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By Agbonkhese Oboh

Segun Dada is a popular face in theatres and TV series. ‘Shuga’, ‘Jemeji’, I Go Blow are some of them. But as Jaygo, Segun Dada clings to his fist love— music.

Recently, he dropped a rash of singles that could be taken as an album, but Jaygo says: “It’s not an album as such. I only decided to drop a few singles— five in all.

“At a time when the world now lives in mobile devices, it is best to have my music in their heads too, hence the lyrical unleash.”

The tracks are ‘Eko-Ile’/Lagoscity, ‘Circles,’ ‘Play All Night,’ ‘Go-Slow’ and ‘Selfie’.

On how he births his songs, Jaygo said: “My songs have always come from a special place within me or the space I’m in at particular moments.

READ READ: Acting fuels my music, says Segun ‘Jaygo’ Dada

“I could be in the bathroom and a tune just hits me. That tune becomes words and then I take it from there.

“For example, ‘Play All Night’ hit me as I boarded an okada on my way to a film location when I was doing the TV series — Jemeji — for Africa Magic.

“I hummed the tune in my head all day and recorded the idea as a voice note on my phone.

“’Circles’ was inspired by a newspaper article on the dangers of closely-knit shops in Lagos Island, as one of the shops used to store fireworks at Christmas time, caught fire.

“‘EkoILE/LagosCity’ is how I channel my inner Fela AfroBeat side. Dearly inspired by necessity and the city that always gives you something to sing about, it is a tune I made primarily for film.”

My collaborators

“I always work with some very talented music makers in the studio. You may not know him yet, but Oyin Sax is one super artiste who I always like to have around my creative sessions.

“Another guitar maestro and song writer I’ve had the privilege to create with is Uncle Toks. I would also like to work with a list of popular people though; maybe not in Nigeria.”

Asked his preferred genre, he said: “I like to explore my abilities to the maximum. ‘Circles’ is Afro Soul, ‘Play All Night’ is Pop/Dance, ‘Eko-ILE’ is Afrobeat/Techno fusion.”

Any model?: “Right now, maybe Burna Boy for the Grammy. But I grew up listening to the masters. From Fela to Creed, and a whole lot of rock bands of the early 2000’s.”

Unique me

“Bro, the best part of all my music is that it is me. Genuinely me, just singing the words in my head, composing the tunes with my mouth on my recorder and telling a story with a beat for about three minutes.

“The album should be ready soon. It’s taken forever, but, then again, the mission right now is to get the attention of the world to my music, one jam at a time.”

On how he navigate between the stage and the mic: “People are baffled when I say that music has always been my first love before I got trained for the Theatre.

“So when I’m not involved in a theatre or film production, I take funds from the last film salary and pay for music recording sessions.

“It’s been a pillar to post sacrifice all these years. Being a self-employed artiste is a dangerous life.”

Expressing his sentiments about the Nigerian entertainment scene, Jaygo said: “Well, the music is now selling out the O2 and pulling up crowds around the globe.

“The film, if Netflix is the yardstick, is not too bad lately. There’s plenty room at the top.”

But Jaygo, you don’t do run-of-the-mill music and sound. How do you hope to make a success of your love affair with music?

“There are bands and artistes in the world, who don’t sell shows nor ever had a live gig.

“But are cashing out on downloads, film licensing soundtracks, advert soundtracks, brand tunes (like the EPL).

“The present internet and social media age has changed and expanded the means by which music creatives can now make a fortune.

“One UK singer, John Newman, struck gold when the popular video game franchise, FIFA (Soccer), used his song as a soundtrack.

“That has now become the trend for artistes and labels around the world, me inclusive.”

Vanguard News Nigeria