I am not a big boy –Sound Sultan

Sound Sultan started his career in the late nineties as a TV presenter, comedian, and dancer. He used to host a television segment where he displayed his rhyming skills. That is why it did not come as a surprise when he started singing just like his elder brother, Baba Dee. Lanre Fasasi (Sound Sultan) had his first major hit song in Jagbajantis. The song talked about the widespread corruption dragging Nigeria as a nation into poverty. The song was a huge success as many Nigerian youths could relate to it. He later teamed up with his brother, Baba Dee, to release a lot of collaboration songs, including Sodi E which featured Tuface Idibia. Fortune has always smiled on the multi-talented artiste, and in this interview, he tells http://www.nollywoodgists.com OSEYIZA Oogbodo about his new album and why he's no longer in demand at concerts.

Hey, Sound Sultan, how are you doing, man?
I'm cool, man.

What's the inspiration behind your latest hit, Bush Meat?

I've had to answer that question a time too many but, I keep saying, and I never get tired of saying it, that my direction of music, whenever I'm singing, you know, I have this political undertone in every song, in every message so, that's the direction it's coming from, I mean, thief and the owner, you know, everyday for the thief, and one day for the owner.

So who is the thief and who is the owner?

Well, the thief, because you people are always afraid to say it, that's why you are still asking me that question, I think you should have concluded that, and even tell it to your readers that the thief na the political thief wey dey chop our money and the owner na the people wey get the land.Have you been harassed by the government because of any of your political songs?

Do you want them to harass me?

No. But they used to harass Fela then. And even Eedris suffered because of his Jagajaga track.They don't need to harass me. I come a bit less direct. I work with intelligent minds. I work with people that can sit and think. That's what I work with. I put my messages embedded inside, so if you don't think well, you won't get it.
Do you feel the message would be gotten that way?

Definitely. Because when this one asks this one, that one will tell this one. It will thereby spread and everyone will know. And the sharp ones are out there, so many of them, they get the meaning.There's something about your video. Kennis Music's logo was absent from it.

Why?

Because I'm no more with Kennis Music. Oh! What happened?The contract is over. There's nothing, there's no beef, there's no fight, you know, I'm just on my own label, you know, Naija Ninjas Records is releasing this SS 4 next month.

Who owns Naija Ninjas label?

You or Baba Dee?It's owned by both of us.

Do you feel it's a wise move to quit Kennis Music?

With all due respect, you know, everybody have their own ideas on how their career should go, you know, we have grown to a level in this industry that there are certain things we think we can handle on our own because it's not just the music now, it's a franchise. So we thought of managing our careers without taking it outside the Naija Ninjas franchise. We have Naija Ninjas Production Outfit, Naija Ninjas Clothing, you know, Naija Ninjas Records is simply a part of it.

But won't these extra responsibilities affect your music negatively?

They don't. They don't because I'm always calculative. I time myself perfectly, and I have people that handle that for me. You can see the showpiece is over and I'm not even there, so I know how to handle my things.

You are no longer a part of big shows, unlike before. What's going on?Yeah, I think Naija, you know in Naija there's a little bit of know-me-know-you, dem dem, na my people sabi wey dey for the industry well well.

But you know, I'm less concerned about that. I think it's been a bit of hibernating of my career. But now, if you buy this new album, everybody will sharrap, sharrap, sharrap. You wan try me? Don't worry. When you buy this new album, you won't ask me that question again.

Is the album out?

It's dropping this month. The album is crazy. The album is gonna be what Sound Sultan is supposed to be. You know, nobody can understand your vision as good as you would, you understand, so I'm putting this in my hand as I'm already done with the album. It's a 10-track album, features lots of my friends. You should know Tuface, W4, Baba Dee, Lambo, 9ice, Ajasa, and some of our artists that are coming out on our label. You know we've got new artists coming out that are really gonna shock Nigeria, I tell you.

Who were the producers you worked with?

I worked with my very young friend, J Slick. The guy is a very talented producer. He's the one producing Tuface's album. J Slick is one of the producers, Little Prince is another, all these guys are young guys and they are very, very talented.

But do you believe in your heart of hearts that they have what it takes to deliver what Cobhams and co can?

Believe me, believe me, believe me, all these guys ... you don't scare me with those big names because they were small when I knew them. You understand me now, they were small when I knew them. I don't believe in name, name, name. Those guys are good. Cobhams, all of them, I worked with them.

Cobhams has the remix of Bush Meat he's doing. Nonetheless, you cannot sleep on ... that's what I always tell Nigerians, don't ever sleep on young names because those Cobhams of today ... I remember when I always used to come and pick Cobhams in his school hostel here (in Unilag) to go and work with Faze.

So I know when everybody had their own humble beginning, so you don't say because he's big now, this one too can't have a very good humble beginning, so, it's all I can say.

Can you tell us how many millions you are worth?

I don't share my belongings with anybody. I thank God and I will tell you that I'm rich from inside. If you close your eyes and see.You artists are also crazy about SUVs. How many do you have?Two.

What are their makes and models?

Na the same thing. Pathfinder, Pathfinder.But we have so many new SUVs, like Armada, Touareg, etc. Why are you using the old school sort?I'm not a big boy. I just manage myself.

What do you hope to achieve with this new album?

Definitely, this new album is going to take me places. I'm very optimistic about it. I know a lot of my fans have been oh, we need Sound Sultan, we want Sound Sultan, so this album is gonna be handled by me, videos handled by me, and we gonna take it to the next level, everything next level.