‘Kunle Daramola: The Oyo Anthem Crooner and MTN Voice talent

The Oyo State Anthem ‘Asiwaju ni wa’ is no doubt one of the sonorous anthems in the country, heavily worded with lines that spark pride and patriotism. A Metropolitan Ideas’ Copy recently had a chat with the Crooner, Kunle Daramola, and he opened up on his childhood experiences, love for music, and how he came around composing and singing the anthem.

Where did you grow up and how was your childhood like for you
Well my childhood days if I’m to talk about my childhood days I would say it was scattered somehow I didn’t grow up in a particular location, my father kept moving around due to transfers and all that
So where did he work?
He was a civil servant he worked with the western region then, at the secretariat there in Ibadan
What ministry?
Ministry of Justice or so and when states were created in 1976 he was posted to Ondo state and I think he was the highest-ranking officer in Ado Ekiti then, that time we didn’t have Ekiti state so he was the divisional officer in charge of Ekiti Central as they used to call it then, Ado was like the headquarters then so he was the divisional officer. At a time he worked at Owo with late chief Ajasin he was the secretary of Owo local government at the time you know he was moving around so I grew up partly in Ibadan born in Ikere then came to Ibadan from Ibadan we went to Ado Ekiti at a time I was in Akure then Owo. So I went to several primary schools, maybe like five different primary schools before I finished my primary education, and then I went to Christ School, Ado Ekiti where I finished 1987 came back to Ibadan and then got into UI, I think 1988/1989 for Industrial and Production Engineering.
My childhood was fun, I remember in the early days with some of my friends, it was quite interesting, the Old King’s way, those memories, we had friends in the neighborhood. While I was growing up we didn’t have all these fences then, I grew up partly in Bodija, we were in Ibadan then, Old Bodija, Alayande Street and there were no fences we just had hedges and we could run from your house to the next compound, run from one street to the other and it was more like communal living sort of.
Issues of insecurity, we didn’t have much of that in the early days. It was fun, I remember going to the cinemas somewhere around where you have Jesus Embassy now, there was this outdoor cinema then, interesting places.

What did you do for fun then?
I loved football, as a child, I remember that I loved football. I played football even up to my university days, I played for my hall then, independence Hall, I had to crash out of football because of academics because I was having difficulties with my academics and I needed to focus.
But in the early days, it was basically football, friends, toys, and then particularly I had this strong passion for music as a child. We didn’t have a piano in my dad’s house but one of my aunts had a piano. Music was something that runs in the family, my grandfather was a preacher of the gospel who also played the piano and then my aunt too grew up playing the piano fairly well, had a piano in her house then one of my uncles too was the organist as St. Stephen’s cathedral, Ondo, Late chief Ademodi. He was fantastic on the organ.
So there was this thing about music in me as a child, we had these family friends who I would go to their house then at that time we were in Ikere, Ekiti. They had a piano in their house so each time I went there to play with my friend I would just find my way to the piano while other kids were playing outside and I would try to play the Nigerian national anthem and try to do some other stuff on the piano.
Childhood was fun for me.

What are the sad memories from your childhood that still remain indelible till date?

Hmm… I’m trying to figure that out you know. My childhood, issues that we had then were basically family-based.

You’re from a financially stable background?

Yes, I would say like an average income earning family, my father was a civil servant.

What was your mother doing?

My mother was a teacher, so we were okay. We were not begging to eat, I can’t say I’m from a rich background, I’m not from a rich family but then…

You didn’t have to worry about where the next meal will come from?
Yes, we didn’t have to worry. God always provided for us, we were okay, we were not envious of anybody but you know one thing I learned as a kid growing up was that whatever we needed was always available for us. We didn’t have to look outside to eat.

What about your happiest moments as a child?

Wow, it’s tough for me to pinpoint exactly my happiest moments. You know I’ve had several experiences.

In all the places you lived which of the states do you think you had the most fun?

Yes, it was really friends, my friends from Ekiti because I spent a larger part of my childhood in Ondo state then now Ekiti state in Ikere and Ado Ekiti. My friends from the primary school that we played together, the fun that we had that joy of childhood that you didn’t have to worry about how or what to eat. Just basically enjoying friendship.

