King Saheed Osupa as he is fondly called started his musical career in 1983 as a young Fuji artiste. Today he had warmed into the hearts of thousands of his fans all over the world. In this interview with Aramide Pius, he cleared a lot of misconceptions on some issues.

I lived in Ajegunle and you know that Ajegunle is a ghetto and in the ghetto, everybody is always looking for ways to survive and so I took to music. Some end up being touts, some end up in music like me, some end up as armed robbers but I thank God that I have ended like this.

I can’t remember or say much about my father.

I was not even up to a year when I saw my father last. He is still alive but I am not someone who has dependence on my parents. I believe in surviving by myself.

My childhood was spent with my sisters. I don’t even know if I would call that a childhood because I left home very young to start life on my own. I was about thirteen years old when I left home.

It feels good to be one of the most sought after fuji artistes when one remembers where he is coming from or how would you feel if you are the hottest journalist in town? You will feel good of course.

Saheed Osupa

I would say it is creativity that has stood me out. When you are creative and unique, you must surely stand out. People tried to create the impression that I quarreled with Pasuma .There was no big deal about the quarrel. It was just all about supremacy but it is the fans who are just taking it personal. It was a similar thing said about Kwam 1 and I, that we were at logger head over the jingle I did for the Lagos state government. But there was nothing like a fight between us. What happened was only normal. When you have two contractors looking for a contract in an establishment and you have always been getting it and this time, I now go with my own proposal and added something to entice them and I now get the contract, it is only natural for the other party to feel aggrieved.

There are bound to be controversies in life or do you expect me to introduce my business to someone without spicing it up and making it attractive to them? It is not possible . I have to say something that would attract the person so that the person will like me and if the person likes me more than the others, that doesn’t mean I am controversial . I am only trying to make money. I am not out to fight anybody. We are only fighting for supremacy. It is the fans that are always taking things personal.

There is nothing like conspiracy on this matter. Just like one of my songs where I said, we are bound to have misunderstanding, you may be the one to offend me and I may be the one to offend you but accept our flaws and move on with life. It may be between brothers who are both into the same business and there is definitely bound to be rivalry, and that is exactly what is happening now; it is bound to happen.

You see, music for me is a natural thing that comes from within me. What I sing about is dependent on many things. It may be things that I see around me or something that happened to someone that I know or you may even tell me to sing about a particular subject and I will sing about it. I have no particular thing I sing about. Even now, as we are talking, I have grabbed one or two things that I can use in singing about anything related to what we are talking about right now.

I am the normal Saheed Osupa that doesn’t like nonsense. I hate cheating people and I don’t want anybody to cheat me. I am tolerant but when someone is trying to take me for a fool, I will fight back.

I have two wives whom I treat equally. People say I built a house for one wife and didn’t built for the other but does my senior wife sleep in the gutter? That is not true because my senior wife stays in Felele in Ibadan and that is where the biggest house that I have is located . It is a five bedroom duplex and the other one stays in a three bedroom duplex in Ajao estate here in Lagos.

There is no truth in that talk. I understand women a lot.I have lived in the midst of women. I have five sisters and they talk about men always and so, I know all the tricks and gimmicks women play when it comes to men’s issue. So I sure do know how to handle them.

There was a lady called Tope that I was linked with but when last did you hear about Tope? I told you that I know how to deal with women. I do it silently without any controversy. Some of these things being talked about don’t even exist. I grew up with women and I respect them and I know how to handle them.