I’ll rather be childless with my wife than cheat on her

Tobechukwu Ejiofor popularly known as illbliss is a Nigerian rapper, actor, content creator and a business man who has been behind successful artistes like Chidinma Ekile and Phyno among others. He speaks more about his journey in the music industry in this exclusive interview with ORJI ONYEKWERE

Your talent management company produced the likes of Chidinma Ekile and Phyno both of whom are popular musicians, since then; we have not heard from you. What is the issue?

I am getting back into it, sometimes you need to step back and look properly so that you can choose properly. We are working on it; it’s still part of our business. But you don’t rush into it so that you don’t rush out of it too. We are picky. We wait for however long it takes before we find the right talent. The two artistes you talked about, I am sure they have made great impact in the music industry. I am not going to rush so that you don’t have this case where artistes are fighting record labels. I am sure you never heard about that from Gorethi Company.

Most of the rappers today rap in their local dialects, do you think people can still appreciate hard core rap in English with this trend?

No, it’s not because I am in the middle of this. The same way I rap in English is the same way I rap in Igbo. I know when to balance it and what to give to who. My audience is very diverse. Some people want to hear in English, some Igbo and not everybody hears Igbo. You cannot pigeon hole anybody, you rap as the spirit leads you; if you understand how to commercialize your music, you go ahead and do it in whatever language. Your listeners need to connect with you whether you are doing it in English or your dialect. I don’t think rapping in Igbo has killed off rap in English because they come with different vibes and the energy. They also need to key into you as a brand.

There are people who rap in English that are still making money like Falz the Bad guy and Odumodu Black. Phyno, Olamide and others, even if it’s not as hard core as it used to be but they are doing great

You have been a bit consistent in movies these days, is that your second passion?

It’s one of my numerous passions. I cannot even assign a number to them. All of them are important. Yes, music and film are my passions. Film making is a different audience and it’s growing the way music is growing and if you can conquer in both areas, then you are blessed

You did a documentary on apprenticeship scheme in Igbo land, a movie was released on that topic. Why did it take us this long to discover how important this apprenticeship scheme is?

Sometimes we don’t know how important these schemes are until you get some international accolades and then people start to research into it. Like Harvard Business Review did research on it and wrote something about it. So, it’s only natural that we get into it and start to expand it. It’s a system that developed a lot of people and business empires have been built from such an informal system. I guess it was just the time, from films to documentary and all the reviews. I still have another project I am doing that will come out in January, which is still on the apprenticeship system. It’s a TV documentary series. We have grown this system over the years, so we should be proud of it and talk more about it.

Why did you tackle singer Phenom over his comments on Mode 9? I think he is right to an extent

The genre of music that is classified under rap is hip hop music. If you understand the history of that genre it comes generationally. Hip hop for instance is 50 years and for it to get to where it’s today people laid the foundation. If you are talking about south east, you speak about Mr. Raw, I and others. You come to the west; you have Lord of Ajasa and a lot of others, who created this genre for the younger ones to stand on, for the Olamide’s and others to stand on.

As a cardinal rule, you never disregard a veteran. The financial comparison; of course, music has become very monetized, it’s a business now and the younger ones are so focused on making money which is the right thing. It was his choice of word that I did not like not what he was saying. Even the person that you went to his house where you saw a Phantom parked in his house, whom you claim to look up to, will never disregard Mode 9.

We are the older ones, you behave wrongly, you get called out immediately. Let’s learn to be respectful in this industry. If you come to Nollywood; people paid the prize for what the present people are enjoying. You can still do comparison without mentioning names or trying to ridicule anybody. How do you think a Mode 9 will feel? Did anybody consider that? We need to be guarded and choose our word while trying to make our points.

Can Igbo musicians organise peace tour across the five states of the south east since a lot of them especially the youths see them as mentors and role models?

I think it’s a worthy venture and it’s something I will try and spearhead the conversation again just for the safety of our region and for us to get things better,it’s going to be good. It’s not as if we are at war, we just need peace and the musicians can play very important role in promoting that peace. That’s part of our work which is social change and transformation not just music.

You are a key stakeholder in this industry and people have come up with allegations of cultism. How true is this?

Music always comes with vices everywhere in the world. You go to the America market they exist, same with the English market, it’s there. The only thing is that as an artiste’s that have been in the business for long, you need to keep educating the younger ones about the decisions they take because a lot of people become instant success, but they don’t have direction or somebody to speak to them about how these things can ruin their career.

I want to urge other artistes to get more involved and every chance they get they should direct and advice the younger ones as much as possible. There is always peer pressure, but they will always take their decisions on what to do and who to affiliate with.

When they hear it from an older artiste especially if you are successful, it tends to resonate with them. However the truth is that all these affiliations exist. I don’t know about the illuminati, but I know there are different groups and you should know that music is glamorous and people will always want to be part of glamour and success. Some people also feel they need to be protected but they forget that the actual protection comes from God.

You’re a business man with hands in many pies. Is this deliberate, if entertainment doesn’t pay, you can always fall back to business?

The truth is I have corporate experience; I have spent the greater part of my younger years working. I was a banker for some years. I was trained in banking and finance management and I was in mainstream commercial banking as well as oil and gas. So, I am not your typical Nigerian artiste. I have other kinds of training. I am also trained in television production and content production, so I have other skills that I am blessed with and all these make me more grounded because you have a broader perspective of the business. I am not just a recording and performing artiste, yes; a lot of people don’t understand me because of the trainings I have had in my earlier years and I still continue to practice those things. I give my music my all.

Yes, as an Igboman, we are very entrepreneurial and you need to be so that you can have different sources of income. I look at music like a banker, how do you fund it, what do you put in and what do you take out? I have a lot of experience in risk and lending, which is risk analysis and management when I was in the bank. I know what to assign to an artiste when you are promoting the artiste so that the company does not run into issues financially. I know the potentials between proper risk analysis on the artistes and when you push the artiste, where do you start to get the shows and the endorsements.

You stayed with your wife for eight years before you had your first child. Take us through the experience and the challenges.

It was a very difficult time for us, but we never allowed it to get to us because we knew we were always going to have kids. We did not understand what the delay was all about. It’s very important that you marry your friend and someone that you really care for. That’s my person and so we have been through it. We knew our kids were going to come and eventually when they start coming, we knew they were blessings. We never had issues or did the thought of going to find another way of having kids or dating another woman cross my mind. I will rather be childless with the same woman.

But you considered adoption?

Yes, we did; but having kids outside wedlock was never an issue. We were still looking at that option before my wife got pregnant. All these blessings from making hit songs, hit movies, with this longevity is absolutely divine and has nothing to with hard work. Putting in the hard work is important and God has his time, but we as humans always attempt to move God’s hand to what we want. I have come to understand that I need to be patient and calm so that I can hear God’s voice. It was a tough time, but it was also a time I became close to God and to my wife. We saw it through, we have two beautiful daughters and we are happy with that.

Have you produced your movies?

I have a lot of projects in the production stage. I produce for other people, for other platforms and I am also producing my own content which is why I have a lot of stuff happening in 2024. I signed none disclosure agreements with the owners that’s why I am not mentioning them. Productions need to be properly rapped up and I can now say this is what we have on ground.

My new single Chukwu Ebuka featuring Umuobliigbo dropped last week and I have been on the radio stations pushing it, on Tiktok and Instagram and many radio stations and the love has been amazing. I have not made music since 2020. My album dropped on 24th of January 2024.

QUOTE:

Music always comes with vices everywhere in the world. You go to the America market they exist, same with the English market.