Tejiri Ebikeme/Frank Efe
Popular Warri based musician, Emma Grey recently spoke to The Reformer crew of Tejiri Ebikeme and Frank Efe on the Nigerian Music Industry and his plans for the future. Read on
Please introduce yourself to us.
My name is Emma Grey. I am the Governor of Performance Musicians Association of Nigeria (PMAN), Delta State Chapter. I am also the Chairman of Governors Forum, PMAN, the Chairman of Kungfu, Delta State Sports Council. I am married with children and I am also a grandfather.
Emma Grey has been very silent for a very long time, why?
The word silent to me sounds very funny because I have not been silent, I have been working and I thank God for His wisdom. Even Christ in the Bible, at a time went into the wilderness to pray, observe and to receive anointing. So what men may call silent may be a time for me to reason on what next to be done. So we have been working spiritually.
What do you mean by spiritually?
Spiritually in the sense that, I have laid down a legacy in the field of performance and also trying to create awareness about what music is all about in this environment. I need to move to the next level where people will not only get Emma Grey in the performing floor, but they will have Emma Grey in their rooms, in their cars and their homes. I am working on my album and I am trying to make sure that everything is properly done.
Talking about album, what are we expecting from your next album and when are you launching your album?
I am trying to remix some of my old songs and make them better for my fans and also to make them remember the good old days, appreciate one another and also respect what music is all about. Music is a beautiful gift from God and it is not just for merriment. I also want to let everyone who is into music know that glory and grace must return to the founder where music came from and will continue to be.
You are talking about the spirituality and the gospel, are your turning into a gospel artist?
I see myself as a child of God born to rule in my own kingdom. Born to use what I have as a platform to preach the good tidings because the word of God make me to understand that blessed are those who promote the word of God because He has rated His words above His name and if we all do this, the world would be a better place. So I am privileged to preach through my music the word of God. So whoever wants to call me a gospel singer is free to do so and whoever wants to see me as a secular singer is also free to see me that way. But the most important thing is that my music carries the message that there is a God and that the life we are living is being governed by a supernatural force and that force must be respected and we must all obey the law.
What is your comment about the lyrics of our young generation singers that talk only about women, fame and riches?
The Bible says that there is a time for everything. I do not see any bad in what the youths today are doing. Some people in their mentality see it as the wrong way. They are preaching the gospel of the present generation as it concerns them. This is their age, this is their generation and if the elders have failed to create a middle class where the youths will embrace, where the poor and the rich can meet; whatever they are doing right now, they are all in line for a change. Music is a very serious weapon that you can use to change situations. So whatever the youths are doing today is being governed by the spirit of the present generation. And if you look at it from another angle, they have a promise somewhere, but the leaders are not there to show them the direction. Because the Bible says, teach them the right way to follow and they will not depart from it. Look at South Africans, no matter how good their music is, no matter the level of sophistication put in the album, you see them still adding their culture because that is what have been laid down by their fore-fathers. They dance like kings because that is the way they see themselves. Nigerians today, how are we seeing ourselves? Delta today, how are we seeing ourselves? Wafarians, how are we seeing ourselves? Where is the platform? Where is the middle class where the poor man knows that though he is a poor man, but he has a platform because his brother is a rich man. There is a spiritual ladder which the poor man uses to get to the top. You will have a situation whereby the guy come to see his elder brother and he is welcomed and entertained and is help. Even though the guy cannot manage millions, he can manage thousands. You are supposed to know that man also have some little challenges, so help him out. That is what we call the middle class. That is what I feel is the cause of the crises we are facing in this country. The orientation is bad and people do not sit down and say these things are bad and we do not need them.
What is happening to Reggae music in Nigeria?
Reggae music is still alive but the only problem is that time has changed and the only thing the world deserve is change. Bob-Marley, Peter Touch, Lucky Dube and their likes came as prophets and they used reggae music to preach the gospel to the world. Now the time has come for a change. There is this dance that is in vogue now that they call Azonto that is taking people away from stress, giving them a new flexibility. If you look at it in the spiritual real, you will be amazed at how they move their bodies. This shows that we are approaching the time that music is going to control people. If you play azonto here now, you will see how the children will just change automatically and that is a sign that we are approaching a time when music will arrest both the young and old. That is the word of God that we must go back to Eden, the foundation where it all started from, where peace was peace, where love was love and not diluted love that we have now.
