Reggae star,
Orits Wiliki, who recently celebrated 30 years in music in Lagos, speaks with
CHUX OHAI about his career, marriage and sundry issues.
For Orits
Wiliki, playing music in the last 30 years has been a beautiful and fulfilling
experience. For this reason, the reggae star deemed it fit to roll out the
drums and celebrate his success on the stage last August.
Wiliki
gathered his co-travellers on the music train, such as Ras Kimono, Majek
Fashek, King Wadada and Victor Eshiet of the Mandators, and held a concert in
Lagos. It was one of the biggest gatherings of Nigeria’s depleting clan of
roots rock reggae stars in a long time.
Looking back
at those pulsating years, the man that many music fans call ‘Koleman
Revolutionary’ thinks they are worth celebrating.
“The last 30 years were
really exciting. They were the best part of my life, though we have had some
hiccups here and there. There is no way it can be all smooth going, you know.
But, by and large, I am happy that I am alive. I give God the glory,” he says,
in an interview with our correspondent on Wednesday.
Aware that
many music fans in Nigeria still do not know much about his origin, the celebrated
musician insists that his roots are firmly in Ethiopia.
He says, “I
am actually from Ethiopia. That is where my grandfather comes from. I don’t
know why people can’t believe me. I am a full-fledged Nigerian, no doubt. I was
born and raised here, but my ancestral roots remain in Ethiopia. I come from
Adowa, a province in the Northern part of Ethiopia. My family naturalised as
Nigerians in Warri. My father is Itsekiri, while my mother is partly Edo and
Ondo. That is why I tell people that I have a complex origin. My real name is
Rassam Wiliki. It was my grandfather’s name, too.”
The
dread-locked musician claims that music just happened to him, though the talent
already existed in his family and his father, a talented musician and
missionary who devoted most of his time and gift to the service of the Baptist
Church, greatly influenced the path he chose for himself 30 years ago.
“At the age
of eight, I was already an active member of the church choir. Before my father
died at the age of 49, he had reached out to many people through evangelism. I
wanted to do the same thing. So I made up my mind that I was going to reach out
to people through music. I decided I would become a gospel musician. That is
why everything I have done is inspired by the Holy Bible,” he says.
He chose
reggae as the medium for spreading the Christian gospel because, in his own
words, it was the best way that he could express himself. Even then, he
preferred a modest career initially, shorn of the glitz and glamour of show
business.
For a while,
Wiliki was contented with staying behind the scene, working as a studio
producer alongside the legendary Lemmy Jackson and making other people stars,
as he calls it. “There is hardly any of the older reggae musicians, from the
Mandators, Ras Kimono to Majek Fashek, whose early works do not bear my
imprint. I have produced all of them. Musically, I am older than all of them.
That is why they call me ‘Pupa’,” he boasts.
But, like the
proverbial goldfish, there was no hiding place for him. In no time, an incident
occurred and finally exposed his real talent to the then managing director of
Polygram Records. The encounter resulted in his first contract with the music
company and the arrival of his first music album.
With a total
of 10 albums to his credit and several hit songs to boot, Wiliki is, no doubt,
one of the most successful musicians that Nigeria has ever known.
Interestingly, his success also extends to the home front where he, unlike some
other artistes, enjoys a blissful married life.
Unveiling the
secret of his 20-year marriage to popular actress and singer, Becky, he says,
“I married my kid sister my mother’s last born. We are as close siblings can
be. That is why we have stayed together for this long.”
However, the
last few years have had their toll on his music, so much that he is no longer
stuck to the traditional form of reggae. For obvious reasons, he has found it
necessary to inject a bit of Afro hip hop and other idioms that are springing
up into his music. “If you listen to my new work, ‘Pupa Reloaded’, you will
find that it is not really the traditional stuff that we used to do. The album
is a fair mix of reggae and some of today’s music styles. But it contains more
spiritual messages than I have done before and the tempo is upbeat,” he says.
Like most
other stars, the musician has a few regrets. One of them is the absence of
structures that are vital to the growth and development of the music industry.
He says, “We
still do not have the right structures that can sustain the music industry in
Nigeria. The focus is still on shows; the business is not there. Don’t be
deceived by what you are seeing. Most of the things you see are just part of
the general hype. Nothing is really happening here.
“Although
musicians live by what they do, the environment is not conducive. We have a
problem on our hands. The issue of copyright collection and piracy, for
example, is part of this problem. Is it not a shame that you buy a blank CD for
N150 and go on to Alaba International Market to buy a copy of Orits Wiliki’s
music for a paltry N30 the same music that you purchase online with about $30
dollars? How will this encourage people from outside the country to invest in the
industry?
“We still
don’t have an effective distribution network in the country till this moment.
How then can we sell records? Is it not a shame that by now we do not have
records of the quantity of CDs that are sold in the country? If these problems
are fixed, you will be amazed at the number of companies and investors that
will be trooping in to do business with us.”
Orits
believes that such structures, including a copyright system that is working
well enough to check or reduce the incidence of piracy, are supposed to evolve
within the music industry. But there should be an enabling environment to make
this happen.
In spite of
these challenges, he is pleased that there have been some positive changes in
the industry. “Today, people are paid about N4m to perform at shows. It is the
result of my struggle. I fought for it when I was Vice President of the
Performing Musicians Association of Nigeria. Also there is a general awareness
of what your copyrights are. People do not just take your work and use it
without due permission,” he says.
Yet Orits
says that if matters remain the way they are, he will be forced to talk even
his own children out of starting a career in music.
Punch
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