"Timaya encouraged me to pay tithes"-Djinee

A couple of years ago, Djinee emerged on the music scene with a pitch-perfect vocal ability that won him a lot of laurels and respect among his fans and colleague. After a musical hiatus, the Edo State-born, LASPOTECH graduate re-emerges with new singles. In this interview with NEWTON-RAY UKWUOMA, the singer speaks about his new-found spirituality, among other things.

Who is Djinee?
Djinee is a singer first of all, a song writer and a producer. I am just a man who loves doing what he feels he is gifted in. I surprise myself every day. I can’t say this is exactly who Djinee is. I discover something new about myself every day. I keep pushing the bar. I keep raising the tempo. I keep growing every day.

Talking about talent, there is this talent of yours that when you raise a pitch, people would go wild. How did you discover your voice?
It would be foolhardy of me to ascribe my vocal ability to some hard work. I believe it was given to me by God. I woke up one day to find out that I could sing, though I had been listening to music right from when I was a kid. My dad always played music. I should say my dad was a music enthusiast. So, I naturally gravitated towards music. And at times, my father used to have meetings with his friends; and when they had events, I would always want to sing. I found out that people always listened. My classmates in primary school would surround me as I sang. I felt it was a calling; my calling. And, of course, I was in different choirs right from junior secondary, where I learnt the discipline and rudiments of singing. Read more after the click.
Your first single, Ego, was a success; but there have been a number of questions as to the direction and meaning of Ego. Ego means ‘money’ in Igbo. What was the direction of Ego?
Some people really think Ego was about money. Ego was not about money; Ego is a girl’s name. I am a writer, a songwriter. I simply gave life to a fictional story of a girl who broke up with her boyfriend. And it was not about me either. People think I was heartbroken, but no. The story of Ego was not mine. I usually mirror the society in my music. I could look at people, take their story, add flesh to it and make it believable. What I did with Ego was to picture a situation where lovers break up without any blame – a situation where the lovers break up not because there is no love, but because they had to. No one is angry.

After Ego, was I No Dey Shame also a fictional direction?
A lot of these songs were songs I had written before. So, I was eager to bring them out. I wanted people to hear me. I said earlier that I grew up listening to rock music. I No Dey Shame is not rock. It is perhaps my own interpretation of alternative music because it was in pidgin. But then I No Dey Shame talks about how love should be, the mistakes people make about love. I think people love wrongly. That is why we have more break ups and divorces. The best way to love is the hard way to love; and the hard way to love is to love someone despite the person’s issues.

We didn’t hear from you after that?
Yes, but I did Lade – that was in 2007. After Lade, I took a break. From 2007 to 2009, I was doing a lot of TV work. For me, I believe that music is a business. I am passionate about music. Don’t get me wrong, but it is business. And we all expect the naira equivalent of our passion. Not that I wasn’t making enough money, but I discovered that there were other things I was equally good at. The TV was constantly calling me. So, I spent two years doing that; and also doing music. When I came back fully in 2009, I did Overkilling, the original; and later got some friends to do the remix. Between 2011 and 2012, I released three singles online. In 2013, I released Wonder and Alright, and it has been a good ride. A lot of people are seeing me more now. I have been getting great support from people, and I am still working. Every brand is unique. You can’t apply the same strategy to every brand.

How was growing up like for you?
Growing up was tough. It was a constant learning process for me. My father made a conscious effort to ensure that we went to school. But I was stubborn; I always wanted to explore. The quest for self-actualisation made me make certain bad decisions along the way that taught me some lessons. I wish not to go into details as that might bore you. However, those decisions have made me who I am now. We were neither rich nor poor. But life was tough for me. And no matter how rich I get, when I start having kids, I will not fail to teach them the realities of life.

What particularly made growing up very tough for you?
I had to leave my parents’ house very early. I wanted to be independent. I wanted do music. I wanted to make my own money. If my father is reading this now, he would probably be saying, “That is my son,” because my father looked into my eyes one day and said, “You have an independent mind.” I was not happy asking for money from my father. I paid my way through university. He only supported for two sessions.