As you speak now what are you working on and when are people going here and see you on video?
Talking about video clips, it is based on finance because what I want to do now my finance cannot get it done. But I know by God’s grace that says all things are possible, I want to do an album release; I just dreaded to call it an album launch because I just felt that you do not need to call it an album launch because that word is an old word. I just felt like calling it an album release where I will call my friends and make it a package where if you have something to support my dream and vision and make my career move to the next level, you can support me. I cannot play and sing the new school because I have laid a foundation in the history of Delta state. I think it is by God’s grace that I am able to play the drum for ten hours non-stop, changing from one song to another and without mistake. The state I am right now is a state where I do not want to fail. At a point I said to myself how do I get along and how do I go to the next level? And God said to me, take a leave for a while but continue doing your shows. So I waited for Him for His direction and He is directing me. I want to make a presentation by God’s Grace, on the 5th of May, which is the first Sunday of the month. I love to do it on a Sunday because that is the time that everybody must have come from the Church. We will sit together for an hour or two and we will celebrate it and whatever support you have for me you can support me so that I see myself up there. I was on stage with Sunny Neji and it was glorious experience. On stage I played my old school songs that they know me for. I learnt something there, and that thing is my album is not known. If my album was known then would have played it there.
What is the title of the album?
I do not want to mention it because I did the album before but it was not well done based on logistics. And you know an album is just like writing, you have to make some correction, do some research on the beats, lyrics and rhyme before you release it. At a time I had to set it aside and said let me assemble my equipments. I rushed a studio of mine and I started working again. On two or three occasions the system crashed and I had to start all over again because I have a spiritual understanding from my spiritual father from the living faith Bible Church, (aka Winners Chapel), and I have this believe on the spirit of continuity and so I stayed on and today I have completed it. So now I have to get it out to the people.
Why is it so difficult for young artist to play live on stage?
Let me tell you what I feel is the cause. Like I told you before the leaders, somewhere along the line lost it. Many years back when I used to be under my Elder brother playing the drum, we used to travel a lot. We used to go to recording studio in Ejebu-Ode where we record live. You have to play live there in the studio. The recording studios then pay your bills and they even fly you abroad for mixing and remixing. They do everything for you and at the end of the day they will give you equipments after the release of your album. They also pay you royalties for your works. It was booming then, but after a while the white men left and went back to their place. The Africans that were left in charge could not take care of the artists. So this made a lot of artists find it difficult to go to the studios. Other artist because of the passion they have, started paying to do their demo and even to see a producer. From there we started losing it and the younger ones do not have anybody to help them. They manage to do one or two jobs and they go to the studio and pay to get their jobs done. Now thank God for the computer that has made it easy and they realize that, they do not have to pay four horns men. In the computer they made it easy for you to work. You and your producer can just sit in a room and produce a song, and you go to the studio and burn it into CDs. This started giving them encouragement.. I know a lot of artist in Nigeria who can and are still playing live and are living by playing live and handling workers. What is the government doing to encourage such people?
What is the problem in the Nigeria Music Industry today?
I do not think we have a problem in the industry today, what I think we have are challenges. And what I feel is the problem is, the lack of the knowledge that what you are is not what I am. Your talent cannot be my talent and my talent can never be yours. But at the end of the day I think should all have a focal point where we can all meet. Remember I said no matter what you achieve here on earth is vanity upon vanity. We all have a platform to showcase ourselves. Lawyers, journalists, doctors and other profession have platforms. Nigerian musicians have PMAN as a platform and anything that is going wrong in the entertainment world in Nigeria will go wrong through that place and anything that has to be done right has to be done through that place. But if that place is not well managed in love and understanding then we can say we have a problem.
Tell us something about your nephew, Houston Grey?
Houston Grey is a young man who has worked hard through his father. He is my brother’s son and he is also my son. He met with my son, Daniel, who goes by the name Dre Beat, who is the producer for Houston Grey. God in his infinite mercy brought another big brother to them who own a recording company. He is Mr. O.J. Okosun the CEO of Revolution Records. He is a young man who loves music. I want to thank the Delta State Governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan and the Commissioner for Tourism, Barrister Richard Mofe Damijo for the good work they are doing in the entertainment industry.
