Tech clients find it hard to believe I’m a music star —RainyMilli

Despite years of success as an IT entrepreneur in London, the United Kingdom, Daniel Nejo’s passion for music meant that it was only a matter of time before he would return to the entertainment scene. The musician, who is popularly known as RainyMilli, in this interview by KOLA MUHAMMED, opens up on the challenges of combining tech career with music and his ambitions, among other issues.

Seeing that you are doing well in your tech career, what was the motivation to return to music?

I always ask myself the same question and I have always found one  Music was and remains my first love. I knew music before I  knew tech and the purpose of going into tech in the first place was  to make money in order to fund my music career. Music is my passion  and what I really enjoy doing.

So, would that imply that music is bringing in more fortune for you  than computing?

No way! Music for now is a ‘liability’ and that means that it takes  money out of my pocket but there is no monetary return on  investments. The return on the investment for now is just the  satisfaction I get from doing what I love. For example, in my  business and tech world, I would never spend $1000 if it won’t  bring me at least twice the amount. But for music, I easily spend  over $5000 on a music video and more on promotion without expecting  or seeing any return. So for now, music is all for the fun and  passion.

Music has been your first love. Who then are the idols who fuelled your love for the craft?

Some of the people who have influenced my interest in music as well as my style of singing are 2face Idibia, Lil Wayne and Big Sean. I like everyone in the space for their individuality but those three played a key role in my style and musical influence.

You have a number of singles to your credit, is an album being cooked already?

Not really, but an EP is definitely on my mind. We are now in an  industry saturated with more singles than albums because of the  ‘streaming era’. So, before I decide to create an album, I want to  ensure that I’ve got enough clout for it. For now, I will keep  experimenting with singles and vibes I am feeling at any particular time.

You took a long break from music, how has that changed your  perspective about music?

The long break really made me realise my ‘why’ of doing music. Before my long break, my ‘why’ was to ‘blow’ up’ just like every other artiste but being on the entrepreneurial scene and then returning to music, my ‘why’ is now to have fun because I am not  coming from a desperate place where I need people’s validation or  investment. I am now doing what I like and I can self-fund my  projects.

You are an IT specialist who teaches digital skills to people in thousands and at the same time a singer with a growing number of  singles, how do you manage to combine both careers?

It is actually crazy combining both because I sometimes  have to deal with corporate clients who, before working with me,  had done a search of my name and ended up seeing me in a music video with girls or hear me sing using vulgar words.

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