How did you train yourself in the university?
I ran a small studio, a music studio. In fact, I borrowed money to buy the Pentium 1 computer that I used to do small studio work back then. Sometimes, I earned N1000, N2000 and so on. Then there was no telephone. I had to shuttle from Lagos to Ogbomoso (Oyo State) every now and then to do music and then go back to school. There were times I would skip meals and save for my music studio. So, when I meet up-and-coming artistes with expensive watches and everything, I feel that these ones have not started.

How old were you when you left home?
I was about 18 or 19. I can’t really recall exactly. I am very good at blocking things from my head. This is because not all my experiences were really cool.

When did you buy your first car?
Like I said, I am not good with timelines. It was not during Ego that I bought a car. I made more money when I did Overkilling. Not that I was not making money before, but that period of Overkilling was when things really turned around.

It could be said that you are a contemporary of people like 2Face, Faze, Timaya, Mi  and others. How is your relationship with these guys?
Everybody is busy, but the relationship is great. I am proud of what they have achieved. Nobody would ever say you know these guys and they did not make anything out of their lives. I am happy they have been very successful.

Did you know some of these big names before or after they became big?
 I knew some of them before they became famous. Like I said earlier, I was a TV producer, a journalist. Many of them I had interviewed. For example, I have interviewed Faze, 2Face, Cobhams (Asuquo), so many of them. In fact, it was my interview with Cobhams that made me decide he would produce Ego. He did Ego and I No Dey Shame. Now, we see when we see. Generally, the friendship has been great. I saw Banky W at a club the other day, we chatted all through. I don’t see the beef anywhere, though it happens in Nollywood a lot. Our industry is not ripe for that. We need one another badly.

Do you have expectations? Where do you want to be in five years?
I have surpassed where I had planned five years back. Everything na God hand e dey. I want to be able to employ labour. I want to help people. I thought about this the other day. I didn’t know you would ask me. I want to make enough money to increase my tithe. Because some few weeks back I met somebody that advised me to (pay my tithe). When I did the tithing thing, I felt so cool. I was like “Man, this feels good!” I am not that person that will broadcast what I do for God. I believe in that part of the Bible that says, “Don’t let your right know what your left hand is doing.” I am not against those who broadcast the philanthropy or aids.

Do you mean you too pay tithes to the church?
Yes, I think it is a good thing. In fact, if there is a way one can reach an understanding with the church to help people in any way, one should do it. It really feels good. I am happy to do it every time. Where I worship, the money is not for the pastor or to some people. It belongs to the church and you will see what it is being used for. I don’t like when pastors live in affluence, while members live in poverty. I believe in empowerment projects for the youth and those who are poor in the church. I would give my tithe to a church that caters for its members. Funny enough, if I tell you the person that really encouraged me to give my tithe, you wouldn’t believe it.

Who encouraged you to pay tithe?
It was Timaya. I know you will be stunned. A few weeks ago, I was in Business Class together with Timaya. We were chatting when he said that people do not understand why God blesses him. He said, he doesn’t miss paying his tithe.

You mean Timaya encouraged you to pay tithe?
Yes. Let me put it this way. It was not that I wasn’t paying before, but he encouraged me to give more. People wouldn’t believe it. If you can get behind people’s outer personae, you will see the real person. Timaya is really a good guy. In answer to your question, I want to make enough money to increase my tithes.

But you wrote somewhere that your father is a chief priest?
You see, people misunderstood what I meant by chief priest. I said I engaged in the early morning ritual of listening to music and the chief priest of this ritual was my father. The ritual is not Otokoto or voodoo; I was speaking metaphorically. Ritual means a routine activity. Music was an early morning routine in my house and my father initiated it. That is why I called him a chief priest. A lot of people really took it literally.