IMPOSSIBLE ONLY MEANS I’M POSSIBLE
TAIYE TUNKARIMU
She started singing at age four and knew all the jingles of that time. NENE, the fourth runner –up of the reality show, NOKIA FIRST CHANCE was born in the UK some years ago. This diva though from Nigerian parents dressed in a White shirt and Ankara skirt, a local fabric, with her neatly fixed curly hair hanging around her shoulders hails from Edo state of Nigeria has always been into music and a part of the literary and debating society while in school. A graduate of Lagos State University (LASU), NENE has high expectations of herself as well as high hopes and dreams. She thought to herself one day that she would stand and sing on some kind of stage and to that effect she worked regularly on herself so as to get used to the different crowd in other to succeed with more challenges.” I don’t wait to see a crowd of about three thousand people before I work on myself but with consistency you get a better side of YOU as an ARTISTE”. This mother of three (3) boys had a chat with Taiye Tunkarimu recently at an event.
HER ALBUM
(Coughs and clears her throat) Am cooking something and by the time the aroma goes far (laughs) you’ll all wonder but am running on my album and trying to make sure all the songs are put together. It’s actually the first album but I had a single running and a lot of people are asking for it but you know good things take time and I just don’t want to jump out with an album because I want to do something classic that people will keep listening to over and over again.
For her, Singing has never been a hobby but a dream. “Some people who saw me growing up in life didn’t notice singing as a part of me although some noticed because they were actually watching. I never thought music would become so big for me that I would be identified with it”. When something is your passion and dream, it’s all you want to do and definitely it becomes your identity
NOKIA FIRST CHANCE
The competition was an eye opener for me as an artiste to see a more creative and business side of music especially in the Nigerian industry and the entertainment industry internationally. It was quite an experience, I learnt a lot from the contestants, organizers, stage performances to the kind of music style I wanted.
TEMIDARA her hit single was released three months after she got out of the NOKIA FIRST CHANCE competition. “What gave me the inspiration was the fact that I was a contestant, I didn’t win, I knew I was good and for some reasons I was not crowned the winner but I looked inside of me and said I have to do something extra because it is not a time to sit back and cry. The competition took a lot out of my time and life. TEMIDARA was a song I wrote just walking on the road and humming to myself. The inspiration came just like that and I got home, met my husband who took me over the cords and I put the lyrics to it”.
Before and when she’s on stage, the first thing that goes through her mind is whether or not she is getting paid, people don’t know but they are there to listen to what she has to say/sing. “The fact that people are gathered to listen to you means that you have some kind of power and control. At this point you are a leader showing the audience where to go, if you are scared or not sure of yourself, you lose your crowd because people don’t actually know what goes on back stage. I can either make or mar people’s lives, so there is a lot of responsibility and mentality attached to it”. This high note soprano singer makes sure she goes on stage with some form of euphoria, either calm or up tempo level of energy that will make the audience dance and go down memory lane. “Its energy sapping and requires some sort of psychology attached to it”
Just recently, she recorded a song in collaboration with “EGO” titled “SISTERS”. “It’s a song we wrote together. It’s about two people who have been away from each other, sisters not necessarily biological but friends who grew up together and are meeting again to share their experiences on what life has taught them”. And on having more collaboration she says “is under check right now”. Although the remix of TEMIDARA featured COBHAMS but she would love to work with………… (She laughs), “I’ll let you guys know later on”.
FEMALES IN THE MUSIC INDUSTRY
The fact is the industry is dominated by the male artiste but it doesn’t mean the females don’t have what it takes. The way men and women function naturally differs, so musically, you see the difference too. The chances are high because women are builders; we are the people that can turn a house into a home. A female artiste needs to have a good voice and there are some extra flavours she must put into her music, her style, image, charisma that will make people buy into her music. The female artistes are coming up well and good, it might seem slow but on stage we build the energy, sound and vocals. So we are not at a loss.
This eccentric lover of tunes listens to all kinds of music from Fuji, Jazz to hip-hop, soul as long as the music is good and makes her go whao. “Personally I love soul and poetry where I can express myself in rhythms and rhymes”.
When NENE is not singing, cooking and attending to people gives her a delight because it makes her a part of people’s lives. “These I love to do because am very hospitable and homely when am in my zone but in public people tend to serve me. Meanwhile, in the house or when my friends come around, we wash the dishes, cook and do all those little things because it really matters”. Besides this, NENE likes to write about anything, poetry, songs and watching movies especially cartoon.
WHAT GIVES HER INSPIRATION?
“Your hair and shirt is inspiring me right now. Sometimes I look at people in their quiet moment and I just go Hhhmmmm”. She draws inspiration from people and their situation, fiction and real life experience because she has been through a lot in life. “God and other artiste are also a source of my inspiration”. Sometimes it’s good to listen and learn from other people because life is about learning from each other she said.
HER WORD FOR THE UPCOMING ACT
Be sure of what you want to do. Don’t go into something because people are doing it. Have a passion and don’t look for the gain before the pain. Most young people want the money, fame and attention without paying their dues. The truth is nothing good comes easy. You have to work at it and have a never say die spirit even when people are driving you off, your passion will keep you going. Sometimes things happen not to bring you down but to push you up. You don’t have to do it like the unbelievers to make it.
Her philosophy of life is uncountable but one is “ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE”. This she said is true as nothing is IMPOSSIBLE with God. “There were times when people thought it was impossible for a black man to make it to the white house or for a plane to fly, the truth is every time an impossibility is placed before you, it is a time for you to break through and do the impossible which means “I’M POSSIBLE” because the bible says, all things are possible to them that believe. Don’t ever let people still into your belief.
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