, i want to be here doing my own thing, more importantly i want to
know my trade, so i’m learning every day, want to know how great songs were and
are written and how they stood the test of time.
One of your songs i really love so
must..... Great Nation; What inspired it?
Timi:
Nigeria as a place, I look at Nigeria as not just our country, my country; if
we all look at Nigeria like it’s our home, we would treat her differently.
My
Grand Mohter had this proverb, that”if everyone cleans the front of their
house; the world would be a cleaner place.” So if every one of us, be it a
politician, be you a banker, a civil servant, be you a student, be you a
leader, be you a wife or a husband; if we do our bit in our country it would
surely be a better place.
That’s
my contribution, giving hope because Nigeria is the only nation that hopes
against hope.
When
you look around you, the situation is hopeless and i think we create the word
“e go better”. That means don’t give up on us let; there’s till hope against it
all.
What makes you a Nigerian?
Timi:
I was born in Nigeria, i be Nigerian to the bone but most especially I love
this country; and its the only place i can call my home.
Who would consider as a Nigerian?
Timi:
Someone that loves this country inrespective of were you’re from; someone that
wants to see this country progress.... economicall, socially, politically and
take this nation to where we are to where we ought to be, in his or her own
little way.
What does Fela Kuti represent?
Timi:
He is the MAN..... in fact i’ll use the one Bravery to describe Fela, he was
fearless, a complete man; that against all odds he stood for the truth using
his music (which is a universal language) as a tool for change and social
justice.
To You what would you consider as
African Music?
Timi:
African music is music from the soul, it came as a result of the pain the
African continent as felt, so our emotions needed a sound; so they created
that.... be it in humming, be it in drums, it’s a way of us expressing
ourselves; this is what we want to say, this our unique way of expressing yourself and saying it.
What makes you unique, different, extraordinary
from the next individual or musician?
Timi:
It’s the sum of information I've gathered over time and my way of expressing it.
Describe yourself in a sentence?
Timi:
I’m A GOD made man.
Would you some day be running for
political office?
Timi:
If i have the chance or the opportunity and i see the need too; i wouldn't lie.
I won’t put myself in the box and say.... i just want to affect and improve the
world through music. If I've got the opportunity to talk to people, to impact their lives or be in the place of leadership; i will surely like to improve communities and the population at large.
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