‘My life at 40’

Alhaji Sulaimon Alao Adekunle aka Malaika is no doubt one of the hottest faces in fujidom. This is as far as the younger generation of fuji artiste is concerned. Malaika, who has over 30 albums to his credit, began his music career in 1983. He recently turned 40 and painted London red when friends and family hosted him to a lavish birthday party. In this interview with The Entertainer, Malaika talks to Tony Ogaga Erhariefe about his love and respect for the man who modernised fuji music, Alhaji Ayinde Barrister, his career and plans for the future including his single with Olamide and what it feels like turning 40. Excerpts: You turned 40 a while ago. What has changed about you? (Laughs) Nothing really has changed. I am still the same old me. Age is just a number. Life goes on. At 40, I am just having fun. Forty years after, what would you say was your greatest achievement? I thank God for bringing me this far musically. I have achieved a lot musically and the records are there. However, I don’t like blowing my trumpet. But my dream now is to consolidate my career and reach out to the younger generation of artistes. There is no straight road without twists and turns; that’s the way I see life. There have been a lot of positives and negatives but the positives far outweigh the negatives. I thank God for my life generally. Career wise, what’s your next move? I want to reach out to the younger generation of artistes though I have been supporting them all along. The record label thing we have in hip hop does not work exactly that way in fuji. When you sign on an artiste, before you know it, he would start demanding for what you don’t have. A lot of these youngsters don’t know what Malaika has gone through before getting to this level. However, I thought about the record label thing for a lot of years and I discovered the best thing I could do was to either help them or introduce them to record labels. Your 40th birthday has been a rollercoaster. You held a party in London and then you had another one in Benin Republic and we hear you are planning another one for South Africa. How true is this? (Laughter) I would have done another one in United States but my schedule was really tight. I can confirm that there is a date for South Africa already. We will be lighting up Pretoria and Johannesburg with fuji vibes. Then, I might consider a birthday gig in the U S A. When you started out, your stage name was Tekoye. But now you’re Malaika. Why did you change your name? I answered the name, Tekoye because I got it from my late brother. He was a musician too. His name was Wasiu Tekoye. My late brother was my adviser and mentor; just like King Ayinde Marshal but I could not just bear to answer Talazo. While growing up I loved the name. However, I realized that I might not sing fuji music forever so I changed the name. The rationale was that if my name remained Tekoye, it would be very difficult for me. You see, whatever one wants to do in life, one needs to think about the future. So that was the reason I changed my name to Malaika. We understand that recently, when OJB went to town with his SOS call for assistance, you were one of those that assisted him. Could you give us an idea of how much you gave? That’s between me and OJB. It wouldn’t be right for me to disclose such on the pages of newspapers. You see, I am a very private person and I am surprised that word got out that I reached out to OJB. He is my very good friend though. You recently featured Olamide in a hot new track. Could you tell us about it? It is entitled Bo Se Njo, (The Way You Dance). I have done collaborations with a lot of hip hop artistes. But this is the first time I am doing one with Olamide and the track has been receiving rave reviews. Do you see yourself doing collaborations with other hip-hop acts like Wande Coal and Wizkid? Yes, I could. I am a simple person. Anytime they call on me I will honour them. What’s your current project? We have lots of things on ground. I released my musical video, Special Day, a while ago. At the moment, we have started working on my new album. And then there is the collabo with Olamide, the popular fuji pop rapper. The song is on caller tunes as we speak. My fans could start using it as their ring back tones. While growing up, did you ever believe you could become this big in fuji? No, I never did. If any artiste tells you that he knew right from the beginning that they would be successful, he would be lying. However, I was determined to give my best. The only person that discussed about taking me to studio was Alhaji Saliu Akamu Adetunji. He is my record label owner today. He was the person that approached me. I was so amazed! We met at a naming ceremony in 1992. He sent for me after my performance. That was how we started. Later, a lot of recording companies started romancing me, they wanted to take me from him but they failed. As I said earlier, there is no straight road without twists and turns but I thank God for where I am today. How were you able to stick with only one label for over 20 years? (laughter) Sometimes, we disagree to agree. Money has always been the major issue. At the end of the day, we find a way forward. Even, if I did any album for another recording company, there was always a clause that stated categorically that I couldn’t sign under any other label. To be realistic, Babalaje (Alhaji Adetunji) made me. When I was nobody, he saw me. He wasn’t event thinking of make money then. That’s the reason I respect him so much; he made me who I am today. We are like a family. We are so close and he understands me so much. I thank Alhaji Saliu for the opportunity he gave me. We have been working together since 1992. How do you get inspiration for your songs? I get inspiration from what is happening in the society and my fans also give me inspiration.