Who or What had the biggest influence in your becoming a voice-over artist to a producer at that time?

Wow, my coming into the voicing of adverts and stuff for production was really by God, it was not planned. It was music that brought me into voicing and production of adverts.

What ignited that passion?

I remember that I was coming to the studio to produce jingles which is the music aspect of commercials for Mr. Adeyanju Adegbite. It started through the late Tosin Bamgboshe a big brother of mine who had a strong influence on me musically. He was a musician and I got to know Mr. Adegbite through him, we did one advert for Nigerian wire and cable then in those days, I think 1994 thereabout.
That was how it started and then I started getting jobs from him, he would call me to come and produce jingles, asking me if I could turn lines into music, so I kept on doing that.
As at this time, I was already a keyboardist in one of the Pentecostal churches in Ibadan, I was in the choir so music had always been my thing so it was that which brought me into adverts.
Around 2008, when Splash FM started, I can’t remember, I started feeling that I could voice. I had been in several productions, I would hang around after even producing music for Mr. Adegbite and then the late uncle Bimbo Alagbe, blessed memory. I did a lot of jingles for them, I would hang around for the voice-over artiste to work. So I started having this feeling in me that I could do it, there’s no big deal after all and I could try my hands on it.
So I told my mentor, I still call him my mentor, Mr. Adeyanju Adegbite because I did a lot of work with him. He didn’t believe and he said “let the professionals do that.” He thought I should just stay with music, well I didn’t want to argue, I kept quiet.
I had an idea, bridal showers called me, Mrs. Bose Adeogun Alana called me around 2007 or 2008 thereabout, and she said she wanted an advert for her outfit because she had an agreement with Splash FM then to run her advert on the radio station.
So I just came up with a nice concept, which I voiced in Yoruba. I did all the voicing, I did the music, all the singing, and I got a music producer to work with me. It was all me, everything in that advert was my voice and it was difficult for anybody to notice that it was the same person that did the conversation, music, drama and all that.
That was more like a hit for me because it kept running on air and then I took that advert to Lagos in 2009 to one of the agencies, someone encouraged me to do that and the producer heard the advert and said, “wow this is great.”

What agency?

DDB Lagos, a friend of mine was a producer then, Olumide. So I told him, “well it is all my voice that is on this advert” he nearly jumped off his seat hearing that. Nobody could figure that I was the same person having the conversation, being the announcer, and then doing the music, everything.
Anyway, on my way back to Ibadan I just went to see him, while on my way to Ibadan was when I received my first job. I got a call, they had sent something to my mail to produce an advert for them, and that was how we started producing adverts, mainly on MTN brands, Fidelity Bank, and a lot of brands across various industries.
Then of course I got referrals too, other agencies, I got calls from people asking us to do stuff for them. So that was really when that confidence came I was thinking I would try, but lo and behold God gave me that favor. So that was basically how I got into it.

What inspires you to do your job? Your voicing, because you also sing, you’re into drama, you do all sorts of things. Where do you draw your inspiration from?

I think my inspiration comes from being a blessing to see the end product even before I start, I think that’s where the inspiration comes from, being able to see the end result. There’s a part of the scriptures that talks about Jesus enduring the cross for the joy that was set before him, he saw something ahead of him so that kept him going even though he had difficulties and challenges along the way.
So, really being able to see the end product… once I see a script it’s like I’m watching a movie. If I go to a client, if I’m getting a brief I can almost see the end result before starting almost immediately I see what we’re going to do. That helps me a lot, I didn’t lack direction, I’ve never been confused trying to do what I’m doing and I think it comes from the grace of God.
God has blessed us differently and I think for the scientists it’s almost the same, God has given a scientist that ability to see his own end product and then he works towards that end product and I believe that’s the way God has made all of us.
So it’s just that picture, when I see that picture in my imagination so beautiful, I can appreciate every aspect of it and then I go to work and I start working towards it.

What about the high points of your career thus far?

