Innocent Udeme Udofot is popularly known as MC Galaxy. Born in Akwa Ibom State, the singer and dancer began his career in the entertainment industry as a comedian before he took up singing. He came into the limelight with his hit song, I Go Calabar, which was followed by Sekem. He spoke with Newton-Ray Ukwuoma in this interview about the launch of his new album entitled, MMM, among other things.
How did you come by the name MC Galaxy?
A lady gave it to me in Akwa Ibom State. When I was trying to get a name for myself, she said I should answer Galaxy. You know, galaxy refers to a collection of stars. And you know the name fits since I am a comedian, musician and dancer; I felt it was a great name.
Before going to music, you were a comedian and dancer, how did comedy come to you?
Dancing has been my thing from childhood, but I worked on myself to become a comedian. I learnt from other people to become funny. It was difficult when we didn’t have a comedy club.
Can comedy be learnt?
Yes, but you have to have it in you and then develop it a little bit.
You introduced the Sekem and Comolop Cholom dance steps, are we expecting another dance in your forthcoming album?
Yes, I will be introducing four new dances in my new album.
From a comedian, to a musician, to a dance originator, what else is MC Galaxy?
MC Galaxy is a business man. I will be investing in many things this year.
Last year, you lost N25m on MMM.
I can’t even remember it. That’s in the past. I have forgotten about it.
You dropped your new album on your birthday. Is there a statement in the timing?
Yes. Three years in the industry is not easy. You mentioned my second album with the title MMM, meaning Money Making Machine. I used to be a comedian. I used to collect N2000 per show. There were times I begged producers to sleep in their studios; times I begged some artistes to stay in their boys’ quarters.
I used to dance for free. Now, all that has changed. I am happy now. I have empty rooms in my house now. I don’t even know where most of the people who live in my house come from. And thinking through all these things, I chose the title, MMM to inspire everybody that we are all capable of making money; that within us lies the machine that can grant us financial freedom. Everybody can make money. All you need is determination and consistency. All you need is to find out the money making machine that is in you. Anything can be your MMM. Do not underrate yourself. What you are doing now may not be what you will do forever.
Do you have any collaborations in the album?
Yes, but there were no Nigerian collaboration. This is because the focus of this album is Africa. I tried to blend some other African sounds into my music so that it can appeal to a wider African audience. We have sounds from Ghana, Angola, Congo and America in the album. I am trying to get the African market. The album featured artistes such as Sarkodie, Kelli Pyle, Neza, Beniton, Swizz Beatz and others. Doing a song with Sarkodie was an opportunity to appeal to my Ghanaian fans, doing a song with Kelli Pyle was also avenue to connect with my Angolian fans, and a song with Swiss Beatz gained me the American fans.
It is a sixteen-track album, fourteen singles and two bonus tracks. I pray the album brings in more money. I have spent a lot of money on the album, you know, going to America to record with Swizz Beatz; going to Angola to record with Kelli Pyle; going to Ghana to record with Sarkodie. I recorded the songs in different countries in Africa because I wanted to make it an African oriented album. Neza is the only female in the album.
Would you say that your MMM experience inspired the title of your album?
Not really. It was one of the reasons, but not the major reason.
Well, I didn’t think about it in that direction. I wanted to let them know that everyone can make money. That on discovering one’s passion and area of strength one can locate his own money making machine. And for what it is worth, anything that is unpleasant can be made pleasant. True I lost money, but it has taught me now that I am my own money making machine. A lot of people have learnt a lot of lessons from that experience.
Most of your songs are surprisingly successful. How would you describe the Nigerian music production in terms of the quality of the beat, lyrics and the video concept?
It is simple to understand Nigerian music. I like to tell up and coming artistes the truth. The secret of making a hit in Nigeria is the sound. That your voice is very good, that you are a good lyricist, or either beautiful or handsome does not score you much point in making a good song that Nigerians would love. If you get the beat right, if you invest in your production, if you work with a top producer, you will definitely get it right. Listen to the quality of sound in Tekno’s Pana, or PSquare’s Do Me, Davido’s If.
