The works in the popular Yoruba song, ‘Oloo mi’, are the type many women dream their men would say to them from their heart. And some members of the fairer sex have gone weak on the knees hearing the lines alone. Senior Reporter, Ifeoma Meze, met the man behind the music, Tosin Martins, but came back to the office with her feet on the ground.
After ‘Oloo mi’, your fans expected another hit song from you but have not got any, what happened?
I’ve been working tirelessly in the studio and at events. I’ve been working on a set of reality event and I am the headliner on the Mnet’s Naija Sings. I was the resident judge on that and I think I’m supposed to do that for another two seasons At least that’s what I think. Naija Sings alone takes half of my year. To record, move around, get talents and bring them to Lagos to start the weekly live recording for the show takes time. So, that’s what has been happening to me. And of course, I have also been busy recording my songs. Unknown to many people, we actually put out two brand new albums about this time last year.
Can you tell us their titles?
It is called Higher. It’s the same title but there are two expressions in one album. Higher the Expression and Higher the Confession. The Tosin Martins fan base two is divided into two. There is a core gospel fan base and there is a general secular fan base for those who love my love songs, my social conscious songs. The first are those who love the Tosin Martins who is from the church and they want him to still do gospel, which I will always do because I’m a Christian. I believe in sharing my faith in music. So, I successfully run both and by God’s grace I haven’t had any issues.
Is it not difficult running the secular and gospel music personality?
That’s exactly what I’m pioneering. Somebody has to draw the lines and let people know that it is not evil to be secular. The fact that you are a young artiste and you don’t do gospel music does not mean you are not a Christian. I’m a musician who should have a right to be a musician and also use music to promote my faith. Once you use what you do to support the work of God the way you know best, you are a Christian without necessarily being a gospel preacher. A person can do his job without doing it the gospel way and still be a Christian.
How has the response to this two different parts of you been?
Honestly, the aim is let people know that there is no difference. It is for classification purpose that we say they are different. In fact, the life of anybody who has a relationship with God is one. Your work is only an expression of your life. My work is music and art. I love it. I also use it to share my faith with people but I will still sing my love songs; I will still play at weddings, I will go and sing for the president and at any occasion that requires my services as an artiste and musician. With time, some other people will begin to pick up that. It’s beginning to happen. Even those who are core gospel artistes are beginning to go on platforms where you could never imagine finding them before.
In the expression and confession parts of the album, which is the gospel and which is the secular?
The expression is the secular while the confession is the gospel. We put out the songs by this time last year but we are actually planning to take it off the market because the communication about the album was not as effective as it should be. That’s because we didn’t get the market and the capacity to put it in the volume that is visible enough for people. There have been demands because people have seen new videos and wondering where the album is. That’s why we want to put it off the market and redo it with newer songs on another marketing platter that is stronger and more visible. We are in the middle of that now but we’ve left videos for communication just to get them engaged until that is done.
Most of your secular music are just love songs, is it that you like romance a lot and everything you write just has to be about love?
If there is a sentence like this I would like to put it this way, I love love; I’m a big sucker for love. It doesn’t necessarily mean I’m a perfect lover but I love the idea of perfect love.
Someone listening to your songs would think you are the most romantic lover on earth
I do my best but there is no standard for rating the best lover on earth. I try to be a perfect lover and I sometimes sing about it because I desire to attain that level of being a perfect lover. So singing about it keeps me engaged with the ideal of a perfect lover. It’s like a journey that’s possible.
Is there another kind of song you sing that is secular?
Definitely, there are a lot. This album we are re-issuing is actually possibly the one bouquet of collaboration. There are Banky W, Jesse Jagz, MI and Ego in the album. There is Roof Top MCs in the gospel album. I’m a very political and socially conscious person. So, I talk about issues of national development and society. I’m from Lagos State, I just did a song by Dr Frabz called ‘Welcome to Lagos’ because I just feel after the good oldies we don’t have any song right now that you can call a Lagos anthem, one that a new generation of young people and older generation can connect to at the same time. As a by-product of the fact that I’m from here, I felt the need to do a song about that. Also, there is ‘Made in Nigeria’ which was in my first album. It is a fuji song but we try to incorporate some modern expression into it and I have Neato C on this one. I do love songs, I do conscious songs. There is a song about children called ‘Why’. When I served in Zamfara State in 2002/2003, I had the opportunity to see first hand the plight of children on the streets and I wrote the song. It’s like the diary of the street kid. I did the song with the finalists in Naija Sings competition and Mnet shot a video for it. It will be coming out soon.
How soon will you re-issue the album you withdrew from the market?
We are going to push it out on a trail, on the back of singles. What we are trying to push out now is a new single. It’s a love song again with Tiwa Savage. It is titled ‘Champion Love’. So, hopefully from this week, it should be out. Based on how the ‘Champion Love’ does, in a month we will put out another one titled ‘Na You’.
You must be exceptional with music to be a judge in Naija Sings. Did you study music in school or you just have the gift of it? How do you tell when someone can sing?
It’s a combination of both. I have very little training in music. I don’t have the certification in music but even as far back as my secondary school days I got little basic training. From inspirational perspective, I have been in choirs in classical settings. I’m in an Anglican church and back to the Pentecostal setting for more urban and contemporary music and nothing prepares you for music like that kind of church background. I’m not as professional as somebody who studied music in terms of academic knowledge.
What is it like being a judge sitting back there to decide the fate of others?
It is not as hard as it looks and it is not also easy as it appears. There are many sides to it. You sit there and you say to yourself, ‘great talent’, but how does the person communicate to others in the audience in the language they understand? You as a judge should be able to communicate to the contestants where they have problems. You should be able to tell if the person has pitch issues, hearing issues, breathe issues or timing issues or in diction and all those details in music. You have to break it down in simple language for them to understand. Also, there is the challenge to deal with the emotions of those watching at home.
What part of Tosin Matins don’t people know?
I don’t think there is anything about me that people don’t know. But incase there are some who do not know me still, I am a Nigerian. I am from Lagos. I am a passionate musician I love to sing. Children are very dear to my heart, I am a father now. I have a son now. I am happily married.
Do you think it is the love songs that attracted your wife?
It’s possible, funny, but you will have to ask her. She gets the benefit of hearing the songs before you.
Did you meet your wife before you started singing professionally?
No, I started singing before I met my wife.
Is it that after listening to that ‘Oloo mi’ love song she could not help it but get to know the man that could sing like that?
It’s a dangerous thing to speak for women. I think she will be in the position to tell if she got attracted to me because of my love songs.
Did the love songs make girls like you?
I don’t think I have what women really want, apart from the love songs. I don’t have the money; I am not the finest of guys. I am not D’banj or Banky W. Those are the two people I know that women will do anything to be with. I get lucky and I don’t have girl troubles.
Are you saying you got lucky with your wife?
Yes, I won’t argue that.
