Chioma Eze: Michael Jackson, music and I

From performing before a large audience in Armenia and winning an award, to rubbing shoulders with the late Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston, and doing a collabo with Shaggy, Nigerian-born US-based songwriter, music producer and performer, Chioma Eze, has seen and done it all.

Chioma recently secured the number one spot on the UK Top 30 Soul Charts 2013 for her performance of It’s Only Rain, a song she wrote and vocally produced on Euge Groove’s new album, House Of Groove.

What’s more, the Soprano singer has opened for Patti LaBelle, Chaka Khan, and performed with Stevie Wonder and ABBA’s Agnetha Fältskog.

Currently recording her debut album, Chioma’s attention is now focused on Nigeria, as she plans to make a big break into the country’s music scene. She talks about the journey so far in this chat with The Entertainer.

Enjoy it.



Have you always wanted to do music?

I have always wanted to do music. I wrote a lot as a kid. I wanted to enroll as a musician but they wouldn’t let me. I studied Physics at the University of Benin, Edo State. That was about seven to 10 years ago. However, I didn’t finish there before I traveled to the US for further studies.



Have You been doing music in the US?

No. I was offered a deal in America though.



What deal?

A record deal but because I didn’t agree to do what they wanted me to do, by refusing to bend, they made things hard for me.



Did they want you to change your MUSIC style or compromise some principles?

They wanted me to compromise some principles; they always do that, but it is up to you to either yield or stick to your guns.



Are you signed to any record label now?

No, I am not but I started writing and people started calling me.



How did you get your major break?

It was when I wrote songs for Michael Jackson and he picked some of them, and before I knew it, people started taking notice of me but then he died suddenly. I actually spoke to him and I was supposed to meet him the week after he died but I didn’t get to meet him. General Bosby, Head of Mutual & DreamWorks was sponsoring my project then but he was on dialysis; he’s also dead now.



After the death of General Bosby, what happened?

He died before Michael Jackson but it’s because of General Bosby that I started getting calls. He told everybody that I am an excellent writer and performer. He wielded a lot of influence in the industry. To this day, people still call me up for jobs because of him. General Bosby asked me to write some songs for both Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston.



Was the song you wrote for Whitney ever released?

No, that year her brother was sick. But she called me back singing one of the songs I wrote to me on phone. That was awesome! Michael Jackson is a big deal but not as big as Whitney Houston singing your own song to you on phone just because she likes it. I sent her 12 songs but she called me because of one called, Thank You For The Tears.



Are you going to put those songs in your album?

I may. Thank You For The Tears is a song that I use to close some of my shows.



How does music come to you?

Sometimes when I’m sleeping I get inspiration in my dreams and when I wake up I write them down. I go back and listen to the recordings and build them into songs. I also get inspiration from other people’s experience too. Like some of my friends go through some experiences and then I write them a piece of advice through a song.



You look trendy and ready to take over. How would you describe your personal style?

It depends on my mood. If I am singing a high tempo song or a ballet, I come up with fitting clothes; it depends on the song I am doing.



Can you tell us about your family?

My father was a doctor before he died. My mother is a missionary based in Togo and Ghana. She is planning to start an orphanage home in the eastern part of the country. She has been doing it for them in Togo. Some of my siblings are in America but I have a sister here. She always tells me to come back home that Nigerians are going to love my music.



How did you get your musical connection to Armenia?

I had to write for one particular Armenian artiste who wanted me on his album. For some reasons, he couldn’t get any of the famous artistes to do it for him, so he approached me. I told him the only way I could do it is to sing my own part in Armenian because singing in English is not a challenge. And that’s what happened. We sang in Armenian language and it won a Music Choice Award.



That means you speak Armenian very well?

No. I translated the song I wrote into Armenian language and learned it; I just made sure I learned it very well.



HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE your style of music?

My style of music is defined by the country in which I find myself. In Austria, it is all about love. In Armenia, it is ballad and pop. In America, I perform R&B, hip-hop and a little bit of rap. If they want me to bring in the African stuff here I am open to that. I don’t think my style of music can be classified though, I am fortunate and blessed enough to be able to work in almost any genre of music.



Prior to your coming down to Nigeria, did you do any collabo with any Nigerian or African artiste?

I think the closest I have gotten is Shaggy but he is Caribbean; I have not worked with any Nigerian artiste.



What’s your experience working with Shaggy?

Shaggy is funny but very intelligent. He was fun to be with though it was only a couple of days we spent together. We did a couple of songs together.



How did you get to meet him?

He was trying to do a different sort of collaboration album. I was referred to him by someone that knew me. I don’t think the song we did is out though.



On which particular song did you feature with him?

It was a single I did with him and Beyonce Knowles entitled, Crazy.



One would expect you to have adopted some flashy American name considering your pedigree but you still maintain your nigerian name, Chioma…?

Chioma means God is good. People acclaim the greatness of God all over the world. Even those that don’t believe in God still affirm it; I just love the name.



How much of your roots can you still identify with?

