Chikere
Consummate filmmaker and one of the leading names in Nollywood, Tchidi Chikere is poised to drop his long-awaited debut album as a musician. The star-studded effort, according to the University of Calabar graduate is a potpourri of songs with no particular genre.
Immensely gifted Chikere with over 30 flicks to his credit as a tested director said the work is titled Slaps and Kisses and is expected to hit shelves and the airwaves soon. In a recent encounter with Azuh Amatus, he spoke more on the project, his love for music, movies, the creative world, and rumoured romances with some Nollywood star actresses.
Enjoy the interaction!
You are known as a top director in Nollywood. So why are you venturing into music?
I have always been into music. Basically, music is my first love. I have always written songs aside making movies. Almost all my movies, I do their soundtracks. Way back in school, University of Calabar, I have always been a stage person. I had a group called Prime Boys. We were three in number. People that knew me in school would remember me as a music person. People like Frank Edoho of Who Wants to be Millionaire? fame was also in University of Calabar then. So, he can testify to my talent. Fred Amata will also testify that those days when I was coming up, if I give you a movie script, I also give you the soundtrack at the same time. I have always been a musician.
What Kind of music should your fans and indeed Nigerians expect from you?
My kind of music is a little bit complicated. It is more of a potpourri, a bit of Afro beat, hip-hop, R&B, Soul etc. If you listen to Tuface’s latest album, it has a bit of everything. There’s hip-hop, Afro dance hall, reggae, and others. Modern day music does not have a particular genre. Many people are doing combinations. My album contains several genres of music. A track like Open Streets is more of Afro Reggae, something you can dance to. When you look at a track like Love Injection, it is also reggae, soul reggae. There is also the regular Nigerian music in Club Zone it is strictly street music. Then, True Love is pop. So, my album is a combination of several genres and that is how you know a real talent. Music is what moves you.
What inspired this album?
Creativity is something you have inside of you. Inspiration could be the cry of a baby or traffic; it could be a pretty girl or anything else. For a song like Open Streets, I got it in my dream; it was being played in a nightclub in my dream. I got about three songs like that. Inspiration however comes from God, ultimately.
We would like to know the artistes you collaborated with on this project and why them?
I did a duet with Marvelous Benji because I admire his talent a lot. I also have OJB Jezreel he is the bomb. I sang with Pat Attah because of his unique voice that people don’t know about. I had Rita Dominic, Genevieve Nnaji, Ini Edo, and Fred Amata making a few commentaries in the videos. There is also a talented singer from Sierra Leone called Jimmy B; I featured him in one of the songs.
What exactly is the status of your relationship with Rita Dominic?
Well, Rita is more or less a sister to me because we come from the same place. She is one talented artiste I respect a lot and I have featured her several times in my movies. She was also in one of my musical videos as I said before. My relationship with her is just cordial. There is nothing more to it.
For you, which comes first between music and movies?
A whole lot, without music there can’t be movies and without movies, there can’t be any musical videos. Music comes in as a result of heightened emotions in movies. Music and movie are all about self-expressions. The musical video comes in to explain the song. When you watch a musical video, you see what the song is all about. Visuals are very powerful. For me, art is about scenery. I don’t want to limit myself in scope. Art is a door into the unknown. Art is the never-never land. If all my musical videos are done in Ikeja bus stop, the creativity will not be there. I want to explode and soar, so I shoot my videos in Sierra Leone, London, Calabar, Asaba, Enugu etc. It is the height of creativity. As you see my videos, you have seen different parts of the world. You see London bridge, you see a village, you see a waterfall etc. It has to be beautiful. There are more than one million musicians in Nigeria, so I want to be different from the crowd.
Why Slaps and Kisses as the title of your album?
I was looking for a crazy kind of title. It’s about unity and peace actually. Slaps and Kisses is an oxymoron that unifies the opposites. It is very catchy. Everybody will get thinking when they see that title. My next album is going to be called Champagne and Roses. In fact, we are hitting shelves very soon, we are looking at the end of September, by the grace of God.
Is there a possibility of you dumping movies for music someday?
I have not and will not dump movie directing for music. It’s just that I have reduced the number of films I do currently. I have already reduced the movies I direct but that you have a twin does not mean you will throw away your first baby. Movie directing, writing, and singing are all like my babies. You will never see me doing any other thing…
Between movie making and being a musician, which is more lucrative?
Well, if I wanted to make money by all means, I would know what to do to make money. I am doing what I love doing. I did not get into showbiz for money, for Christ’s sake, the first movie I did I was not even paid. The second movie, I was paid N2, 000 they paid me N1, 000 first and I spent it on transport looking for the balance. So, I did not get into movies for money. Movies pay my bills currently, but it is not about money. I am a fulfilled person because I do what I love doing. Do you know how much I spent on shooting my musical videos outside the country? I was in London three times; I bought air tickets and paid hotel bills or my crewmembers and myself. If it is about money, I know how to do it cheap by shooting inside one room with chrome background. I don’t know many people that will spend over one million Naira on one music video. So, I believe in doing it right; when I slot in my video, I want to be satisfied just like I do with my movies.
And how do you intend marketing and distributing the work?
Right now, I have Emmalex Associates in Nigeria. I have Paradise Distribution in Sierra Leone. I also have some marketers in London and America. There is one in Ghana. I am planning to have marketers in Liberia and Gambia, so we intend to do intensive marketing all over.
How true is the rumour that you are into some shady deals which enables you to live big and large?
I had a good laugh when I heard the scandalous rumours that I do drugs and smuggle drugs. They say how can he live rich and drive a Jaguar, is it not the same job that we all do? They don’t even know that I work extra hard. When they are sleeping. I am busy writing; I work my ass out. I pride myself as one of the hardest working young men in this part of the world.
How would you rate the Nigerian music industry?
It is growing in leaps and bounds. I applaud the creativity of the Nigerian music industry. The industry in Nigeria is growing generally, if the Nigerian politics and every other sector can grow like the arts, we will have a better Nigeria. It looks like it’s only the artistes that are committed to doing it right as well as fashion designers, painters, film makers, musicians, journalists etc. I don’t know what others are doing.
What would you say are your major achievements in Nollywood?
I have done good movies in the past. Without being immodest, Tchidi is a household name in Nollywood. I am associated with good movies. I don’t give a shit about material things, so I am not going to talk about it. I don’t respect money.
In your views, is corporate Nigeria doing enough to support Nollywood?
I thank God for them. However, it’s too early to start singing alleluia because we don’t know whether the corporate world will ask for a pound of flesh. Let’s just see how it goes. They may invest money and want it back immediately forgetting that there is a gestation period. A bank may put in money in a bad script and when they don’t make it, they will conclude that every moviemaker is like that. The corporate bodies must invest in the right people. What Eco-Bank is doing with Fred Amata, Fidelis Duker, Chico Ejiro and Charles Novia is good. We only hope they don’t ask them for a pound of flesh. It is all about continuity.
First published, September 2007
Culled from Azuh Amatus’ best selling books, FAMOUS FACES…
