The only thing I can't do is kill -Samklef

Samklef is one of the nation’s acclaimed music personalities. He’s a singer-producer-director with several hit songs to his name. He told OSEYIZA OOGBODO BLOG how music began for him and how he made headway in it to become the success he is. What’s your view of the music industry? We are trying, but still have a long way to go. The only thing is that the media don’t understand the music chain yet. I don’t want to mention names, but when I see the categories of some awards, I get disappointed because they don’t know how to specialise music, they don’t know genres of music. All the same, most of the songs we are doing are afrobeat. Many artists in Nigeria started singing from the church, but virtually all of them sing secular music, not gospel. Why? Some people will not like me for what I’m about to say right now. Everybody started from the church, but the churches don’t show love to artists. Most of these pastors don’t care about you, they don’t even want to know what you are going through. I’ve been to a church where the pastor told me that I was selling my talent, but I was like, you don’t kill people’s star. Most pastors are star killers, they are dream killers, so they forced these people to the secular world. Most of these people take their time to learn music instruments and they add value to the church so they need to be appreciated and encouraged. For instance, I was collecting salary from the church, but when I realised that it was like a trap, I stopped it because if they refuse to pay you, instead of worshipping God, you will start rebelling against Him. I told myself that I was not going to be collecting salary again. While I was playing for the church, none of the members bothered about what I was going through, but God has been good to me, not the church. Is that what discouraged you from playing gospel music? Yes. If you notice, more gospel artists are trying to go into the secular terrain. Terry G started from the church too. I used to follow him to a Redeemed parish. He has been a star right from the church. At what point did you discover that you can sing? That was when I discovered rock music. One day, I went to a studio and they were playing Copley’s music and I loved it. I realised that my voice range is closer to that kind of music, which is on a low pitch, so I started playing rock. Even when I started production, I introduced the rock feel to it and that’s what makes me unique. Tell us about your journey in music. I lost my dad when I was very young and I went through a lot of storm in life. Later, I met some young guys who have been doing the music thing. I had also been listening to the likes of D’Banj/Don Jazzy, Cobhams and P-Square and I wanted to be like them. Terry G started the first music group that I joined, Pinnacles. It was a gospel music group. Later, the group disbanded and I formed another one, One Voice Crew. I was playing keyboard in a church at Pen Cinema then. At a time, I looked at the lifestyle of my keyboard teacher and didn’t pray for it. I decided that I wouldn’t be playing keyboard for the rest of my life because I wanted to drive good cars and be comfortable. So, I met some guys doing music production, and I fell in love with the game. I was alone on the streets, no support from anybody. Eventually I started working in a corporate company called Sound Factory, but before then, I was working in a studio called Back2Black. That was where I met Vector and some other people and started building a foundation for myself. I started customising my name on my shirts, shoes and all that, just to register it in people’s mind. It was in that process that I produced Durella’s My Life which brought me to the limelight. It was like a journey that began from the church where I met different people who made the dream a reality. Life is about opportunity, meeting the right people at the right time. After My Life, I did Tease Me for Wizkid. From there, I did Jonzing World. It was Skales who introduced me to Banky W and Wizkid. From there, they invited me for the production of Tease Me and some other songs. It was then that I realised that there’s chemistry between me and Skales. He’s a positive, hardworking guy who knows what he wants. We did a lot of songs together. But before you knew it, I did Molowo Noni for myself. I actually tried to get a record label, but it didn’t work, so I decided to take things slowly. I decided to set up my own studio and office. How would you describe yourself? Samklef is a businessman, an entrepreneur. I do almost everything. I edit and direct videos, I produce music and mix ... I do almost everything. The only thing I don’t know how to do is to kill because I don’t know how to carry gun. But I have killed mosquitoes. Basically, I’m a businessman and I can play the keyboard and drums and I’m also a motivational speaker because my life is a testimony.