I love Nigerian food; I eat Nigerian food all over the world as much as I can. Wherever I go I tell everyone I am a Nigerian. I have had friends and met a lot of people in the industry who are Nigerians but do not want to identify with Nigeria. According to them, they don’t want to be identified with the country’s name because of negative things some Nigerians do. But I told them ‘why not show the positive side of us because most of us are not like that’. I love Nigeria; I enjoy being a Nigerian.



The nigERIAN entertainment scene is very competitive. How do you intend to hold your own considering the fact that you have some very established artistes to contend with?

There is enough room for everyone. And I don’t believe I am like anyone here. One of the reasons why I decided to come back was when my last song in Armenia, which got an award, was released. I started getting mails from Nigerians encouraging me to bring my music back home. That’s when I decided to come back. Hopefully, they should embrace my genre of music and who I am.



Your foreign style of music may not work fine with the fans here. Have you written anything for Nigerians?

I have one which I did in America but then the masters got stolen. It took some time to recover from that. But I always represent Nigeria in my music.



Which of the artistes here are you planning to do collaboration with?

Some of them are actually approaching me. I wouldn’t say who they are because we are still talking. I have been approached by producers and artistes because I have done a couple of shows here already.



Which shows?

I did LIPS. I did an end-of-the- year award show where I was the only artiste who performed alongside Ayo Bankole and his band. I also did the Mandela Concert. I have done stuff for Samsung too.

Brazil 2014: Bosnia striker, Dzeko sends warning signal to Eagles

Super Eagles defenders would definitely have a lot of work to do in Brazil when they face World Cup debutants, Bosnia at the mundial if the form of Manchester City’s forward Edin Dzeko is anything to go by.

Dzeko last night brightened Man City’s chance of lifting the EPL shield when he banged in a brace against Everton at Goodison Park with coach Manuel Pellegrini describing him as a world class striker.

Dzeko’s goals saw City running away with a 3-2 win that has now shot them to the top of the EPL log ahead of Liverpool who would tomorrow face Crystal Palace.

City are now effectively two wins away from the title. For Everton, the re­sult ends their UEFA champions league aspiration for next season.

The league leaders looked in for a dif­ficult encounter and fell behind early to a stunning curling effort from England World Cup hopeful Ross Barkley in the 11th minute. Sergio Aguero equalized for City in the 22nd minute. Dzeko was on target in the 43rd and 48th minute to give City a comfortable 3-1 lead. Rom­elu Lukaku pulled one back for Everton in 65th minute, but City held on to win.

SEX BAZAAR ■ Sodom and Gomorrah in Lagos ■ Women dance naked, have sex in the open

 
The stiff competition among leisure spot owners and hoteliers in Lagos has pushed many of them to devise
some devious and amorous means of attracting and keeping clients. The booming antic of some of the hotels include engaging young girls of between 18 and 38 years of age to work as strip­pers and dance provocatively nude to lascivious music in their bars. And patrons, mostly men in their 30s and 40s root for more action. In most cases, the girls engage in anal sex in the open.

Sunday Sun investigation reveals that no fewer than two of every 10 hotels in Lagos State contracts strippers to dance naked before their customers full-time and some­times on part-time basis.

The most notorious areas where this shameful practice is prevalent are Ikeja, Victoria Island, Apapa, Lekki-Ajah and Ajao Estate. In these places, high brow night clubs employ young girls as lap dancers to satisfy the luscious appetites of men, including expatriates.

In Ire-Akari area of Isolo, for instance, is a street near a Catholic church, which men and women of easy virtue have converted to their own, trading in sex without caution. On this street, exclusive hotels that harbour the strip clubs compete with churches for attention. On a Friday night, for instance, men, who ordi­narily look responsible swarm the frontage of the hotels with exotic cars and spend quality time inside the bars with wom­en of easy virtue. Inside one of the hotels on Alabe Street, nude girls display their wares obtrusively to the admiration of the male customers who flood the pubs to catch fun.

Along Allen Avenue in Ikeja, Lagos, hundreds of girls besiege the hotels and pubs stretching from Allen junction on both sides of the road down to Opebi junction to ‘catch fun’ especially at weekends. Allen Avenue has become the Sodom and Gomorrah of Nigeria where sex, drugs and money are the business of the night as prostitutes and strippers, yank off their mini skirts and under­wears, and entice both men and women to have a taste of their wares.

Every Saturday night, be­tween 9.00 pm and midnight along Allen Avenue opposite Sweet Sensation eatery bus-stop, it is another face of de­bauchery as men and women line up in front of a prominent hotel that has neon light sign indicator to the entrance of the nude club.

The scenes at the night clubs are bizarre and reprehensible.

