Nigerian artistes, with Afrobeats, set to rule music world — Thaoban

Thaoban Adesiyan, son of the former Police Affairs Minister and who ventured into music and entertainment, recently shared his experience with OLAWALE OLANIYAN about his love for music and how marketing is affecting the industry. Excerpts:

 

What is your growing up like?

I grew up partially in the US but my formative years were in Nigeria. My family wasn’t the richest but my parents did everything to provide for us (my siblings and I) and make us feel as comfortable as possible. I had uncles and aunts that loved us very much who would visit and whom we visited from time to time. At the end of the year, we would go home to our hometown for celebration and I would get to spend time with my cousins and family. My parents always welcomed our friends to our house. You could say I had a very happy childhood.

Why did you venture into music?

I’ve always had passion for music. I love everything about it, listening to it, making it, learning about it etc. At some point, I started to realise that I had a talent for recognising pleasant sounds, melodies and patterns. That developed into my career today.

 

Are you fully into music?

I’m definitely fully into my music. I don’t plan on doing anything else. I believe this is the path God wanted me to take. But you never know, we shall see. If I wasn’t into music, I would definitely be in politics like my father.

What has been your experience as an entertainer?

I’ve had positive and negative experiences in the business much like we experience in all facets of life. However, I’m passionate about it and I love what I do so that in itself is positive that can’t be negated. I also enjoy working with other artistes, becoming inspired by them, and possibly learning new things.

 

Tell us about your songs…

I have a lot of unreleased music. I guess you could say my latest, ‘Duro’ is the first song that marks my transformation into a full blown artiste in the Afrobeats scene. There’s a lot more to come. I have more than 50 on Soundcloud, Apple Music, Spotify and other streams.

 

What inspired you to write ‘Duro’?

I wanted to make a song that people could dance to and that was easy to listen and vibe to.

 

What do you want to achieve in the industry?

Well, like a lot of my peers, I would like to be critically acclaimed and recognised for my talent. I would like for my music to be played and enjoyed all around the world. I would also like to impact the industry in my own original way. Routine stuff.

Any plan to collaborate with the likes of Davido, Wizkid, Burna Boy and the likes?

Definitely. You can’t call yourself an artiste if other artistes don’t recognise you. I would love to work with them, I love their music and I’m inspired by them.

 

How will you compare Nigerian artistes alongside foreign counterparts?

There’s nothing to compare, Nigerian artistes are just as good and even better than artistes in the foreign world. The Afrobeats wave that’s currently trending all over the world is a consequence of almost purely Nigerian artistes specifically being recognised. The world wouldn’t be tuned in to our music if it wasn’t good.

 

Any plan to tour Nigeria as you are based abroad?

I absolutely have plans to tour Nigeria. Why won’t I? My music is for my people first and foremost.

 

Who is your favourite artiste?

I find it very difficult to pick a favourite anything. But my top five Nigerian artistes in no specific order would be Davido, Wizkid, BurnaBoy, Olamide and MI. My top 5 foreign artistes are Kendrick Lamar, J Cole, Drake, Frank Ocean and Isaiah Rashad. Lil Wayne gets an honourable mention.

 

Challenges so far?

I would say the biggest challenge for me, much like for everyone else at my level, is marketing. The first step is getting people to actually hear your music, and that can be very difficult depending on the resources available to you. I don’t struggle making the hits at all, I just need to get people to listen.

 

Any new projects?

I have enough unreleased music to make  100 projects. Right now I’m just focused on singles though. We’ll see where this year or next year takes us.

 

Your fashion sense?

I would describe my fashion sense as simple but defined. I don’t know what it is but you’ll recognise it when you see it. My style varies a lot depending on my mood as well.

 

Tell us a little more about yourself?

My name is Thaoban Adesiyan. My artist name is Thaoban. I was born on January 5th, 1996. I’m a 6’3, 24-year-old Nigerian artiste who makes music for all kinds of listeners. I like to play video games, read, listen to music, cook, eat, party, play sports, and hang out with friends.

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