Joseph Oluwatobiloba Abojei, also known as Blessed Boy has advised upcoming artistes never to approach investors empty handed.
The musician said, for any investor to respect and value an artiste in whom they will invest, such artiste needs to bring some financial value to the table, and not expect the investor to fund every aspect of his music recording and promotion. He said, “An artiste should be able to tell an investor that this is my plan, this is where I am, and your investment will only help me get to that point that I want to be”. The United States of America based artiste said good music requires good money and an upcoming artiste needs to have another source of income to fund his musical career, he added that it is suicidal for any upcoming to do music full time.
He further stated that beyond talent, creativity and hard work, finance plays a major role if a musician will succeed in Nigeria. Speaking on how he funds his passion for music, the artiste who holds a US College Degree in Business Administration said he works multiple jobs in the States (amongst which is driving an Uber Taxi) to finance the production and promotion of his songs. “Many upcoming are always ashamed of their hustle, but I am very proud of my jobs” he added. Blessed Boy who picked interest in music in the late 2000s, shortly before traveling out of the country decided to pursue a career in music in 2011 and has since released over 20 tracks such as “Babara, Ayedun-Chop Life, Save Us, Throw That, Great Call, Adara, My Hand, Precious, Take Over, Trophy, and Black” amongst others. Hinting on his next project, he stated that he is working on a new track that will be released on May 14th being his birthday, the artiste who didn’t want to give much details about the song, however, mentioned that the song which will be released with its video is already being perfected. The artiste who is determined to break through and secure his place in the Nigerian music space, using every legal and acceptable means, such as working hard and creating good music has promised to drop at least one amazing single once every two months for the next five years.
According to him, he has no plans of releasing any EP or album any time soon, because he wants to daily challenge himself to becoming a better version of Blessed Boy and also ensure his previous singles would not be better than his current single. Describing the Nigerian music market, Blessed Boy said the industry is a very unique one, based on the diverse audiences an artiste can reach with their different types of music. He added that any artiste can become something with their own style without trying to imitate anyone. According to him, the Nigerian audience is so diverse, as you have the elites, polished, crude, illiterates, educated and touts as potential targets, and there is no type of sound you make as a musician that won’t appeal to a segment of the potential audience. “Every musician will definitely find a very loyal fan base in Nigeria if they stay true to their sound and style” he stated.
Dickson Edward The US based singer who started his music career in Sagamu, Nigeria before relocating to the States in 2009, said he sees himself in a class of his own, because he is not in competition with anybody in the music industry, but he keeps striving to be a better version of himself every day. Speaking about what inspires his music, he said music is a thing of the soul, a tool he uses to appreciate himself, others and God, he added that he uses music to express himself and address happenings and issues around him. Blessed Boy further said, despite being in the States, he will not allow the American kind of music influence him to the point of losing his Nigerian flavour and sound. He stressed that he is a Nigerian by blood, because he spent his formative years in Nigeria, thus, whenever he writes or records music, the Nigerian in him always prevails. “Despite being based in the US, I do music basically for the Nigeria audience, because I am a Nigerian by blood. I do American types of songs, but, every time I try to be American, I just can’t, because I can’t forget home. He also states that he will definitely return to Nigeria to face music squarely, because Nigeria is where to be and where you get the automatic sound as well as the producers that understands the Nigerian sound and audience. The artiste, who formerly goes by the name Young Bliss, said he is still hustling in the USA to get enough funds for his music career before coming back home fully, because there are many Nigeria producers he wishes to work with. On working with big Nigerian artiste, Blessed Boy said he is working on attaining a certain creative level, where a big artiste will be excited to feature on his song just as much as he is excited featuring them. He further stressed that he wants a situation where big artistes coming to feature on his songs will bring their very best to the project.
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