I HATE NIGHT CRAWLING —OLU MAINTAIN

By Funmi Johnson
OLU MAINTAIN
OLU MAINTAIN

Olumide Edward Adegbulu, popularly known as Olu Maintain is a self confessed introvert with an accommodating and homely spirit. As a musician who claims he is constrained by his profession to keep late nights Olu maintained that, “I'm not even a night crawler but I do not have a choice when duty calls than to be a night crawler”
In this interview with us NFC, he explained what the song Yahoozy is all about and what inspired him to write the song. Excerpt;

Who is Olu Maintain?

My real names are Olumide Edward Adegbulu. I'm a very liberal person, an indoor person and a homely person. I'm also a television person. I don't drink, I don't smoke and I'm still single. I started music professionally about ten years ago with the musical group, Maintain. We released our first single titled “Domitilla” in 1998 and another titled “Omotoyosi” followed in 1999.

Our first album was released in year 2000 “Nibo lawa ngbe lo” and in the year 2001 “Alo alo” followed. In 2004 the group released its last album titled “Looking for a wifey” and split in 2005.

What led to the split?

The only thing constant in life is change and you have to evolve with time. We got to a point in our career where we wanted different things. Tony wanted to try different things apart from music, I wanted to keep on pursuing my own dreams, my own way. So we agreed amicably that instead of slowing ourselves down, it was better to move on, so that was basically it.

What prompted you to do yahoozee and what is yahoozee?

Twice in every decade, you'll have a dance that consumes the entire consciousness of people. Five, six years ago, it was Makoussa, now it is Yahoozee. Everybody that tried to identify with Makoussa at that time were successful, the likes of Koffi Olumide, Awilo and the Magic System. Every body brought in their various versions of Makoussa. Yahoozee is a dance that I sensed was going to evolve or was going to really take over the dance thing.

I felt it was wise to sing this song that centers around what people can identify with, and glory be to God, the song is now synonymous to me, anywhere they do the dance now, the first thing that comes to people's mind is Olu Maintain. And you know, you can't dance if you're not happy and you can't be happy if you don't unwind and you unwind with the three elements of life, women, wealth and wine. So if you work from Monday to Friday, you owe it to yourself to enjoy from Friday to Sunday and that is what the song is about.

Contrary to some misconceptions that people have, Yahoozee is just a basic song of you enjoying from Friday to Sunday while you work from Monday to Friday. The “awon kan waye wa sise” part of the song simply means that many are called but the chosen ones are few, and that is to say that it's not every one in life that will be rich in this world. So that is the long and short of the story.

What was the inspiration you had to doing this song?

The dance was what inspired me to do the song. You can not sing about a song without making it a nucleus center for enjoyment and enjoyment is about relaxation, having fun after the stress of the day, you let out the steam and with ease, you enjoy your life.

When is the VCD of Yahoozee coming out?

It will be out on the independence day, October 1st .
How will you describe the industry now compared to what you had back then?

The industry is very lucrative now because of the tendency of Nigerians to patronise our music. Although piracy still thrives, there is a larger awareness and demand for Nigerian music.

How do you unwind?

Like I said, I don't drink, I don't smoke. I'm not even a night crawler but because of duty call, I don't have a choice but to be a night crawler. I go to the movies once in a while when the time is there because these days, my calender is usually very congested because I've been doing a lot of traveling lately.

Are you a designer freak?

Yes I am. I wear both local and international designers, anything that is good. I'm a very colorful person and I'm very fashion conscious and I like jewelries a lot.
What message do you have for your numerous fans out there
I'll like to thank them all for their love, support and patronage. God bless them all.