I’m grateful to God, I’ve had very interesting moments. Of course, I’ve had low moments, I’m sure you’ll still come to that but I’ve had interesting moments.
I remember when I was called to Lagos to produce, I think the first was 2001 when I had to go to Lagos to produce a play, work on a stage play project with Professor Femi Osofisan, I think in conjunction with City of David, RCCG. It was a project on the life and times of Bishop Ajayi Crowther. I was brought in as the music director for the play, I had to write songs for them, I had backed them up with keyboard since they will have church seats in the stage play definitely.
That opportunity came through my boss, Dr. Tolu Owoaje, who is the HOD of the music department in UI, then I think he was still with polytechnic of Ibadan, that was one.
Two, my advert sides, I remember when being called by one of the agencies to produce Sir Shina Peters for MTN77. I had to go to Lagos to produce him for that advert that was a big moment for me.
Then the Oyo state anthem is one very big moment that I will forever be grateful for, I’ll forever be grateful to the former First lady, Chief Mrs. Florence Ajimobi, and his excellency Chief Ajimobi for their support and the state in particular because it is a song that is loved across board by the young and the old, male and female.
So for me, these are high points, I have so many high points that I will probably not be able to remember sitting here now but those are high points for me in my career.

How has love worked out for you so far?

You’re talking about marriage… let me say that marriage has been great but love has also been challenging. When you talk about love in the context of marriage it has been fantastic but also challenging.

So when did you meet the love of your life?
I met my wife 10th of April, 2003, it was Saturday when I met my wife. I was having an exhibition somewhere in Ibadan here and she came there, she came to my stand and started talking with me.
Of all the people who came that day, she was the only one that seemed to have an interest, of course, others too were impressed but her own stood out in a sense. It was a trade and skills exhibition so I just went there exhibiting what we’ve done bringing out adverts that we’ve done. Let them know that we have a production outfit where we can do their adverts and stuff.
She was impressed, that was what brought us together. We became friends and we got talking and today the rest is history.

So what have the challenges been in the area of love?

There’s nothing new like the preacher has said, there’s nothing new under the sun. Every marriage has some challenges but when you put these challenges side by side that might just vary in shapes and color but there are challenges in marriage.
Sometimes you might have issues agreeing on something so you make compromises and all that. Of course, my wife is different from me, we’re not the same in nature, we’re different in several ways and one thing is that coming to accept your spouse over the years is one thing that is helping us, you’ll just come to terms with it that this is the person you’ve married and you come with either positive side and I want to call the other side baggage.
So learning to manage the other side is another thing but in the long run when you look into the future and you think about your children and your own future, and you look at those who have thrown their marriages through the window for flimsy excuses and you see the results you don’t want to go that way.
There are reasons why I believe someone should walk away from a marriage. I have my personal reasons, if it’s like a threat to life, domestic violence I would say please walk away.

What has acceptance been like? Your job is not like a 9 to 5, you travel, you could be here today, could be there tomorrow. Voice art is relatively new to Nigeria, people are just coming to terms with some of these things especially away from the days of civil service era and what have you where it’s expected that a man should either be with the academia, banking. How has the acceptance been? Was it a challenge at any point, is it a challenge now for you and your family?

It was tough for me going this way, I had to deal with it coming from the external belief, when people around you have doubts about where you’re going especially when these are people you look up to, that is tough, you really have to be strong.
I won’t describe myself as that very strong person even though innately I held on to what I believed in and I had to just hold on quietly while going through that period of rejection.
People didn’t believe despite the fact that we had and still have King Sunny Ade, Evangelist Ebenezer Obe,y and the likes. If your son came to you and said he wants to go into music, they will look at you as “being up to no good “and that was a challenge for me.
I remember once my mum called one of my uncles and said “Kunle said he wants to go into music”, he shouted from the other end as though I was going to commit suicide; that really is a challenge but I’m happy with what is happening today in Nigeria, I’m really happy.
You know people who have suffered, people have paid the price some made some amount of money, we got to know them, they paved the way for the young people out there now, the likes of Davido and the rest of them who are now making it and voice-over artistes too.
One thing about voice-over is that voice-over is still facing a big challenge. For music, music has gone, they’ve already had their own breakthrough in music but for voice-over, the challenge is still there especially outside Lagos.
In Lagos, it’s taken properly as a profession but when you leave Lagos it’s a different ball game together. People treat voice-over artistes like people selling pepper and tomatoes by the roadside.

