Lo and behold

Big Lo came into public consciousness with the 2Shotz assisted title track ‘Delicious’ off his 2004 debut album. Although the track received great airplay across the country and got him a Hip Hop World Award, the chubby rapper however went AWOL after the early buzz died. With the Nigerian mainstream music now getting international recognition, the rapper cum producer is oiling his gears for his sophomore album.

Where have you been?

I’ve been around; although I haven’t been active lately, I’m still around. I haven’t done any major work for about three years. I was trying to do a combo album with 2Shotz but it didn’t work out, so I’ve been laying low on the music scene to work on other things. I run a (recording) studio and I’m also into advertising but that is not to say I’m not interested in music anymore.

What exactly happened to the collaboration album with 2Shotz?

He pulled out because he wanted to concentrate on his own personal projects, so I’m working on my own album too.

Why did it take this long to decide on recording a second album?

When I do things, I like to do them well. A lot of people have been asking, “Big Lo why now? Why are you relaxing?” I tell them it is not by my design, a couple of things happened, like this marketing stuff; the Alaba matter is very irritating and discouraging so I decided to face the other things that I do to make money. When people like me, Ruggedman came out, we were like the pioneers of (Nigerian mainstream music) but now there is really big dough in this game, so now I’m ready for them.

What other thing are you into that give you money?

I concentrated more on my family company which imports (medical) drugs from the Far East, Dubai, Pakistan and India. I studied Biochemistry in school so I’m still in my field of speciality.

What is the title of the new album?

I’ve truly not decided on what to call it; some people suggest I call it what will explain the reason why I’ve been out for so long, title like ‘evolution’, ‘return of something’ etcetera. I’m leaning towards, the likes of evolution, revelation, revolution, but right now I’ve not adopted any title for the album. I was ready to release the first single until my dad died so I just kept everything on hold. I believe by March the first single should be out.

Who else is going to be on the album?

Unlike my previous one, I have a lot of collaborations; I’ve got people like Style Plus, 2Shotz, W4, my boy from the east, Flavour who was on the ‘Osondi Owendi’ remake with MC Loph. I also have Durella, Ruggedman and a couple of other people.

What is the album’s theme?

I have discovered that music nowadays is really nothing; most of them are just like empty shells, it’s all plastic. Even the ones that [receive] airplay don’t last for long because they are too commercialised and sound a lot like jingles. So the major theme of my album will be to show myself to the public as the real Big Lo. On my first album, I was kind of in a hurry to blow so I gave a lot of tracks that bent to popular wishes, but this one will be more about me in ways that my fans have not really experienced. The album will show a new me that is different from the funny guy that just does funny raps about chicks. I’m an Igbo person as well as a cultural and educated person so I want the album to showcase all these parts of me. Of course I’ll be talking about girls but there will be other topics besides that.

Are you working with any established record label?

No. I own a recording studio, my own production company with managers, which is very similar to what most record labels offer you. What most labels do is provide money to produce the songs but in terms of expertise and areas of management, promotions and publicizing, they lack, which is the reason most artists come out independently and still score a hit.

You talk about ladies a lot; what is your experience with them like?

Man, it’s not easy to the extent that I have to surrender; I believe women are lovely creations of God and can be nice when they want to be, that’s why I appreciate them; but sometimes, if you over appreciate, they tend to see you as a fool.

What is the state of your misunderstanding with eLDee tha Don regarding you producing a remake of his ‘Big Boy’ for your protégé Kiss?

E be like say e don tire; I told him he’ll get tired. Kiss did the song and featured Shebba. When we did the song, eLDee got angry and started calling me, threatening me, threatening the girl and asked us to stop playing the song. I told him, ‘Man look, I’ll stop circulating the song but the song will still blow and you won’t be able to do anything about it.’ I told him the best thing should be to sit down and talk. I’ve never dragged with him that it wasn’t his song but let’s talk it over. He kept on posting me to the extent that I decided to just let everything be. He should forget that he went to [Atlanta] and stop forming big boy for me; we started together, we both stood at Oshodi hustling sales so let him calm down. It got to the extent that he started threatening to bring boys to come and brush me and the girl. I saw him on a show on AIT one day with people asking him to forget about the whole stuff because they like the song but he was [adamant]; the song was supposed to be a complement to his song but he started going about saying we stole his song.

How has the loss of your father affected you career?

Well, as an artist, I’ve learnt to channel my emotions into creative things; the emotion is like the fuel which runs an engine for artists. When he died I was very sad because he was the most singled out contributor to my emergence as a musician. He stood beside me and supported me when I started out because he taught me that in life, whatever you believe in, if you sit down and apply the rules of business to it, no matter what it is, you’ll make money. So I want to channel the emotion of his loss into getting more creative.