In a recent interview with YNaija, Afro juju music legend, sir Shina Peters talked a great deal about his musical background, sex and his many kids. See excerpts below:
When did it occur to you that you wanted to express yourself through songs?
Let me tell you something. My being a musician today all boils to my
religious background. I’m from Cherubim and Seraphim and there is no way
you’ll be C&S-born and you won’t have music in you. I think I got
it from the church. At first I didn’t think I will do music but when I
was about to go to the higher school then I had a dream. I heard a voice
say ‘Choose one from your left or right hand’ and I opened my left one
and I saw music.
I called my parents and told them I’m not going to school anymore.
That was all. Nothing really inspired me. It was a call from God. I was
so young, I guess I was close to 10-years-old when I took the decision.
Nobody wanted to hear me but immediately I got the call, my career
started. As I was walked out of the house at 2 am, I trekked from Oshodi
to Olorunshogo in Mushin. I saw an hotel and I went there. When I got
there, I took the drum from the guy that was playing it then and
everyone was like ‘Who is this little boy that plays the drum like
this?’ That’s how it all started.
What inspired you to create your own style of music -Afrojuju?
When Fuji came and they wanted to brush Afro Juju music aside and
when our front runners then couldn’t do anything about it, I said to
myself ‘I am a Juju musician let me see what I can do, so the genre
won’t die’. I then started my research which took me four years. I
didn’t do anything during that period except for my research.
Then I went to see my very close friend- the late Sikiru Ayinde
Barrister’s show. I wanted to see what people enjoy in his music. Then I
saw it was not the lyrical part of the music or the instrumentation
part of the music. I realised it was the African percussion that Yorubas
call ‘Omele’. Anytime he asked his band members to play that music,
everybody would shout.
I went to Phase 2 opposite Ariya owned by Tony Benson. I wanted to
see what the students were dancing to in the school. Then I found out
that they were so into the heavy vibes type of music. Then I went to the
late Fela Anikulapo Kuti. He told me that ‘look Shina, find the music
that will suit your voice. There is nobody God has created without a
voice but it’s for you to find the music that suits your voice. If you
also want to sing, Shina mix Yoruba with Pidgin, so your music can cut
across’.
And that is exactly what I did. That’s why my music cuts across till
today. To cut it short, music is spiritual but some people don’t tap the
spirituality of music. There was a time I was playing the guitar around
12 am and I saw like thousands of white garment people and I said I
would love to follow them and later I got out of the trance. I then said
I will not play the guitar again. Playing the guitar is too spiritual
for me. I can just go like that.
So that’s how I blended the African percussion with high-life, Jazz,
Juju, African beats, Akwete and other sounds to create Afro Juju. That
is why no matter what anyone anyone plays, as far as you’re an African
artiste you will find a trace of Afro Juju in it.
Today to God be the glory, the only idea that I added to all this is
the tempo. Maybe I am a little selfish because I wanted students,
Yoruba, Hausa and the other ethnic groups to like my music and it
worked.
Getting stardom at such a young age. How was life growing up?
Let me be honest with you. I am just doing my thing. I’m not into
music for money. I love doing it. To me I don’t feel like there is
anything like stardom. I don’t believe I’m there. I never allowed the
fame get into my head. I was seriously focused. I knew where I was going
and I got there.
Women and sex
When I’m on stage, I’m different. That’s why I first told you
that music is spiritual but it’s the spirituality the younger artistes
don’t have.
They believe that when they finish playing, they’ll have millions of
telecommunications money to spend at the clubs. When we were young too,
we did the same. However, because of my strong C&S background, I am
not permitted to go to the extent that they are going now.
So that is what might have curbed me. It is only in this country we
do not believe in abuse. Women really dealt with me. When I didn’t even
know anything about sex, they used me a lot. I still have 100 of them
and I can mention their names. They took advantage of my youthful
exuberance. That’s the only thing but thanks to God I was able to
correct it. In my days, when you got an artiste’s house, you get to see
nothing less than 4 women in the same house.
May God forgive any children of mine that has one or two negative
issues because they don’t know because if they really know me they’ll
know that’s how I was made.
If I see any of my children now I can die for them but if their
mothers want to use that to trap me, I won’t let her. So because I won’t
let her, I would offend the child. I am sure people can see what I am
going through.
