Pop star, Jide Obi set the scene ablaze in the 80’s with two back-to-back hit albums – Front Page News and Kill me With Love, before he suddenly disappeared from the scene.
In this rare interview with BEATS, his first in about 30 years, the singer relives the sweet memories of his active years:
Question: After Front Page News, your debut album on the Tabansi label,we didn’t hear about you again. What happened?
Answer: I retired. The news was on then NTV Enugu. I don’t know if it’s still called that.
Question: Please, refresh my memory. Did you record any follow-up albums? If so, how did they perform in the market?
Answers: Kill Me With Love followed Front Page News. It made me the same money as Front Page News … that tells you how it did.
Question: When did you relocate to America and what have you been doing over there?
Answer: That’s private.
Question: You hinted about your plan to release a new work; when should we be expecting that?
Answer: Whenever I have decent studio software. The songs are ready.
Question: If I may ask- as a contemporary of Fela and your friend, Chris Okotie, how have they influenced their generation, musically?
Answer: Kris is Nigeria’s Bob Dylan and Paul Macartney. A musical thinker, a gift to his generation. He is the real king of modern Nigerian music. Davido and company owe their great careers to him.
Fela exerted and still exerts great influence on both his fans and his critics. He’s one of my many idols. He believed in himself. I wish he had accepted the fact that God is not an African demon. I still want to learn Fela’s basic music scale.
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Question: Are you still following the local music industry like I presume? If so, what is your take on the development of the current scene?
Answer: No, I don’t follow the music scene now because I’m old. But I love Fall by King Davido. You should hear the New York saxophone version of that thing. Davido is a boy genius.
Question: Do you have any plans to return to Nigeria soon?
Answer: No
Question: What message do you have for your fans in Nigeria?
Answer: I’ll keep my sweet memories alive because I know they will always love me and I will cherish them forever.
Question: One last word from you?
Answer: My last word is, pray for Ukraine.
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