Music should not be trash –Joy Bucknor

Joy Bucknor, gospel singer and actress, is fast becoming a household name in the entertainment industry. The soulful and very enterprising lady spoke about her marriage and career in this interview by OSEYIZA OOGBODO BLOG. Can we meet you? I am Joy Bucknor, a music artist and actress. I am a gospel artist. I love to sing, but not just to entertain. I sing to minister to people. Music should not just be something trashy. Music should be something that ministers to your spirit. It should lift your spirit up. I love doing music that lifts people's spirit, gets people thinking, and also makes them happy. The acting is also a passion. Sometimes when I watch and see how actors portray characters, I am amazed at how they pull off their roles. That is how I fell in love with acting. It is something I was born to do. It is inbuilt. Tell us about your educational and family background. I am married with kids. I attended Ogun State Unversity where I studied computer engineering. With a background in computer engineering, why did you venture into showbiz? Well, here in Nigeria, you know parents prefer you to go to school and venture into a career they consider ‘serious’ afterwards. They want you to study to be a doctor or a lawyer, but things are changing now. Parents now advice their children to do what they love and express themselves. I found myself doing computer engineering because my dad wanted me to do something serious. I was also very good in science subjects while I was in school. But that artistic side of me is something I was born with, not something I learnt in school. It is just a natural attribute or gift. How did you find your way into showbiz? How do you find your way into something, if it is already in you? You don't find your way into it, you just find yourself doing it. It is just who I am. I grew up singing in church. How has it been since you started? It has not been easy. You know sometimes, when you look at the artists making it in the industry, you think they just woke up one morning, and luck fell on their side. No, that is not true. There is a lot of work involved, a lot of challenges that we face in this country. So it has not been easy. I had very high expectations, but reality always keeps dawning. That's how life is, so when you are dreaming, you have to remember that it is one thing to dream, and it is another thing to make that dream a reality. We thank God for how far he has brought us. What do you think about the entertainment industry in Nigeria? It is evolving. You cannot compare it to how it to used to be, but there is still a lot to be done. We need more support from the government, and also multinationals. Why exactly did you decide to go into gospel music? I describe my music as inspirational, and you can also tag it gospel, because when I sing glorifying God, my maker, you can call it gospel, another man can call it inspirational. I chose this line because I want to pass a message to the younger ones and people out there. I want people to know that there is more to just waking up in the morning and hustling. I want them to know that there is more to this short time we have on earth. Our stay on earth is short, and so insignificant. After we are done with this short stay on earth, we discover that there is another life, that is a lot real than this physical one. I want my music to bring that awareness. I won't go out and sing ‘shake your bum bum,’ or those kind of songs. That's just not me. Who are your role models in the industry? There are a lot of people that I look up to. These are people that are passing positive messages, and have refused to compromise. They do not want to be tempted to go mainstream because of the money there. I look up to people like Cece Winans, Fred Hammond, and Byron Cage. How supportive is your husband? He is very supportive. He has been into entertainment much longer than I have. It is something that just comes naturally with us. He has always been doing this, so he doesn't see anything wrong in supporting me. How do you balance your marriage and career? I won't tell you that it has been easy, but that is life. Even if I was a banker or tomato seller, it still wouldn't be easy. I just take it the way it comes. I don't complain. I just make the best of the time I have to do everything. Do you have any advice for women on how to balance marriage and career? Put God first. When you put God first before everything, he will give you the spirit of wisdom, to be able to know how to set priorities in terms of timing, and what should come first. I dare to tell you that it is possible to win on both sides. It is possible to balance your career and marriage when you have the spirit of wisdom from God. I won't advice women to just sit at home and do nothing, or not pursue their dreams. Every woman was born to do something great on earth. How would you describe your marriage? My marriage is a normal kind of marriage because it is filled with with ups and downs. I am not going to sit down here and say it has been perfect all through. It has not been perfect, because I am a human being ,and so is my husband. We both have flaws, but at the end of the day, because God is the center of the home, we have no choice but to come into a place where we agree that we cannot afford to let the devil have his way. We are imperfect creatures living together with a perfect God. How would you describe your husband? He is a gentle, cool headed man. My husband is a very simple, and humble man. He does not like trouble, and doesn't like to step on anyone. How did you meet your husband? We met in the studio. He just came back from London to set up a record label. A friend told me about the studio, and how they were looking for artists. So we went for the auditions, and he liked us. I went with my sister and some friends. He was ready to sign us, but along the way some things came up, and disrupted the whole process. He had some problems, and people left him, but I stayed. How did he propose to you? There was nothing like a proposal. This is Africa, it is not like the ones we watch in Hollywood, where the man will kneel down and propose. There was no such thing. It was something we knew would happen, and it happened. What is your philosophy of life? I have so many philosophies, but one of them came to me some time ago, while I was cleaning. A voice just told me "Don't allow men to use you". Whenever man uses you, they make you useless, but whenever you allow God to use you. He makes you even more useful. So I'd rather allow God use me than to allow men use me.