Djembe Music Blog

In a society where most uprising artists are given little or no attention because they tend to pay attention to those whom they believe are currently trending and are more “redefined” they sleep on greater talents who have a greater chance of topping the charts and creating enough buzz.

I discovered Onyinye on Twitter and instantly felt a connection to her genre of music as she took a different approach other than what the society seems to embrace more

This interview was an enlightening one as I got to see how passionate people can be towards their craft. Onyinye in her wholesome personality showed us how dynamic music can be and most especially, the life of an artist behind the scenes.

Onyinye; Onyinye Ginikanwa was born March 25th 1991 and is currently based in Lagos State. She recently released her EP; Stay Gone” and so far, has been able to capture the minds of her loyal fanbase with her audacious sound and great taste in compiling songs which was beautifully exhibited in her EP. Born with musical roots and has taken classes at The Cecilian Academy of Sacred Music and Muson School of Music /ABRSM (Association of British Royals School of Music) has proven that aside taking music as her career, she has invested quality time into improving her skills. She has performed at various events and has had a great experience in creating a theme song for the Nigerian Tourism Awards/Nigerian Travel Week.

In this interview, we get to see Onyinye’s world and she gives us in-depth answers to all our questions.

We know Onyinye as a singer but we want to know more; can you introduce yourself to us?

Onyinye: I’m a contemporary R&B, Afro soul, singer and songwriter based in Lagos state. I was motivated to work on this project because behind it, is the fatigue of trying to move from a difficult place to a much better one. I was once in a difficult place to the extent I could not work on any project but I have been able to leave that phase because I wanted to feel better and I did my best to become better.

At what point did you know that music was your thing?

I have always been into music. I grew up in a family of teachers who loved music but they were not into it unlike those days when they were in their youths. Regardless, my siblings encouraged me a lot and it gives me great joy seeing that children are now being educated about music. While my family loved music, I eventually found out that I could sing when I was secondary school. I gave music a shot in 2016 but my first project was in 2018 and so far, my brother has been my biggest fan, he would always buy music CDs just to encourage me; he is so excited about my EP.

“I am diverse so I can explore different genres of music. I have no limit. The industry focuses on one niche but I would not do something I don’t feel connected to”

Why did you not go for Afrobeats? Why Contemporary Music?

Something most people don’t know is that I am a trained classical artiste. I belong to a Chorale group here in Lagos. In my EP, I explored different genres like, Dancehall, Afro Soul and many more. I am diverse so I can explore different genres of music. I have no limit. Yes, the industry focuses on one niche(Afrobeats) which I would not do something I don’t feel connected to. I feel not knowing who you are is the reason why anyone can try anything. If you feel you have to follow everyone, you will lack the direction and coordination and with that, we won’t be able to follow your journey. It can be difficult to know who you are because it will lead people to tell you how to live your life but knowing yourself is important.

Your EP, walk us through the process, how it started, compiling the songs and your final decision to put it out.

I was talking to my producer (Mide) who lives abroad in 2020. I wanted to make a project but I was not in a good mental space and that is reality of being an artiste. Sometimes the songs come naturally and other times, you don’t feel motivated. I love taking my time and I write my songs from start to finish; this is one of the perks of being a classical artist. My producer would give me different beats and I would try to work on them when I get back from work mostly around 11pm. I will call this serendipity; you have to make your choice to make something. I wrote my song, “Can’t handle the truth” in January 2021 and the second one, “Be gone” in May 2022.

When I thought about this particular song, I decided to put it in my EP because it went the flow I wanted, deciding the flow of a songs matters a lot and this is what my EP entails; a sequence from one song to another. My project took 10 months to produce due to the fact that coming up with something can take forever. I remember staying at my producer’s house for 3 days. My EP was actually recorded in 3 studios. I finally released it in January. The last song, “Girl on a mission” was the last song I compiled and I did that in the studio. I mostly get my songs ready before going to record but this one was different. I don’t feel restricted, when I feel ready, I put in my best. I won’t say it’s was the easiest but it was not the hardest.

In short statements, describe the songs on your EP

“Stay Gone” was an idea which was created when I had a conversation with my friend. I initially wanted to name it “Be Gone” just like my single but my friend said instead of Be Gone why not name it “Stay Gone” and that was how the title of the EP came about.

“Another Life” talks about the stress of having to deal with challenges and finally being able to handle the challenge by being open about the struggles you face

“Free my mind” I love the production behind it. I was thinking about the vibe and I thought about freeing my mind not necessarily because I just left a turbulent relationship but it made me learn more about myself that’s why you have a line in my song which says, Still in motion, I am the ocean”

“I used to be the feisty and opinionated person but overtime I realized that talking might not always be the best especially when you are communicating with someone who isn’t listening”

“Be Gone” reflects on leaving negativity. I used to be the feisty and opinionated person but overtime, I realized that talking might not always be the best especially when are communicating with someone who isn’t listening.

“No stress” talks about moving on from the mindset that I must have an opinion and everything. The beauty of music is that it might not be targeted at someone but someone could listen to it and resonate well with them.

“Can’t handle the truth” was recorded on 2020. There are situations that want to fight you and make you feel like you’re making a mistake. These situations need to be handled with care and if this has to do with someone, they won’t be able to accept their wrongs because they can’t handle the truth.

“Girl on a mission” this is quite an eccentric one when my producer sent me the beat, it made me feel like this is a girl’s anthem. If you know who you are in the industry, people will want to ride on your parade by telling you how to act and I personally feel that women are to be protected at all cost; of course all humans are to be protected but there is something unique in women and I want them to do things how it should be not how people tell them how to do go about it.

This has been an intriguing interview and at this point, What has been a major challenge for you so far?

Firstly, I would say funds but I don’t pay much attention to it these days because I believe that When a student is ready, the master will appear” this means, as long as you have something to offer, opportunities will definitely come your way. We are always worried about how to fund projects even when they’re not ready.

My second challenge will be working with people. People can be unreliable and sneaky sometimes hence it’s difficult to work with people in this industry. This is why I look deep before working with anyone. I only want to work with people who align with my music but this is hard. I make music because it’s a passion and not for gratification. I wish I could go here and there and get everything I need to get my work done.

Currently, what is Onyinye up to? A studio album, single or another EP?

Since I put out this work in January, I will like to put out more singles by God’s grace. I could even put out a body of work this year but for now, I’m trying to work on the visuals for one of my songs. An album takes a lot of time to produce as you have to ensure that everything is in order.

Onyinye in our conversations so far has expressed her deep desire for wanting her music to be heard by more people and this led to our last question for her.

What do you expect to gain out of music?

I have different reasons for doing music. I would love to earn a stable income from my music and make it a retirement plan. I want to make music for movies, I want to study so as to encompass my knowledge in music, I want my music to be everywhere this includes commercials and video games. I want to work with Justin Timberlake. He inspired me a lot in fact my 15 year old self has him to thank. He and the rest of Kendrick Lamar put in so much efforts in their music just so they can make classics. It will be a dream to work with him.

To end our conversation, I asked her if she had any questions and she asked,

What are your plans for music?

This was an amazing question because Djembe Blog is redefining itself to become a blog not just to post about recent happenings in the African music but will be exploring even deeper and by deeper I mean, Djembe will be having series of interviews with African UPRISING artistes who lack the platform to showcase their crafts. We look forward to giving them as much publicity as we can. It would be a dream come true when artistes who we discover are being recognized nationally and internationally. That is our goal and this first issue with Onyinye is a proof that we are ready for this journey but the question is, are you ready to join us to discover uprising artistes and give them a life changing platform?

Listen to Onyinye’s Stay Gone” EP