Why I can’t stop singing despite moving abroad — Kunle Major

Kunle Mejolagbe (Kunle Major) is a Nigerian musician currently based in Canada. The administrative officer in the Ondo State civil service, who is on a study leave, speaks on the hold music has on his life and why he could not just stop singing despite a hectic schedule.

I bumped into the making of your new music video online titiled “Lilly of the Valley” where you narrated your experience in your university days.  

Can you share the experience? 

“Lilly of The Valley” is one of the tracks in an album titled ‘L’aye Ojosi’ (in those days) released in 2010. The events I narrated in that song occurred some 16, 18 years ago. I talked about how I escaped death from cultists attack while studying at the University of Ado Ekiti and the collapse of a bridge which claimed the lives of some people.

So you have been making music a long time?

Yes, my first album was titled ‘Abikeyin’ (Last Born) and that’s where I got my stage name. It was released in 2004. I was a student in UNAD then.

What inspires you to write songs?

When I write songs, it comes like a drop of water into my mind. The song would automatically sing itself out from within me. It’s strange though. As I continued to develop, I got ability to create something out of what I see or read about happenings around me. As time goes on, experience, education, exposure, and people who are also musicians that I listened to became part of what gave me inspiration.

How did you start your music career?

Music is something that is in me, but I didn’t realize until event pushed me into it. From the start, it wasn’t obvious that I could do music and I actually started by accident. My sister, who was a member of the Celestial Church back then had recommended me to their choir master when they were all out looking for someone who is good with traditional dances. I obliged them and they were so happy with my performance. From that moment, I became a regular annual dancer at their special Sunday services though I was not a member of the church.

While I was frequent at the church, I was amazed by the dexterity of a young boy who was their keyboardist. I got jealous of him in a positive way, so I decided to learn how to play the keyboard. The choir master told me that I would need to join them but I didn’t want to do that as I only wanted to learn how to play the keyboard. I approached the guy myself and he agreed to teach me. That event made me to know that I have it in me to sing to people’s admiration. 

Years after, my sister, who was now a member of the choir at pentecostal church told her pastor to invite me when they needed someone to help them deliver panegyric to honour God in one of their songs. The pastor approached me and I obliged. Overtime, they regularly invited me for their weekly church services. We later started to compose songs ourselves. From there, the motivation to do more and sing for public listening became my goal and I officially launched my first album in 2004.

So, are you into full time music business?

Not for and I can’t say about the future. I accept invitations to perform in concerts, churches, ceremonies and shows, but I have not quit my career job yet.  Right now, I share my time in Canada between school, work and music. 

What do you do apart from music? 

I’m an Administrative Officer in the Ondo State Government Civil Service but currently in Canada on study leave to complete my master’s degree. I’ll be back to work sometimes this year while pursing my PhD programme.

What can you say stands out about your music if there is any? 

I’ve tried as much as possible to move away a little bit from the traditional ways of writing and singing gospel songs. Many gospel songs start with extended panegyric intro. Some singers will even go as far speaking in tongues in an album recording, but I don’t do that.  I’m not saying this is bad but I consider that as traditional ways of selecting audience. For me, most of my songs start at the crucial point. I’ve also tried to make my song more audience friendly. 

It is easy for Muslim and traditionalist to follow my music. Moving away from those norms has helped me to gain wider audience. I remember a guy sent a text and commended the work from Algeria–a Muslim dominated country for that matter. He said he watched the subtitled lyrics video and it’s really amazing. I’ve also worked on my lyrics and rendition. I’ve adopted a spellbound style. You feel like you don’t want to stop listening until I finish the song. Another thing is that my composition is quite easy to learn and my language is didactic. I sing morals as well.  Don’t  be surprised if I sing love song sometimes in future. All this together, embellished with rhymes have made my style of music unique. In nutshell, I’ll brand myself as ‘escapist gospel singer’.

Seems you took a break from music at a time. Could it be that you lost interest in music? 

As I said, I’ve been working and studying ta the same time. After the audio release of ‘L’aye Ojosi’, I shot the video to launch my face into the public but the director I gave the job frustrated my efforts. She squandered my money. I later gave the job to Alhaji Shabbas who handled the late Baba Ara video. He did a great job but by the time the job was completed, I realized the production could not meet up with what was in vogue. 

While I was planning to shoot again, the opportunity to study abroad came. When I got to Germany for the first phase of my master’s program, I thought of doing music, however, Germany being the kind of country it is, I found it difficult to cope without speaking German. My study was in English but I needed the language to survive if I wanted more interactions with the public. I decided to relax until I got to Canada for the remaining part of my program and the opportunity to do music again sufficed.

When will you release the video of your latest work and how can you be reached through the social media? 

The long winter in Canada is responsible for the delay of my music video. Hopefully, I’ll be able to  release the video just before the Easter celebration or thereabouts. I could be reach through my social media handles.