by Wilfred Okiche
We met up with rapper, Vector in a recording studio at Ajao estate, Lagos where he is currently hard at work on his 3rd album. Our discussion covered everything from making commercial music, to the present state of rap and his sensational blow out with former label, YSG.
Enjoy excerpts from the interview.
You are working on your 3rd studio album. What are we to expect from the album and when do you think it will be released
I am working on my 3rd album but because it is political season now, time doesn’t belong to us, until the politicians say we should move. But the album will be music essentially. Or let me put it this way, it will be more of proper music than rap.
What do you mean by proper music?
Like the definition of music itself. I’ll be doing music properly. There will be singing, lyricism, instrumentation not just samples or heavy kicks and snares. There will be acoustics, guitar. There is this song titled Njideka. The bass was played live and its great but it is also rap. I can do a whole lot more than rap music and there are no rules. The goal is to entertain people.
Aren’t you afraid of the inevitable sell out accusations that will follow?
Bros when you hear the music you will be too scared to call it a sell-out. People will always look for what to say no matter what. I am taking the environment into cognizance but I will not let people dictate for me. I am just doing me.
There are those who say you try too hard to impress
When has trying too hard become a crime? You see me putting effort into my music and you think I am intimidating you? Come on that means you are losing the point of why you are listening to the music in the first place. It is okay if you don’t get it today but enjoy the body of work and one day you may get it. It has happened for me. If I don’t try as hard and sound mediocre, would that make them feel better?
You have experimented with singing on your last album. The song Follow you go had a lot of singing
Yes and people loved that song. I have wonderful songs now don’t worry, they will be accepted. Like I said, there are no rules right?
What stage of production is the album at?
I am trying to wrap up the ones with guest artistes. You hear a song and you’ll anticipate what 2face would do on it, there is I believe which Waje would sound great on. I am thinking Omawumi on one but maybe not singing, maybe a spoken word performance in pidgin/Urhobo. By numbers I have 2 albums worth of material but in terms of concept and execution, I am taking my time. Maybe an end of the year release date. That is if the politicians allow us.
So all these names will make it to the final cut?
Yeas and more. I am not trying to saturate the record with guest appearances but every guest has a relationship to the music and has a reason to be there.
Rap is going in this direction. Kanye West, Nelly, Eminem have been singing for some time now. Back home MI’s last album had plenty collaborations. Why is it now cool for rappers to sing?
People who we identify as rappers are also talented in other fields, should they be scared to show what else they can do because of certain unreasonable expectations? It is not like we are trying to be Celine Dion for crissakes. I remember Supernova with Kanye and Mr Hudson, Kanye West out sang Mr Hudson who is a natural singer. So it is not like rap music is going anywhere, it is just that people get to a point where they feel comfortable about showing other skills and if they can do it well, why not? Poetry, lyricism, bounce, rhyme, they are still present in the singing.
What kind of rapper are you?
A rapper that is music encapsulated. I am music. In the choir of the white garment church I was born, you must play from agogo to clef to conga to drumsets or piano. I am that rapper with all that knowledge and I refuse to be boxed into any category. I am more than a rapper, I am music.
What is your daily routine like?
I realise I am not getting any younger and once you have fallen the way I have fallen before, you learn to appreciate the grace of God. What I feel is if you can write a great rap verse, then you can write a great film script or a great advert copy. I am into all those things right now. It is more than Nigeria for me right now, it’s Africa and the world.
So you are into other aspects of creativity asides the rap?
I am a writer and motivational speaker, I don’t know if I am a great actor yet but all these I do to try to be proactively positive with everybody. I am more of a business now because I have people whom I am responsible for. I work with brands, on how to help them reach their target audience. I am having strategy meetings with people on how to move their brands from cool to super cool
Is this something you studied or did you pick it up along the way?
When you have been in a certain industry f or a while, you pick up things. I am Vector, I don’t have any tattoos or piercings so I can put on a suit and sit with people in a boardroom and we converse. I am not condemning anybody. Right now there is a new imprint I am with. Its titled GRAP and we do a lot of work in that space.
Did you purposely decide against tattoos?
I think something as sacred as the body should only be altered when there is a compelling reason to do so. I realise its your body and your decision but for me right now, I am just not feeling it. I was in Vegas in this cool tattoo parlour and their designs were awesome but it just wasn’t me.
I read some stuff about you saying you would do porn if the price is right. Has anyone hit you with an appropriate offer?
