I know my stepmother more than my mum - 9ice
Abolore Adegbola Akande, popularly known as 9ice is also known for his widely celebrated hit track Gongo Aso that catapulted him into limelight. In this interview with Yejide Gbenga-Ogundare, he bares his mind on the ban placed on two tracks in his album for their perceived lewd content, his belief that it is important to expose children to sex education early enough in order for them to take right decisions and sundry issues. Excerpts:
Introduce the person called 9ice?
9ice is a Nigerian artiste of Yoruba background, it is my stage name which I got way back when I was at vocational training school and ever since, everybody has been calling me 9ice and I saw it as a challenge to be nice in my everyday way of life. My real name is Abolore Adegbola Akande, I am from Ogbomoso in Oyo State. I had my primary and secondary education in Lagos State. I am from a polygamous family of nine children, with five boys. Much of my life was spent in Lagos.
What is your kind of music?
I will call it world fusion, because it comprises all kinds of music. You can feel hip-hop, fuji, awurebe and many more in it. It is a blend of all kinds of music.
How much of your effort went into the album Gongo Aso?
I will say that hours and days went into the album, songs in the album I can say I have been working on for many years, but the time it took for production and final mixing was not more than two months, if not less. But the lyrics took some time.
Did the album also make you rich in addition to the fame it brought?
I would say I have made money on the album as most of the things that are happening to me now can be traced to the success of the album
How much were you paid for Gongo Aso?
When we released Gongo Aso, the marketer paid some amount of money worth millions, but I would not want to state the exact amount for personal reasons. And I can say it confidently that he made good profit on the album too and he is the same person that will release the video.
What is your view of the ban placed on your tracks Pamurogo and Kasal Final?
I heard of the ban but I could not confirm it as the two songs are still being played on air. Just two days ago while coming from Abeokuta, we switched on the radio and the song was being played. We are not being realistic because we need to give the young ones enough talk on sex education. Anyway, the woman was given the power and she did what she did as a mother trying to protect her children and I won't be surprised if the children she was trying to protect went behind her to listen to the music.
There is the general talk that you prefer your stepmother to your biological mother. Is this true? That is not true. You can only talk about what you feel or see and what you are part of. I can talk more about my step-mother because she is the one I stayed with, I have a very close relationship with her for over 20 years as against the years I spent with my mother which is about half the years I spent with her and she is also my mother. So, I can talk about her more than my mother but that does not change the fact that my mother is still my mother.