I Now Know Who My Real Friends Are- Faze

In what seems like a never-ending ride through Festac Town, Faze drove, in search of where to feed his hungry stomach . Eventually, the ride came to a halt at a local joint where he devoured a handful of ‘eba’ and’ egusi’ soup with beef, the rest he asked to be packaged for his dog…how nice! More like an informal chat, with OPEOLUWANI AKINTAYO, Faze spilled the beans on his new projects, relationship with ex-Plantashun Boiz mates- Tuface and Black Faze, marriage plans and others.

 

So what have you been up to lately?

I’ve been working on my project , the new album, 2000 And Faze, new videos and I’ll soon be starting my radio and TV tour. Basically, that’s what I’ve been trying to do, putting myself on the right spot.

What about the video you’ve shot already?

My first single is ‘Your Daughter’ and I noticed that everybody wants to dance. So I’ve shot the video and it should be out next week. I’m also working on the single I recorded with Patoranking. The video will be out in about a month. We are both going to South Africa to shoot the video and we will be back in a week’s time. The whole album will be out next year.

How many tracks?

I haven’t specified how many songs will be inside but I already recorded many songs. It’s not just on my own terms. They tried but my way of doing things is different from theirs.

Your contract ended with them?

No. We decided to part ways amicably. So why choose South Africa for your video? I wanted variety. I shot ‘My Daughter’ here in Nigeria. So, I’m just trying to change places. Wizkid recently got bashed for using white and coloured girls in his video. Are you also going to do same? I won’t say anything yet. I just want people to wait and see it. It’s not all about the girls. It’s all about the song and how it makes them happy because at the end of the day, after lashing out at Wizkid, everybody still dances to the song.

 So, why not stay stiff if you think you don’t like the song? Why choose Patoranking?

I didn’t choose him. Funny enough, this song was recorded before he came out as Patoranking but thank God he’s now big and strong. And he’s been asking me to do the video even before he became popular but I kept shifting it until now. So this is God’s time and I know Patoranking will keep getting bigger because he’s humble and gives me about me. I have to agree with my management, Plantashun Entertainment before anything can be done. Aside Patoranking, which other artistes will you feature in the album? I don’t want to mention them. It’s a stepping stone. I want to work with Flavour and some of my friends in the industry.

Are you still with Now Musik?

No I’m not Why did you leave the label? Nothing. I’m now with my partner, Panache Records.

Was there a grudge with Now Musik?

There was no grudge. We had an agreement to go our separate ways because I had to do my thing that respect and I respect him too. You must be enjoying your new look… Yes. I’m happy I don’t have to bother with dreads anymore. All I need to do is cut my hair, bathe from head to toe and keep it clean.

And you don’twant to go back to dreads?Not at all.Is it true yousold your housein Festac?

I don’t want to say anything about that because that’s about my personal life. If you notice my kind of person; I don’t like to show off anything because of my family and for security reasons. I like to live like an average person. As you can see; I don’t like to go around with an entourage. I don’t have a driver but whenever it’s necessary, I move around with crowd.

Do you still see Tuface?

Yes sure. I talk with him on phone and whenever it’s necessary, we meet.

What about Blackface?

We speak a lot too Tw years ago, he got signed on to a new label for almost N60 million. I even saw him shooting a video around 23 Road earlier in the year… Yes, I heard the good news about him too. He told me about the video and I would have been in the video but wasn’t around.

So he was down, now he’s up…are you happy for him?

Everybody faces challenges in life and now, he’s at the peak of his success. His time is coming really soon and he’s going to come out fine. You said your Re-fazed album was going to be the biggest. What happened with it? I had issues with my marketer and I don’t want to talk about it. Now, I’m doing the whole thing alone with my partner, Panache Records because we have the same mind set and he’s my very good friend. I trust him and he believes in me.

You’ve been going on and off the music scene. Why?

Yes, that’s because I had issues with my last album and I couldn’t promote it because of the problem. There was no way I could start pushing out those songs when I had some scores to settle with my marketers. So I had to halt it but now, everything is settled. I’m going to be disturbing your radios, TVs and headphones. You won’t be missing me anymore. A lot of people think you’re broke… Yes. A lot of people say that and that’s Nigerians for you. People are affiliated to success. When people see that you’re doing well, they start calling you, even those who don’t even know you. I was on Hip TV for an interview, and when it was aired, I started getting even strange calls from people who didn’t bother about me in a long while. But I don’t react to them, I just answer them kindly. But everything made me stronger and I now know who my real friends are and I’m going to roll with them and they will enjoy me.

Tuface and Black Face?

They are my family. I’m not even talking about entertainment friends alone, it applies to even my normal relationships.

I saw you giving some area boys money on our way. Is that how you give them all the time?

I don’t give out money like that all the time. It’s just that they are the people that secure us and they are not privileged to be where we are. So, the only way to appreciate them is through money but, I know it’s not good to always indulge them as such but, giving someone money like that could save his day because that money could be what he might use for his three square meals and God will bless me. I don’t just give to the area boys. I also do it for charity because God’s blessings come from there. You’ll see that in one of my songs titled ‘Give Back’. We don’t see you at shows and events anymore I’m very selective about the kind of shows I attend. You’ll get to a stage and people will get tired of seeing your face, I don’t want to be in that category. I want to be there and make sure I have something new to give to people I’m trying to upgrade myself.

You don’t get endorsement deals like someof your colleagues. What’s the problem?

They came actually but I just want something new first of all. I want to bring out something new, especially with the Refazed album so that people can know that music is what made me and not because I just want to get endorsed by brands. You are kicking out endorsement deals? I didn’t say I kicked out endorsement deals. I’m looking for bigger ones. You drove us almost round the whole of Festac Town just to eat at this local joint.

Why not some sophisticated eatery?

I live in Festac and I can walk on the streets comfortably. Of course I can’t walk freely in Ikeja or Surulere but I’ve lived here almost all my life, it’s over 20 years I’ve been here. So, this is my hood. So now you want to move out of Festac. Ain’t you going to miss here? I’m not moving out. My family is still here. It’s just that I want to start shuttling places now. I love Festac.

So did you rent the new house you’re moving to or you bought it?

I will be quiet about it. I don’t like people knowing about my personal life. I’m a very quiet person. Now that you’re moving into a new house, when are you bringing in your wife? I’m not married I know. The last time we met, you told me you had someone, so? Yes I do have a girlfriend and she’s still the same person

So what’s going on?

She’s in school. When she’s done, we’ll know what we’re doing next. Education is very important you know because tomorrow if I’m not capable, she should be able to take care of the family but, I know that can never happen. You must love that girl because you guys have been dating like forever We have our ups and downs and that makes us stronger as we try and rectify our mistakes But you meet other girls whenever you go out. People make the mistake of thinking I go out a lot. I don’t go out that much. I visit clubs whenever someone has an occasion and invites me or whenever I want to hear the kind of music in vogue.

Did you have any embarrassing moment when you were coming up in the industry? I’ve not had such an experience since I went solo, maybe when I was still with Plantashun Boiz, we used to beg for shows and they never let us in. But as Faze, I’ve never had such an issue. Aside music, what else do you do? I do business. By the time I’m through with it, I can now start telling the world about it How many people are you sponsoring in your hood?

I help anybody that comes to me with something reasonable and I’m sure it’s going to be beneficial to him. But once I know someone is the type that smokes everyday and he comes to me, like the area boy I gave some money and I said it was somehow wrong to give him money…no matter what they do, they will still smoke their weed from the money but in all, they will feed out of it. And these people are those who go around telling people what you’ve done. So if you don’t give them; they’ll mess up your name.