Soulful songstress, Tiwatope Savage-Balogun, is a symbol of classical music any day. With her musical dexterity that cuts across all and sundry, Tiwa has over the years, proven her critics wrong in all yardsticks by carving a niche for herself in showbiz. In this chat with MUTIAT LAWORE, Tiwa, who recently released her much talked about song ‘49-99’ with a show stopping concert at the popular Obalende bridge, spoke about her new style of music, her Molue experience, tagged: the queen of Afrobeat, and her staying power, among others.
Are you planning a US tour?
We are definitely planning a promo tour in November. Actually, I have not told anyone before. This is the first time that I am announcing it. The tour is to promote my new single. Next year, I have an official tour because I will be releasing a new album.
What is the concept and why now?
To be honest, Olamide didn’t want me to say this. Olamide, Pheelz and myself worked on the record and by the time I got to his house, he had already started the line 49 sitting 99 standing. I figured it was a line from Fela’s song, Suffering and Smiling. I fell in love with it immediately. I feel like, as an artiste getting global recognition, it is my responsibility to speak on things, affecting a lot of Nigerians.
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Your new song is a departure from your usual party jams laced with romance. What informed this?
There is a time and place for everything; I know that the fans want to dance and fall in love but I wanted my first introduction to the rest of the world to have substance. That is why this song is very special to me. We all know that 49-99 describes the molue bus where you have twice the number of people sitting down, standing up. That’s a reflection of the poverty and things that Nigerians are fighting daily. We may not have the molues anymore but we still have people hanging off buses or okada to get to work everyday. We have pregnant women and mothers, carrying children in their hands to work every day under this circumstance. So, I wanted this to speak on that. I must say that I am not attacking anyone but I just saying that this is a reality that millions of Nigerians face everyday and music is way we can get this message out.
44-99 song is about what people on the streets go through but ironically, street songs don’t project conscious messages like you have just done with this song. How do you reconcile this?
As artistes, we try to create music that takes us away from our daily worries. When you are thinking about a lot of things, you also don’t want to be caught up in what you are dealing with. Artistes try to make sure that in those three minutes of listening to our music, they can escape the reality but there must be a balance and that is why 49-99 is important to me.
From New York to London, the promotion has been huge, what makes 44-99 different from other projects of yours and why?
When I signed with Universal, I had Sir Lucian on board and had Alex of Island Records on board as well. They were so excited and felt like it was void of female artistes. We have male artistes dominating the scene and they wanted to put so much in a new project for a female act. They wanted to make a lot of noise about it. To be honest, we didn’t expect it to be this big. A lot of brands jumped on board like Boomplay, Universal Nigeria and Nigerian Brewries. Boomplay put together my performance under Obalende Bridge and that was huge. They also helped to make sure my song is heard by millions across Africa. It wasn’t even in our plan initially but I guess it was God’s timing and everything aligning.
What really informed your choice of performing at Obalende Under Bridge?
I think as an artiste, I cannot shy away from the people. It was very important that I connect with them and let them know how important they are to my growth as an artist.
How do you feel when people describe you as Queen of Afrobeat?
I feel flattered. I think it is amazing that people will place that title on me. But definitely I am not. There are so many queens just like there are so many kings. You have to understand and appreciate how hard we all work. You can’t place or limit the title to one person because Burna is doing his thing; Wizkid is doing his thing, same for David, Yemi Alade and Simi as well. Everybody is working hard. When you pitch us against one another to compete for one position, it makes it hard for us to do what we do. I think we are blessed as Nigerians to have so many talents. We just have to celebrate everyone. We all are kings and queens. There is only one original King and that is Jehovah.
Now that you are advocating conscious music, do you plan to be more politically active?
First of all, politics is not my calling (laughs). I will leave it for those God has called to do politics.
Have you entered a molue before?
I haven’t entered a molue before, to be honest. I grew up in the UK and that was where I spent my youthful years. But the fact that I have not been in a molue doesn’t stop me from identifying with people, who have had the experience. I can’t pretend as if that experience never or doesn’t exist. 49-99 is meant to beam the light on people who have had the experienced it before.
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What has been your staying power?
Definitely, it is my faith in God. I feel blessed because a lot of people started on this level with me but they are no more there today. For this, I’m very grateful to God. I just want my story to be a testimony and inspiration to other people. From when I started with Flytime and Cecil Hammond, a lot has since happened. I’m growing and I feel like I just started in the global market. I think my staying power would be hard work and humility in addition to my faith in God because one has to remind oneself that this thing can leave tomorrow. One has to make sure one works hard to leave a good legacy behind.
What were your fears those early years, considering it was a male-dominated industry?
Well, the industry is still kind of ‘male-dominated’ even now. I would say that, there were fears then and there are fears now as well (laughs). I don’t think we ever stop entertaining fears in life. There were legitimate fears about how the people were going to accept my brand, how are my old and new fans going to react? I serve a living God and I don’t let fears consume me too much.
What was it like for you to interact with market women during the empowerment programme you participated in?
It was amazing seeing women hustling. I feel very connected to them and I was so happy to be a part of them. I was happy to encourage them; you should have seen the look of joy on their faces. Nigerian women try a lot; we work very hard. They deserve so much more.
