by Fransesca Uriri

Musical, creative, and gifted, Gogo Majin talks about her passion for music, fashion and the continuous commitment to being the best version of herself. Original and authentic, she is the Leading Lady for the week. Be Inspired!

 

For those who may not know you, who is Gogo Majin?

I am Nigerian. I was raised in Lagos, Nigeria.

Lagos has always been home for me. I have five siblings; three brothers and two sisters. My father was and still is a lover of music. He had a very wide range in his taste for music. He had all the latest records at home so I grew up listening to a lot of music like Michael Jackson, Marvin Gaye, Madonna, Whitney Houston, to name a few. I grew up in a very creative/artistic family. My father was part of a quartet in the university. My mother loves music too and she sang in a school choir when she was in secondary school but my father was the main person who bought all the latest records and brought them home and played them to us.

I have a serious love affair with music and it started since I was a kid. When I grew older (pre-teens) I always had a tape in my pocket. I wanted to always have music with me. If I fell on the floor a tape was likely to fall out too. One day I tripped on the stairs and my father (who introduced me to all this music) was standing at the bottom and of course my tape fell out and he looked at me with a very stern look on his face and said “the way I see you carrying on with this music…I hope you are not going to come and tell us one day that you are dropping out of school to do music”

Music is my first love, like a husband and my fashion and voice coaching are like my children. I love all three but it’s a different kind of love.

Initially my passion for music was a red flame but with time it’s become a blue flame. Passion that cooks is better than passion that burns.

Is ‘Gogo’ your real name? It has a very melodic ring to it.

Haha! Melodic ring. It’s nice of you to put it that way. Most people just ask “what kind of name is that?” or they think I’m joking. I met someone once and he asked what my name was, when I told him what it was he laughed and said “ok seriously what’s your name?” I was like “seriously, that’s it!” So, yes it is my real name.

You started out as a singer and have now also morphed into being a fashion designer and voice coach. How do you juggle all three?

I wouldn’t say that I juggle all three because all three professions are time consuming (especially fashion and singing) and because I do the designing and creative direction, I am involved in the creative process from start to finish. I would say that at certain points I have to prioritise one over the other two for a season so that I can give each one a hundred percent.  For the last couple of years fashion has taken priority over the other two. I haven’t released any music professionally in a while; even though I still work on my music privately, in between collections and in between our fashion shows. It also helps that we live in the age of technology so there’s a lot that I can still achieve even when I am not present physically. With voice coaching I take on projects with a set start to finish date (like reality show, or working with the cast of a musical or an artist’s album project, writing my voice training articles for my weekly column in the Saturday punch) and so long as I get adequate notice I find a way to work it into my schedule. It takes careful scheduling and dedication but it’s not too difficult especially because I really love to do what I do. I also think we live in a different time in the sense that I don’t know too many people who have just one source of income.

Your mother, Folake Majin has run a thriving fashion label for many years, did that influence your choice to float a fashion label?

Definitely. I was influenced by her without her knowing that she was influencing me and without me knowing that I was being influenced at the time. I started out just hanging around her and watching her work when I was much younger. I didn’t really know how much of it I had soaked in until later. As soon as I got my degree in economics I went straight into music. My mind was fixed on becoming a singer and I couldn’t really imagine myself doing anything else. Gradually I started designing clothes for myself and people would really pay compliments and ask who the designer was and I would tell them I designed it myself. After a while my mom would put certain elements together when she was designing and ask what I thought and I would tell her what I thought. It went on like that for a while and then I started designing for her company. I discovered while designing behind the scenes for her that I really enjoyed designing and many aspects of design came naturally to me. I think it helped that my mom never tried to pressure any of us to come into the business so the desire came from within. If she had put any pressure I most likely would have gone in the opposite direction. So after designing behind the scenes for my mom’s label for many years I felt confident enough to step out on my own and launch my own label known as GM4FM

You are the creative Director behind GM4FM; what does it stand for and how did you create the synergy between both labels?

The name GM4FM (Gogo Majin for Folake Majin)came about as a tribute to my mom who is my greatest influence as far as designing goes. She really is one of the most creative, prolific designers I know. It’s not two labels its one label.

Who is the quintessential GMFM woman?

She is very fashion forward and loves distinctive African influenced designs with painstaking attention to detail. She loves luxury and is not afraid to take fashion risks. She loves to stand out from the pack. She is a leader.

You were a coach on a popular reality music show. What is your take on the Nigerian music industry, would you say that it’s growing?

