Gospel act, Tope Alabi is not quite in the league of her colleagues in the industry. She recently gained a new set of fans after her worship session, Logan Ti O De with photographer, TY Bello went viral.
In an interview with Punch Newspaper, the widely acclaimed singer spoke on her fame and the conscious efforts she has made to ensure she doesn’t end up like celebrities who live a fake life.
Tope Alabi said, “I still go to the market to buy groceries; I don’t like the idea of living the life of a celebrity. Sometimes when I want to go out, I take public transport. There was a day I boarded the BRT bus in Lagos to get to the popular Balogun market; I could hear the passengers whispering to one another.
“They were arguing if I was the one or not. They were saying Tope Alabi is not a poor person so there is no way she will be on a public bus. When I was about to alight from the bus, I revealed my identity to the driver, and this made many of the passengers to also get down from the bus to take pictures with me.
“Sometimes, it is necessary to have a taste of what it feels like to be an ordinary woman on the street. Many celebrities do not live their real life and are not free to do whatever they like; that is why I don’t restrict myself. When someone is not free to do what they feel like doing, like every other person on the street, it causes depression which can even lead to death.
“Some people try to sell fabric worth N20,000 to me at the rate of N100,000 because I am a celebrity; they don’t bother to find out if I have that kind of money or not. Living a fake life can lead to indebtedness as some celebrities always want to meet up to a certain standard
Someone once told me to get escorts for security reasons, but I declined because I didn’t need them and still don’t need them. I am still discrete about my movement but I still live a normal life.
“I believe in buying only the things I can afford; I’m not materialistic. I always hear different stories of celebrities that lie about their material possessions; there is no need to live an extravagant life at all”
When asked about her spontaneous worship song with TY Bello and how it was reverberated across the country, the award winning singer said, “The Holy Spirit gave me about 16 songs on the spot on the day we recorded, ‘Logan Ti Ode.’ It was not planned, we were supposed to be singing together but the Holy Spirit had other plans for us. It was after the whole thing that TY Bello revealed to me that the Holy Spirit told her to keep quiet while I sang.
“There was none of my old songs on that track; it was supposed to be a photo shoot and a moment of worship. So, when we finished the photo shoot, TY Bello called a keyboardist and a drummer to join us; the plan was just to do a family worship. However, immediately I noticed the presence of the Holy Spirit, I had to suspend what I was doing prior to that time and I followed His leading.
“I am still in awe of how the song went viral within a short time; some of my songs had gone viral like this before but this is exceptional. When I started gospel music, I didn’t expect to be this famous; I am even afraid because the fame and fans are overwhelming. I am afraid because I fear God.
“What if I had been discouraged when my music was not paying my bills? I used to struggle to pay my children’s school fees. I once hired a bus for my band members and had to pay by installments”
