BOB EJIKE: COMING BACK TO NOLLYWOOD Nollywood founding pioneer Professor Bob Ejike is currently on tour of Italy, Austria and Dubai with his latest musical outing, an 18 track album entitled Infinite Youth which was released in CD format, in several promotional singles, and distributed in music and video shops across Nigeria in the traditional way, but also launched on hundreds of online portals, along with its accompanying video, Darijimi, a massive electronic media hit shot at Kingsley Ogoro Studio, Lagos, by ace director Mat Max, which took the national airwaves by storm and left not a few observers astounded. Darijimi went straight to the local television charts, becoming an anthem while Infinite Youth remained in the radio Top Ten for an unprecedented six months. How did the middle-aged actor and author who was seen as a fringe music performer come to dominate an industry that is almost a preserve of juvenile musicians for that long? First the audio production sounds quite youthful and contemporary, thanks to his 22 years old producer Eronz B, his team of young musicians and the two years of studio time consumed in the meticulous production of this state of the art album at Bobijik Studios, Ikate, Surulere, Lagos, while the lyrics made sense, which is quite unusual in an industry where trash is right. Again Bob Ejike has the voice of youth and no one listening to him on radio can imagine that he is older than Wizkid or Davido. Ejike did something no wise musician does, embark on oversea tour in the peak of an album promotion. He told me in a telephonic interview that he had to keep his annual summer appointments in order not to alienate his fans in the African Diaspora which is his artistic stronghold since he has lived abroad for much of the last 26 years. This album definitely sounds different from his earlier works such as No Vacancy, Does Your Mama Know, Iyawo Mi, Bright Eyes and Nambi. Most of these previous outings were influenced by the sounds of the countries where his other jobs in international diplomacy and the academia compelled him to live in when they were made, from Italy to Uganda, to Dubai, because for much of the production period of Infinite Youth Ejike was in Nigeria and all the musicians, singers, rappers and technical experts are Nigerians. So here is an album with sensible lyrics and Nigerian idiosyncrasy from our artistic ambassador, but how will he survive in a music industry where his concurrence are the age mates of his son. Ejike replies. ‘I spent much of the last thirty years studying, taking courses in vocal rendition, composition and instrumentation and at the same time working tirelessly to create an enabling platform for African artistic expression of which Nollywood my creation has the network that disseminates the musical products, without which there would be no viable music industry in Nigeria. Everywhere in the world nations have experienced artistes and different forms of musical expressions and it is my humble opinion that Nigeria deserves to have variety, including some artistes who know what music is really all about and as long as there is one person that is enjoying my music and I have the energy and zeal to perform, I will be on stage.’ Bob Ejike currently resides in Dubai and this has placed a physical gap between him and his Nigerian fans. He promises to bridge this gap before the end of the year. What about his other areas of predilection in acting, modeling and TV presentation? Ejike has this to say, ‘I am coming home for good this Christmas and I will be going straight back to Nollywood. Nollywood is my home, my solace, the air that I breathe. It’s my baby and nothing can separate father and baby. There is no conflict between acting and singing contrary to popular misconception. They are just different forms of expression, whether you sing the words or you recite them through acting, it’s just the same expression but in different forms. Yes I am homesick after all these years abroad and I really want to come home and run my artistic outfit the Bobijik Studio and make further contributions to the development of Nigerian arts and entertainment culture. Permit me to keep the details as a surprise for you.’ youtube/results?search_query=bob+ejike By Mary Ajayi
Posted on: Sat, 11 Oct 2014 08:40:01 +0000
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