Sunny Neji is one of the heroes and music icons of the Nigerian music industry. Known as the king of contemporary high life, he is still waxing stronger and producing music. ‘Mr Fantastik’ speaks to SAMUEL ABULUDE about the problem with PMAN, and other issues.
How have you been, and what have you been up to lately?
I’m fine. I’ve been doing great. I have been making music. That’s what I’ve been doing, making music. We have not released anything yet, but that’s why I said I’ve been making music. We’ve been working. I’m planning to release an EP. I don’t know exactly when yet, so we are working on that.
But meanwhile, we just started to reactivate, how would I call it now, interest in our classical works. Yes, and that interest has been very interesting indeed. You know, people are full of nostalgia hearing those songs again, and everybody’s been asking, “Where have you been? Where have you been? We need more of this, more of this.”
You know, so it has been like a real awakening that is going on, and I’m very excited, really, as a build-up to the EP we’re planning to release.
You have a repertoire of music hits. What does it even take, if you were to advise them or the public, to make a hit song? What work goes into it, and what preparation do you need on your end?
You know, when it comes to art, art is very subjective. So one artist cannot be advising another artist, okay? Because creativity is emotional. Creativity is personal. So an artist cannot be telling another artist how to do their art. No, it doesn’t work like that.
And people always like what they like. Once you connect with people emotionally through your art, once people can relate to you, once they can find themselves in your art, you know, they just love you. It doesn’t matter how someone else might see it. But people connect with what they connect with. They love what they love.
So I cannot come and start saying, “No, you have to do it like this or do it like that.” It doesn’t work like that with art, with creativity, really.
So what the younger generation artists are doing is great because people love it. I mean, look at what is happening globally now. Our music is played all over the world right now. It is a phenomenon that we probably did not see coming. In their own right, they are dream creators.
So, for your hits, did you think some of these songs would become hit songs when you were preparing and recording them? Because now we have a couple of them, a good number of them.
Yes, and I thank God for that. I don’t think there’s any artist who sits down to write a song that doesn’t pray that it becomes a hit. We all do. Whatever song we write, we pray that, “Ah, this will be the next hit. Ah, this will be the hit.”
But at the end of the day, it is God who determines which will turn out to be hits. Yeah? So that is how life is generally, you know. You make efforts and pursue certain things. Maybe you might be pursuing ten things, and you’re hoping in your pursuit that all those things will succeed. They might all succeed, yes, but then it is God who determines it.
It might just be one or two, it might be three, it might be five, it might be nine, it might be all. God is the one who determines it. We just do our best, hoping for the best.
For your choice of genre, how was it like doing highlife, contemporary highlife, and this touch of R&B? What do you think made you gravitate towards that genre for yourself?
Well, it wasn’t like I sat down to plot it, you know. It was just how I felt, how I was inspired. And it was also, I want to believe, likely due to the songs, the kind of music I was exposed to.
You know, everybody creates from something. What you’re hearing today, what they call Afrobeats today, is a result of what they were hearing. You hear something, it resonates with you, and it sinks into your subconscious. When you want to begin to create, you create from that. You might add a thing or two; there might be some other influences, but simply, you have to create from somewhere, yeah?
So that is how music is generally. Everybody creates from something. There’s always a base.
You started music quite early. You became a professional musician quite early, maybe in your twenties?
Yes, in my twenties, yes. Before I even started singing, like wanting to do an album, I was already in music. I was singing jingles.
So my voice was already out there. There was the First Bank 100th anniversary jingle, and then, of course, there was the popular jingle for MKO Abiola – MKO It’s our man oh, that was me too. Also, Dunlop Tubeless Tyre, for NNPC, for… I can go on, as I have done several jingles in the past. You know, so yes, music has always been a part of my life.
And do you feel fulfilled? Is there more that you still want to attain, having been there for decades, sir?
Oh yes. You know, the calling of music, I’d say it’s a calling, because it is actually a calling. For those who consider it a calling, I mean, I don’t know if everybody does, but for me, that is what it is.