People are funny sha. We are too quick to judge things we hear without paying close attention. It is just like someone asking me what I feel about musicians collecting money from politician, I told them if it isn’t against the law then its fine. A lot of us would jump at the same offer. I just made a reference about going into acting. I am not trying to encourage porn and I am not even saying it is bad.
Let us talk about your big blow out with YSG. We never really heard your side of the story. How come?
I chose not to say anything and to leave that matter close because it really doesn’t matter what happened. I am not with YSG anymore but we are in a very okay relationship. It is funny how you say one thing and are misquoted as saying another so I just want to let things lie and not reopen old wounds.
Is there anything that happened with YSG that you regret? Stuff you wish was better handled?
I don’t think I regret anything but yes even successful moves when re-evaluated can be improved upon, how much more, stuff like that. If I was given another chance, I would make sure that certain things that were, weren’t and certain things that weren’t, were. I am not in the habit of regretting because everything is a lesson.
How much of the disagreement was your fault and how much would you place at the other side’s door?
To be honest I don’t know how to quantify blame. At the end of the day both parties had their own faults as well as their reasons for acting the way that we did. It was just one huge misunderstanding and as of now we are good.
How did you start doing music professionally?
In 2009 I was somewhere at a show that Ill Bliss invited me for at Ikeja. I came in, rapped, someone handed me a complimentary card and I went to Festac for a meeting and got signed.
Would you say that music has been good to you?
Yes
Has the journey been what you expected before you started out?
You get disappointed along the road but I guess that is how it is for most of us in Nigeria especially since there isn’t a structure. What we have is a situation where you are just moving along and whatever you meet along the road, you cross it. You would think that when you put out music, people would accept it for what it is but you realise that most times people just want to dance. The other times they want to dance some more, a few times, they want to dance again. And it is like you have to find a way of inserting serious messages into dance music. The larger audience tilts towards the dance side of things and at some point you have to make a decision to reach out to the dancing audience or wait for them to find you. You expect people to appreciate great music on the surface but that’s not so, you have to work to get them to listen. It kind of makes you appreciate your audience better though.
Are you saying that you have been forced to make music that ordinarily you would not imagine yourself doing but as dictated by the markets?
Of course. All artistes go through that. But it isn’t necessarily the market that dictates, sometimes, it is the baba that is putting down money for your artiste development that tells you what he wants you to hear.
But even the Boss is influenced by the markets isn’t he?
Yes but bros what is this market? Mode 9’s biggest, most commercial hit was Cry. Judging by the market, Asa was the biggest selling artiste of that year. Is her music Pangolo? At the end of the day a lot of people have neglected the fact that there must be push and positioning with music. We need to find more PR people who are into strategically placing music and brands and not just everybody doing the same thing. This is what makes it difficult to push beyond these shores. It seems we are just recycling around the same circles.
In Ill Bliss’ new single, Different kind of war he literally asks us to stop dancing for once and listen to him.
Maybe if we stop dancing just for a while and listen, we wouldn’t be carried away by jingles that are more of party beats and less substance.
Life is hard. I think people deserve to chill and have fun after a hard day’s work
Fun is good but are we going to have fun from Monday to Sunday? Sometimes you need to listen to someone who points out your struggle and doesn’t just sweep it under the carpet. Which begs the question, are there people doing that? Which also raises another question, are there people that will support those that want to do that so that they don’t go extinct like the ones before them? Anything that becomes extinct becomes so because of how it was preserved. Dancing is fantasy but when you are sober, you will realise that there are potholes on the road that leads to the club, there is no light at home. Fun is not an infinitum, it is time bound. After that what do you do? Everyone wants money but the richest people ar those who generate ideas.
What are your musical influences?
A lot of them. I like Enya, Celine Dion, Jay-Z, Nas, J cole, Mali music, Ludacris old albums, Drake, Lil Wayne, Rick Ross, Meek Mills, Nicki Minaj. They all add up and tell you the state of music in the world. I still remember Ebenezer Obey songs that my mum used to play, Sunny Okosun, Ese Agese, Ras Kimono. I am proactively inspired.
Are you impressed by any of your contemporaries?
Niniola is good, Endia is going to be heavy, Yung L, Tay is just killing everybody right now, Kiss Daniels can really sing and sounds so confident for a rookie. There is hope. Contemporary music is doing so well, I am not sure of the industry but the art is definitely there.
When you say you aren’t sure of the industry what do you mean?
I don’t know if we have an industry or a club. One huge night club. Some of these guys I mentioned are in the underground scene and I am not sure if the industry is ready to support them right now, that is what I mean.
