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by Jayne Augoye
Daddy Showkey
Popular music star, Daddy Showkey, speaks with JAYNE AUGOYE about the state of his career
Ghetto Soldier, Daddy Showkey (real name
John Asiemo), may not be as popular today as he used to be in the
1990s, but his loyalty to the folks in Ajegunle – where his journey to
stardom actually started – has never been in doubt.
Over the years, Showkey proved himself a
worthy ambassador of that part of Lagos by using his music to draw the
attention to its potentials and the condition of the residents.
Unfortunately, A.J City, as it is
popularly called, no longer boasts the kind of talented artistes it once
produced, such as Cashman Davies, African China, Baba Fryo, Daddy
Fresh, Mad Melon and Mountain Black, except the rave of the moment,
Oristefemi.
Daddy Showkey blames the dearth of talents on the absence of a structure to ensure that future stars are nurtured in the area.
He says, “Sometimes the focus changes,
but I don’t know why. However, Ajegunle still has some talented young
people that are yet to be discovered. It depends on the person on top
and if he or she wants to associate with the grassroots.
“When I made my first album, I exposed
Ajegunle to the rest of the world. I wasn’t living in Ajegunle at the
time, but it lived inside me. I made other people to understand that
Ajegunle was not just home to some of Nigeria’s most talented musicians,
but there were also doctors, generals and professors who were born and
brought up there. So, it may either be that the person on top at the
moment does not want to identify with the neighborhood..”
In 2007, Daddy Showkey’s music career
suffered a setback, following an accident that adversely affected his
spine. The incident forced the fun-loving singer to quit the music scene
for awhile.
When asked if he considers himself rich,
he replies, “I am not a proud person and I don’t like to show off. You
can take a man outside the ghetto, but you can’t take the ghetto out of
the man. People who spread rumours don’t know me. They say I have cut
off ties from Ajegunle. But they are dead wrong.”
Just as he was planning a huge
come-back, he was forced to quit the scene for the second time after he
narrowly escaped the assassin’s bullet two times in 2011. In one of the
attacks, the suspected killers stormed his former residence in Ojodu and
killed one of his close associates who was visiting at the time.
Because he has not been on the scene for
a long time, many would think he may be broke. When our correspondent
sought to know the state of his finances, however, he said he was still
comfortable.
Showkey said, “I am not a proud person. I
don’t blow my trumpet. Come and visit me in my house, then you can ask
that question again.”
He also made a brief public appearance
during the 2012 anti-fuel subsidy removal protests in Lagos. In all, he
was away for nearly a decade. The singer may have put those sad episodes
behind him, but the lessons learnt resonate as far as he is concerned.
Sharing some of them with our
correspondent, he says, “I won’t lie to you. When I had my car accident
and was away for three years, I never received a call from fellow
musicians. That is why I am on my own till date. If I was caught with
drugs it would have been all over the news, but I had a car accident
that affected my spine. My friends are my guys in Agejunle because they
always tell me the truth. The only musician I can call my friend among
my contemporaries and whose house I visit at any time is Pasuma. The
others are my juniors, not my friends.
“When the late Kefee got buried, I was
disappointed that Nigerian entertainers did not show up at her burial.
She is not just a gospel artiste but also an entertainer. Irrespective
of the genre, music is music. Also I did not see the presence of
entertainers at her burial ceremony. The truth is that musicians have no
friends. A friend is someone who will be with me in good and bad times.
I think friendship should not be based on popularity. Some of these
young boys think they are too popular, but they don’t have friends.
The singer, who has worn dreadlocks as
his distinct hairstyle for over 22 years, also shares his thoughts on
the some touchy issues.
“Some people service their car every
month, but they never bother to check their health status. I think it is
a very big deal to always go for medical examinations and very
important, too. I don’t go to the hospital myself, but I invite doctors
to my house then invite my friends to check themselves. I do this all
the time,” he said.
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