Yes I was on Project Fame season one as voice coach. Shows like that help to build and nurture talent. A lot of my students from the academy have gone on to do really great things in music. Like Inyanya, Praiz, Ijeoma, Nii and a couple of others are coming out with projects soon. I celebrate them all the time. I don’t know if we can say that we have an industry in the truest sense of the word.  I would say what we have is growing and has made a lot of progress and it has incredible potential. I respect the few indigenous music labels that have stood the test of time and are constantly breaking new ground and making moves to ensure that Nigerian music is well represented in Nigeria and on the international scene. We however need certain structures in place before we can reach our full potential. There’s so much talent in Nigeria and we have the numbers In our country to push substantial units, of course there’s the argument as to what percentage of the 160plus million people actually have the purchasing power to push music sales and provide sizable revenue, but we have the numbers to at least get people to pay attention around the world. Nigerians are everywhere. We need to fine tune our sound and be able to get accurate data about album sales, demographic, make sure that artists get their royalties, make sure publishing is done the right way, put enforceable laws in place to protect intellectual property, also to know that its ok to specialize. Not everyone can be the front man or artist but there are so many roles to fill in industry.

What is the most challenging part about being an entrepreneur in this part of the world?

Lack of specialization of labour, small but significant parts of the production chain that are practically non-existent, infrastructural inconsistencies and deficiencies , finding labour that’s up to standard can be difficult, high cost of production etc.

What would you like to remembered for?

For being a light.

Where do you seek inspiration from for the music and fashion you create?

From everything. God, Nature, personal experiences (good and bad), other people’s experiences, quiet moments, chaos….I try to use everything in the creative process.

What are the biggest misconceptions people have about the fashion and design business?

I think because the fashion design business is quite glamorous and attractive people don’t realise how time consuming it is and how much hard work and dedication is requires. It’s actually quite unglamorous behind the scenes.

What role does God play in your life, and is your faith central to it?

Yes! My faith helps me see things from a different perspective. In the entertainment business there is the temptation to attach my sense of self-worth to what I do and what I achieve. If you are ambitious and driven you will try many things and not all of them will work out in fact, in many cases its several Nos before you one YES. If you allow your sense of self-worth to be determined by what goes on in this business you could end up with serious esteem issues and become an approval junkie that needs validation all the time. There is also the possibility that you find yourself over time becoming some of the things you detest in the business. In God I find that balance where I am ambitious and driven but not obsessed and I can stay focused on the fact that my sense of self-worth should come from who He says I am not what the business or the people say and that what He has for me nobody can take away.

You are a mentor on the Mara Mentor platform, how important do you think mentorship is; especially for young women?

Yes I am. It’s a great platform.  Women can be great mentors to other young women because they know first-hand and understand the sometimes peculiar position and unique challenges women face in the business and can offer astute analysis, direction and genuine empathy.

You seem pretty serious and reserved, what do you do for fun?

Haha! I think people don’t expect creative people to have a serious side. I would say it depends on what side of me you see. I’m quite private. I try to keep it about what I do. I have a serious side and I also have a side that’s almost a little too playful…especially when I get very comfortable with people. I am also a little shy, there’s a part of me that’s very bold and assertive; it just depends. If you are in entertainment you can entertain all you want but you need that serious side for a lot of the behind the scenes stuff and to handle life as an entertainer. Entertainers have to be very disciplined and hardworking to be masters at their craft. When I am in business meeting I try to balance all these qualities out. Be amiable but still serious when it comes down to it.  I love to listen to music, go to the beach. I love to travel, experience new things, I love to hang with family or friends, I love to read.

People often doubt this; but is it possible to make a living, to actually pay bills and live comfortably off being a fashion designer?

This is what I would say. Offer unique services and products that people need, in a way and manner that no else does and you will make a good living if not a fortune over time.

Name 3 of your favourite Nigerian designers, and 3 of your favourite international designers?

Nigerian designers: Folake Majin, Duro Olowu, Miss Majin

International: Alexander McQueen, Stephane Rolland, Viktor and Rolf

Name 3 women you admire and why?

I’ve already mentioned one but if I were to mention three in addition

Madonna – what I admire is her discipline and that fact that she seems to be fearless. These are great qualities when channelled properly.

Adeola Bali – she is youthful, intelligent, fashionable and has a depth to her that I find very inspiring. We’ve had some really great conversations.

Folake Majin – Apart from what I mentioned earlier, I admire my mom for being there for us when we were kids. If she didn’t pick us up from school , when we came back from school she was at home ready to spend time with us and check homework (didn’t really like that part lol), she taught us to pray and to read the bible, was at all school sports programs and PTA meetings. I don’t know how she managed with so many children.

If you had to change one thing about yourself, what would that be and why?

Physically I commit every day to loving myself flaws and all. Character wise there are a couple of things not just one. I consider myself a work in progress. I can’t really pick one.

What is the one piece of advice that you would share with young women, especially those upcoming in fashion and music?

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If you let people take advantage of you they will. Get valuable, honest feedback from people who are knowledgeable as to whether you are you are gifted in that area, don’t be afraid to specialize and focus on what you are really good at, believe in yourself, get training, persevere and when failure comes (it comes to all) learn from your failures….fail forward.