To this generation, the name Endee Ikeji may not ring a bell, but in the 1990s, along with the likes of Ras Kimono, Majek Fashek and The Mandators, among others that held sway in the music industry, Endee Ikeji made his mark with popular hit songs, chief among which are Revolutionise Africa, Stand Upright and Obiriwo. Obiriwo was a massive hit in the eastern part of Nigeria. Ikeji would later go into music production as a sound engineer, music producer and a instrumentalist. He helped produce many hit albums and even wrote Stella Monye’s all-time hit song, Arigo Samba. Currently, Ikeji, who started music in 1979, is the entertainment manager of Rita Lori Hotels. He is in the studio working on new hits. He speaks about his forthcoming album in this chat with Asst. Editor, Sam Anokam.
Ikeji
How long have you been in music?
I cannot count it in years, but I think I started doing something in the music industry for which I was paid when I was three years old, I danced. I was dancing and I was being paid for it. I got money from dance when I first got money from entertainment, and since then I have been in the entertainment world till today.
Where were you based before now?
I have always been in Lagos. In my younger days, I was in the eastern part of the country.
When did you start, professionally?
I started professionally as a disc jockey in the music industry. I was disc jockeying for money as early as 1978. I was still in secondary school then. I started singing professionally in 1982.
How many albums have you released so far?
I can say for the commercial side, I have released one album only but for the gospel production of jobs, I have done so many albums, I can’t count them. I have worked as a producer on so many albums. There is a group called Golden Echoes, I did three albums for them alone. And those albums are being sold all over the world. The one commercial album was done with Polygram Records, which came from the Lekki show competition where I was one of the winners then. Alex Zitto was also one of the winners. Polygram Records signed me on and that led to the making of my first album. The other albums I made are gospel. As a guitarist and producer, I worked with Lemmy Jackson for six years, producing a lot of albums. I have been mostly in the background, working. I was part of most of the productions that Lemmy Jackson did in those days, like Ras Kimono, Uche Ibeto, Stella Monye, Christy Essien-Igbokwe of blessed memory, and so on. When I was in sound, I became a sound engineer in EMI. I worked for four years and was part of the production of so many hit albums, like Oliver de Coque and Shina Adewale (Fuji Ropopo), among others.
Which song brought you to limelight?
There was Revolutionise the Nation on the album Positive Change, then Obiriwo, which was very popular in the East. It’s a highlife song. I wrote it and sang it. I played the guitar and produced it with the help of Emma Ogosi in 1991.
Why did you sing the hit, Let us revolutionise Africa?
Then, I was like an activist, which I am still. I felt too bad the way things were going, corruption was too much, then I was singing about revolution. Not revolution of being violent or destructive. You can hear at the end of the song, that ‘I am calling for a revolution, I’m also calling for a spiritual revolution, absence of all these will lead us to confusion,’ and I don’t know whether that is where we are heading right now, so this is a song I recorded as far back as 1989 and it was released in 1991.
Between then and now, what has changed in the country?
Nothing has really changed that much. The only thing I can see that has changed is that people have started speaking openly about corruption. But a lot of people are getting involved in corruption too. During President Obasanjo’s time, some ministers were being taken to the EFCC but at the end of the day, what happened to them? But then for Nigeria to have set up an organization like the EFCC, it is an improvement because, things like that were not there then and the level of corruption was very high; though it is still high now, but at least they are making moves. Maybe as successive governments come, they would create more methods and avenues through which corruption can be curbed.
What are you currently working on?
I am working on an album now, which contains some very beautiful songs like Chicken in the Pepper, Daben, which is done in Ghanaian language, Kanuri Lady, is a reggae number. It is a song I wrote when I was doing my youth service in Maiduguri. These are some hit songs on the album.
How are you inspired to write your songs?
Inspiration comes depending on my mood. True singers are very moody people. When the feeling comes, the inspiration comes; maybe what you are thinking at that time gets into you to affect your feelings and moods. Sometimes as you are thinking about it, there is a melody coming with it. There is very little difference between singing and talking. I believe anybody who can talk can sing. A lot of people talk without knowing it’s a song. What I am thinking, as I am talking now, if it gets into me, there is another aspect of me that it touches and then it brings a melody. Melody goes with the story and it becomes a song.
When would this new album come out?
As soon as possible, but before the end of this year.
What is your impression of the Nigerian music industry since you started and now?
Now it is so beautiful in the sense that there are so many recording studios, there are so many marketing companies and the avenues for marketing and distribution is so wide, unlike during our own time. In Lagos, there were four or five recording studios. Studios like Afrodisia, EMI and one or two. There was also one at Ijebu Ode.
Are you comfortable with what these young ones are singing?
It’s the music of their time. A lot of them are sweet, very melodious but the only (bad) thing I can say about their music is the lyrics. In our time, we used to spend time to make lyrics, send a message and tell a story. But now, people just sing, “All I want is your waist”, or something like, “The thing wey you dey do me ’e dey do you”, “’E dey make me…” but they have a lot of melody and rhythm in their music. And that is what is sustaining Nigerian music now.
What kind of music do you play?
I play almost all kinds of music. Like in the forthcoming album, the song Chicken in the Pepper, is jazz calypso, Daben is highlife, Kanuri Lady is reggae, then there is Makossa too.
Who is your target audience?
Everybody is my target. For instance, I noticed that this Chicken in the Pepper song, a lot of young people are crazy about it. People from the age of 40 love the reggae song. There is another one, My Nature, ca many young people like the song. It cuts across. It has six tracks.
When are you quitting music?
Does a human being quit music? There is no time for one to stop music. You keep listening and dancing to music until you can no longer dance. Even when you stop dancing, you will keep listening to music until you die. So if you are a singer, you keep singing until you no longer sing. Before Osadebe died, he was still being called for shows when he was old and when he got there, he would do one, two songs standing then he would sit down and finish the show. Look at somebody like the late Fatai Rolling Dollar, he was in his element at a very old age. Today you hear Tuface doing a collabo with Victor Olaiya. Olaiya is a grandfather and he is still into music; so there is no time you can quit music, until you stop talking.
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