Tragic wife-beating incident inspired me to compose Ringo Ringo – Frankeyz

One of Nigeria’s rising musical sensation Frankeyz, centred his recent single Ringo Ringo around this topical issue of love gone sour, after he witnessed a violent scene between a couple that left a trail of devastating consequences. In an exclusive interview, the crooner revealed how his recent hit song Ringo Ringo is a tribute to women and an advocacy against wife battery, molestation and abuse.

Tell us about your ideology on school and a music career, what kind of education does a musician need?

I’m a strong advocate for acquiring education to some certain degree at least to give you an edge at some level of exposure in the society. i never got the chance to complete my degree at Lead City University due to heavy financial difficulties- something i’m working towards achieving by next year. However, i personally feel obtaining at most an undergraduate degree sets you on an edge in the industry with varied instances on understanding contracts, building your brand, and even with writing your own lyrics.

Do you write your songs yourself, if yes, what inspires your lyrics and melody?

I write my songs mostly. I’m also co-write others with my Manager who is a fantastic writer as well. I get inspired a lot from happenings, my environment, my humble beginnings and a few times from trending topics in the industry.

Let’s talk about your new single, Ringo Ringo, tell us what inspired it and what it means.

Well, Ringo Ringo is just a term i personally coined to depict a kind of feeling. You know those butterfly feelings you get when you meet a new girl and you just feel she’s everything and then you start to maltreat her and probably loose her in the end.

I got inspired to write about Ringo Ringo early this year when a neighbour who leaves in my street and fond of hitting his wife at regular intervals got the worse of me one weekday. So the whole street woke up this early morning to the regular cries of this woman, but this time it sounded like war drum beats only this time, one person was beating the drum.

I couldn’t take it and i broke open the door and faced the man myself. To complicate issues, with the serious bleeding from the woman who was pregnant at the time, onlookers and even a couple of women felt i should’t have gotten involved with a private affair as they termed it.

At the end, the next day, the woman miscarried and sustained heavy internal injuries that almost claimed her life in the process.

This got me thinking heavily what would make a man raise his hands on someone you probably spent months trying to woo, then fall in love with her, marry her, father her kids and turn this same pretty thing into your punching bag. I just came to the conclusion that no matter what, there was no justification whatsoever for that. You get something so precious and you never know what you have until you loose it. And that’s the case for most men these days.

Can you do something inappropriate to sustain your music career? Inappropriate like; sell a kidney, credit card fraud, peddle drugs, steal beats and lyrics?

For certain, NO. Though the society pressures you into a lot of negative vices cause i believe we tend to celebrate negative vices than positive stuffs but if you stay true to yourself, you win at the end. You will always win. It will be a tough road, but you win. The truth is even when you give in to this negative vices as a result of pressure, everyone abandons you when it goes haywire.

What’s the craziest thing a fan has done or said to you, how did you handle it‎?

A fan once offered me money to sleep with her. To make matters worse, she was bound to get married that week. I was billed to perform at the wedding in an African country to manage this, i got my management to cancel this and informed her husband to be that i had been booked for something else. She still calls till this day for this same demand. CRAZY!!!

Will you be comfortable with having a baby mama and a child outside wedlock?

Hmmmm… I never thought i would be asked this question but i definitely don’t have an issue with baby mamas but i’m of the opinion that if I find love in the right place with the right person and she gets pregnant for me along the journey, i will definitely put a ring to her finger. I mean, what do I have to loose? I have got my future already in her womb.

Has fame and showbiz conditioned you to live your life in a certain way other than how you used to live, if so what has changed and what do you miss?

It has a lot. I don’t even see myself as famous yet- but at this level, i can’t even walk on the streets as before. I totally miss jumping on buses and just taking a bike to get to where i need to be. As a celebrity, whether upcoming or already established, building a successful brand for yourself is your core focus and this comes with heavy sacrifice. Something that took me a while to adjust to.

What is your take on celebrities’ ostentatious flaunting of luxurious acquisitions and lavish lifestyles on social media?

Well, if you have it, flaunt it. It;s your life. But i believe as celebrities, we still remain answerable to the public. We want their attention, they give it to us, we can then preach whatever we feel is right. Now this public includes your family too. So if you believe that what you do by means of social media display of lifestyle affects your family in noway, then it’s fine. I just don’t think it’s right to set level of standards for everything. Most people have got their lives to live they way they deem fit and it’s their fundamental human right.

If you were not a musician today what would you have been?

Definitely an actor. However, these days I find myself modelling for a few brands.

How would you react if your intellectual work is stolen by another artist?

I would definitely fight to the last. I’m of the strong belief that intellectual properties should be jealously guarded. So if anyone makes an attempt to, let alone steal my work, I will fight tooth and nail.