Nigeria Is a ‘Single’ Selling Market for Musician –  Nwaokobia Ugochukwu

 25 year old Nwaokobia Ugochukwu was one of the contestants of the MTN Project Fame academy, season seven competition. Even though he was not listed among the top winners, Ugovinna as he is fondly called has had his fair taste of the music industry; as a professional guitarist and a former back-up singer for some top Nigerian artistes like Ego, Djinee, MI amongst others. The Delta State born artiste began his musical career with the release of his first single Walankolombo, in which he featured Ice-prince. In this chat, the Rain on me crooner revealed why he won’t be releasing an album yet and other sundry issues.
You were part of the winners of MTN project fame academy, season seven. How has it been since it ended?

It has been nice. It is good to have an urgency for your music finally. I have been in the industry for a while. What I went for is to win, and I won so many heart, so I am glad that the reality show took me from where I was to a greater height. It is as if I am just starting my career all over again but from a different level. I will soon get celebrated.

You released your single, Rain on me, shortly after the competition ended. What has been people’s reception towards the song?

It has been very good. I hear people say we still have good musicians in Nigeria as my song is different from the regular music other artistes sing about and more importantly, the reception has been better than expected. Presently I am working on the remix with some big shots in the industry. We have produced and already started recording. Although I did not win the first prize in the academy, I still feel like a winner rather than a loser. With Rain on me, I  have been able to win a lot because people recognise the song.

What is your relationship with past winners?

We are all good friends, especially people who went into the academy with me from. They have been a lot of good things said about my set; we have stayed together the most more than any other set, we have put out more work after the academy than any other set. Jeffery just put out a new single, Debby just put out a new single as well, Melody has a new single too, Coco and Christen all have new singles as well. I think we are a different set of project fame contestants this year.

Will there be any collaborations with them, in the nearest future?

We are currently working on a collaboration, we are making an album together. The first song will probably be the project fame team song as well as individual songs from all of us, and you are going to get different boxes of us with different branches because we are putting an album together. Just wait for it. A lot of music will be coming out very soon before the new set of project fame academy is announced, you all would hear from us.

You worked with several artistes in the past. How was the experience like?

Yes, I worked as an online publicist for rapper, MI in 2010 and moved on to work on Waje’s management team as her PA. I have also worked as a back-up singer for Djinee, Ego, MI and a host of others. Sincerely, it was while working with them that I developed full interest in music and I was determined to purse the dream and ever since then, God’s blessing have been raining on me.

What is your own definition of music?

Music is a melodic interpretation of a feeling. What I do as a musician is not any different from what a good musician does when he sings a good song or what a footballer does when he plays good football, it is an act. Music is a way of life, it’s the ultimate form of expression.

So what should we be looking out for from you?

Expect all sorts of music. I am like a shirt that gives off all kind of colour.

What was growing up like for you?   

Growing up was nice. I grew up in Ojota area of Lagos in a face me I face you house. Music for me did not start until my elderly brother picked up music. He was the first person that picked up music. He started playing the guitar and singing, and as life progressed, he moved on to other stuffs and I just picked it up from where he stopped. I come from a musical family. My three brothers are all music buffs and they all play the guitar including my sisters as well. I am the last to get involved in music.

Is your family another  Michael Jackson family in the making?

My father is a pastor, my mother is an interpreter,  so growing up in the church so it was easy for us all to get interested in music. I can play the guitar, the piano and the drum. All of these were available in the church so it was easy for me to learn them.

Where do you hope to see yourself three years from now?
My career will naturally keep rising and my music will be everywhere, on the lips of everyone. I will have lots of videos everywhere. The awards also by Gods grace will start coming by then.

And your album, when will you have it released?
I won’t be releasing any album for now because in the Nigerian entertainment industry today, the singles catch on faster than albums. Chidinnma, an alumni of MTN project fame came into the industry in 2009 and she didn’t really cook up an album until 2013.  Davido has just one album the reason why he has one album is because all of his singles are hits so he compiled them into an album. Besides, Nigeria is basically a singles selling country, so before I release an  album, I plan to try my hand on all genre of music, to give people a ‘balanced diet’ of music artistry. However when I release an album, it would be called A thousand voices.