You can never sit down with sounds like that. If your sound is heavy, you are guaranteed of success. It is not in fact compulsory that you talk. For instance, Comolop Cholom was about the only thing I said in that song. It did not take me thirty minutes to finish Sekem. I Go Calabar was my first song ever. Shizzi made me sing it. We were playing around and he wanted me to make a song for the then governor of Akwa Ibom State, Godswill Akpabio. Everything I did in ‘I Go Calabar’ was from King Soro Boy. And then I began to mention names of rich people. And when Davido heard the beat, he was like, “Who get this beat? I want to record”. (Shout out to him, because before I started singing he was the only top singer who visited my comedy club.
So we did that song together. I had to teach Davido some of the words in Calabar. The following day, the song was ready. I played the song at the comedy club. One man heard the song and was like “Akpabio is my friend. Why don’t you do the video of this song?” I said, “With which money?” He laughed and asked me to meet him the next day. Long story short, he gave me 2 million naira to shoot the video for the song. That was how I started my music career. I shot the video with Patrick Dillis and now that song has reached over 21 million views on Youtube. I still make money from that song till this day. That is one of the reasons I called my second album MMM – Money Making Machine. We can all make money.
How much did Governor Godswill Akpabio give you?
Funny enough, many people think Akpabio gives me money. I am a businessman. I keep them as friends. If you start with money they will not be picking your calls. I don’t ask them for money. They are my friends. If I want to do something I call them. Akpabio was in my first album listening party. Udom was there also. I am friends with most of the governors in Nigeria. I do a lot of private shows for them. And I respect [Godswill] Akpabio. He is a giver.
Now that you have released another album, do you have plans to tackle piracy?
You know I posted on my Instagram that as a birthday gift, people should go to itunes and buy my album because right now, you can only find my album on itunes and Music plus. These are the only two places you can find my album. I have not sent it to any blogger. My manager made sure of that. We know if it gets to blogs people would have it for free. And with the response we are getting now, people are buying it. This is the only way we can make money without pirates sweeping in. This is also why I had to do a lot of international collaborations. To be frank, Sekem did not make me as much money as Bounce remix I did with Beniton made me because it was on itunes and it was sold for one dollar. Americans buy their songs.
Is it that Nigerians don’t have money to buy?
No. it is the fault of the artiste. And I think we can control that. People are talking about the economy. I think we are the problem of the economy. We need prayers in this country. This is why the first track in my album is ‘I Pray’. I got inspired by the situation in the country to do that song. And it is doing very well online. The video will be out in few days’ time. I shot the video with Clarence Peters. Personally, I have some plans for piracy and I have been talking with some people about that. We can stop this.
Is comedy still in the pipeline?
Not really, but if you call me for comedy, I can come and perform. But I make sure I do the three. If I come for your show, I will dance, crack jokes and sing. It is full package. And I am about to commence a comedy series, because in Nigeria, people always want more. Two talents are not enough. It was very hard for people to accept me as a singer. Most people believed I was a comedian and an unserious singer. It was after ‘I Go Calabar’, Sekem and Comolop Cholom came out that I began to get the attention of many. And with Swiss Beatz doing things with me, everyone is beginning to realise that I mean business. My second album is designed to show people that I have grown and I am serious.
Are you still single?
Yes.
Do you have a baby mama?
I don’t do baby mama. It is not possible.
What are the qualities you are looking for in a woman?
I don’t actually have a taste. Just everything good: good heart, good looking, God-fearing.
Who is your celebrity crush?
You know, I don’t really have one. But there are people I have crush on their work. I think someone like Yemi Alade qualifies. I respect her. She behaves like a female celebrity. For me, as a female celebrity you are supposed to be difficult to reach, but when you are with people you are sweet. They are going to see you as their celebrity. The branding of the management is great. Respect to Yemi Alade.
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