It is a calling, and it’s not something I see myself saying, “Oh, one day I’m going to retire from it.” No. It is something I intend to do until God calls me, so long as God gives me the strength to do it.
So, for your upcoming EP, I believe we are going to see some songs that will rattle us, that will bring us back to what we knew about your brand?
By the grace of God, by the grace of God. That is why I’m taking my time because I have a lot of respect for my fans, for those who listen to me and appreciate my music. They’ve been awesome. They’ve been great.
So I’m taking my time putting something together that they’ll love even more than the ones they already love.
Given your key role in PMAN, why don’t younger artistes identify with it? Is it inclusive? It seems like the younger artists are not interested, or is the Guild somehow shielding them?
No, no, I don’t think so. I think it is because, and as much as it hurts me, it pains me, PMAN, after all these years, is still not settled yet.
You know, a lot of people do not want to go into a house that is in turmoil, a house that has friction, a house that is divided. Do you understand?
Before anybody can make appreciable progress in anything, everyone must work collectively towards a common goal. Everybody needs to pull in the same direction. But if you have people pulling on one side and another set of people pulling on the other side, it’s going to be very difficult.
So I think that is the main reason why the younger generation of artistes has not shown much interest in PMAN yet.
I believe that one day, when the dust settles and everything stabilises, PMAN will begin to function as it is supposed to. I don’t think it is a deliberate attempt to exclude anybody. You cannot deliberately shield people from their union.
This is supposed to be like a union, one meant to cater to all practitioners. But the union itself has not fully settled into doing what it was created to do.
And what do you think it will take for PMAN to finally settle? Because the issues have been ongoing for a while, yet PMAN still seems unable to fully put itself together. Yes, there has been some progress with Pretty Okafor and his team, but it still feels like there is so much more to do. What do you think?
In the first place, Pretty Okafor is suspended, which is part of the problem.
It is patience. It is a long race. Yeah, you have to keep hitting the same spot on the key consistently until it gives. Do you understand?
And that is also a problem we have in the larger society in Nigeria. That is why it seems as if we are just not getting it right. Because this thing requires teamwork, sincere teamwork, I mean sincere and progressive teamwork.
So during that initial period, we were able to galvanise it, which is why we made a little progress. Then, unfortunately, everything went to the dogs. Everything went to the dogs.
That is why, my brother, some people say that maybe PMAN is cursed. Well, are you going to say Nigeria is cursed, too? Maybe it is a result of the kind of leadership that we keep getting. Maybe that is the reason why.
And so, as far as PMAN is concerned, there are certain things. I don’t want to go deeper into them because some matters are in court. I want everything to be resolved peacefully.
When you talk about your tours, can you share a bit about your music tours?
Like I told you, we are planning a couple of upcoming tours. I had not done much until about two years ago, when we started the Legends Concert. So we had it in Lagos and Abuja, and then we had a tour of the UK. So we’re coming back. Even right now, plans are underway for other tours. So let me not say we are coming back. We are back. So the Legend concert is back.
So, talking about your legacy, what do you think your legacy will be as a musician?
We all try to do our best, don’t we? And then we just leave the rest to God. God is the one who determines everything, but we try, as long as He has given us strength, energy, creativity, ability, and whatever He has blessed us with. We just try to use it to the best of our ability.
So I’m simply doing the best I can, the best way I can, and I’m trying to make sure I enjoy it too. At the end of the day, I trust God. God is the one who will determine my legacy.
Do you think music as a full-time career in Nigeria truly puts food on the table?
I think you only need to look around you and see whether music is putting food on people’s tables. Of course it does.
But it is just like every other business with its challenges. You just have to do the best you can. You have to know your onions. You have to keep working, keep improving, keep giving your best at every moment, and then trust God.
Music is like every other vocation. It is feeding people. It is employing people, a lot of people. Music employs a lot of people.
What are three things people don’t know about Sunny Neji?
Three things? (Laughs). Honestly, I don’t know what people don’t know about Sunny Neji, to tell you the truth, because I’m just a simple, regular, everyday guy.