On a typical Friday night at one of the night clubs in Ikeja a bouncer stood guard at the entrance of the building and a stream of men form a queue to pay the entrance fee of N1000 to gain access into the open room harbouring the dance floor. Once inside the build­ing, sex hawkers in bikinis and provocative attires swarm  like bees at the sight of any man, beaming with welcome smiles, all in an effort to get attention. The dance floor is an open space with chairs by the wall. Music is supplied  from concealed loudspeakers. As the music begins to blare, one can see the girls giggling and swaying to the tunes. The strippers take turns to enter­tain the guests. The dance steps are mostly obscene, with most of the strippers first squatting to take toilet tissue, rolling up enough to clean off whatever smear the previous dancer had left on the centre pole. That done, the stripper then unveils a weird style of twisting, flexing, rotating and spinning round the pole and throwing herself up before cas­cading upside down or sliding downwards in a slow motion with her legs and feet holding tight at the top pole while her head is towards the floor, like a python climbing down from an Iroko tree, and proudly reveal­ing her vagina by spreading her two legs wide before all men and women. Then she struts her breasts and yanks off her underwear. “Wow, it takes a lot of skill to do just that,” says a customer who was a first timer to the show. “With these high heels they catwalk like models,” he adds with a tinge of satisfaction.

Then, the girls begin another form of erotic act as they rub their bodies on men, perform a lap dance, which is cuddling the body to make a request while the men look in admi­ration as the dancers pull off their underwears, revealing their private parts. Some of the men who get aroused move behind the centre stage and engage in sexual acts with the girls for a fee usually between N1,000 and N5,000. People watch the acts as the strip­per moans loudly to attract attention.

By the side is a bar where customers make their purchas­es with a bottle of whiskey going for as much as N10,000 and energy drinks for N1000. There is a large TV screen hung on the wall, showing the latest pornographic films. The cheapest drink in the nude club is N1000, whether it is beer or energy drink, while the wine goes for as much as N10,000.

A regular customer reveals that it was the new law impos­ing 14 years jail sentence for gay sex that has restrained the girls and their patrons and pa­tronesses who hitherto engage in homosexual acts in the open in the clubs. The sex hawkers easily go haywire when they sight expatriate men who usu­ally come to unwind. Some of the girls usually release all in to have sex with them. On this partictheir bag of tricks to seduce the men ular night, two of the men opted for oral sex. And they did this before all eyes with the girls moaning wildly.­

There is no dull moment in the clubs as girls with different sizes of boobs, hips and curves kept moving in and out of their inner chamber to reinforce their strategies to seduce men for sex. Most of the patrons declined from having sex, opting instead for the lap dance for a fee of thousand naira. According to a regular male customer, having sex at the VIP inner chamber is expen­sive as it goes for N15,000 just for a short time.

However, flirting with a customer is never a big deal for strippers be­cause two men can share a stripper for a lap dance. Entrance fee to many of the strip clubs on allen Avenue costs N2000 and a patron is expect­ed to buy drinks, which are equally expensive. Closing time at the clubs is 5am.

Residents donate blood to victims

Some residents of Abuja on Saturday responded to the call for blood donation by the National Emergency Management Authority for victims of Thursday’s Nyanya bomb blast.

Senior officials of NEMA told our correspondent on Saturday that what was critical to many of the victims was proper treatment, which would not be possible without sufficient blood for transfusion.

At the Wuse General Hospital, relatives of victims expressed willingness to donate blood for their loved ones and others affected by the explosion.

While calling on the government to stop the insurgents from causing further havoc in Abuja, some of the relatives said they were worried that the number of victims in public hospitals in the Federal Capital Territory had increased.

“This people (terrorists) should be stopped from gaining entry into Abuja at all cost,” said a victim’s relative, who identified himself as Mr. Harold Thompson.

“Go and take a look at the wards, theatres, intensive care units, emergency departments and even on passages in some hospitals, you will find people with wounds. Within two weeks there were two explosions in a capital city, this is alarming and government really has to sit up,” he said.

The Senior Information Officer, NEMA, Mr. Sani Datti, said the agency’s priority was to ensure the victims were treated before considering releasing relief materials to them.

He said, “What we are doing for now is to see that their wounds are treated because the most important relief now is medical. This is what they need for now and our director-general visited the hospitals to check the conditions of those affected and they are being attended to.”

NEMA had called for blood donations from the public due to the increase in the number of victims affected by the blast.

Another resident who gave his name as Justin, decried the fact that some of those affected by the April 14 blast were not yet discharged before another explosion occurred on May 1.

He said, “We are yet to have our cousin discharged and now another explosion has occurred and this has increased the number of wounded persons here.

“Government has to make sure that this doesn’t happen in Abuja again, if not, there won’t be room for people in our hospitals.”

Rice: From Aliero to Akinwumi

The Chairman of the Committee on Public Finance and Revenue Generation, Adamu Aliero, has made a case for reduction of the heavy tax placed on imported rice. The former Kebbi State governor said, as a farmer, he was aware indigenous farmers and millers of rice could not satisfy the local demand in Nigeria. He argued that reducing the heavy burden of taxation on rice would be better for the economy.

He said, “The 110 per cent duty placed on rice is very unwise, because our neighbours have cashed in on this and lowered their tariff. At a point, there were 30 ships loaded with rice waiting to berth in Benin ports; those bags of rice are coming to Nigeria but the revenue is going to another country.

“We have advised the Minister of Agriculture, Adeshina Akinwumi, that the tariff should be reduced to discourage smuggling. The policy is not working, it is counterproductive and not helping the nation.”