Is it that people treat them that way or how they present themselves?

Well, that is one but two, the other thing is actually the mindset of society. It depends on where you are, a child born in America will probably not feel that way if he was going into voice acting.

What is the voice-over fee for a voice-over artist in Lagos?

It varies, averagely I would put it at 30k because there are those who charge more because of their status, the celebrities, and all that. If you want to put a celebrity’s voice on your ad you’d definitely pay more than if you were hiring an ordinary talent. So you have people who earn so much from it and you have those who earn little, if I’m going to put an average price to it I would say about 30k.
But when we get jobs here in Ibadan for example from agencies, per voice depending on how it comes, if the job is directly from an agency, they won’t pay less than 10k.
For example, we have three voice-overs each person gets 10k for each role but a script may have three roles in it so each of them gets 10k because most likely what comes to us is not so much as what some people are getting in Lagos because they’re looking at the Ibadan factor and all that.

But they still send most of their jobs, from graphic designs to voice-overs to Ibadan.

Do you think the Ibadan practitioners are being ripped off by their contemporaries in Lagos or underpaid?
Yes, let me put that there. For example, what is happening between America and China, Americans took their factories to China because they could get cheap labour which translates to more money for them because that will drop their cost and they will get there and they will get people who are ready to work and the working culture in China I believe it competes very well with that of Americans.

How do you maintain your focus in the face of challenges, in marriage, your work life, and life in general?

Determination because the challenges are there.

Have you ever considered leaving this job?

Oh yes, sometimes in the early 2000s, one particular year I did just two advert jobs in the space of 18 months. I put a phone call to my brother in Lagos and I said, “Brother, can you get a job for me? I need to get a job.” And then my brother encouraged me to continue.

Do you regret taking his advice?

Not at all, that was the only time that I’ve considered doing that. I just held on and he encouraged me. The only thing that I’m thinking if is how can it be better? What can we do?

What do you think has been your greatest source of support this far? Emotionally, financially in every way, where do you go for support? Where do you draw your strength?

I draw my strength and hope from the stories of the people who have passed through challenges who have become something. I’m a wrestling fan for example and the reason why I watch wrestling is not because I enjoy people beating each other for entertainment. No, I watch it because sometimes someone who is supposed to be down and out is still coming back.
I draw strength from such but most especially stories from the bible, there are quite a lot of people that you see coming from the down position and getting to the top in life mostly because of their faith in God.
I’m a Christian and I believe so much in God I believe that God has a good mind towards humanity and what he wants from us is the best and there is no better person to connect with than with the God who made you. I believe in God and I believe he wants the best for me and when I go to the bible and I keep seeing stories of people that were described as barren at a time and now have their own children, of people like Gideon who now went to battle and won.
So these are things that keep me going, and I read stories of people who probably didn’t go to school but who read their way to success on their own, people who have succeeded these are the things that give me strength.

What kind of changes do you think mass communications will need to get to where it ought to be? Because things in the media industry from entertainment to advertising to publishing is not really the way it is abroad, so what do you think is needed to make it beneficial to the practitioners and the advertisers?

I will only talk about one aspect and that is the aspect of the voice-over artistes and freelance producers like me. If you look at it at the top, when you talk of agencies and all these producers they are doing very well.

It’s almost a billion naira industry.

Yes, the big guys the agencies and all of that, they’re doing well. At a time I know that some of these agencies still need to fly producers in from South Africa, UK, to come in for production.
But we have ads, we have people who come here to shoot adverts. The same goes for the music industry, people used to go to South Africa to shoot videos and all that some of them still do but now you can shoot videos in Nigeria and still get good content.
In terms of production, these skills are now available, people shoot great content and videos now. The skills gap has been closed but the area that I’m hoping the agencies will look at in big companies is when it comes to the treatment being given to the talents, they pay fairly well but when it comes to payment they shouldn’t reduce their pay.
They should be paid on time because when you have your money coming in at the due time you can plan and think of advancing. By the time the money is coming you’re thinking of sorting out your needs, it’s just pressure, you’re just basically trying to manage pressure by the time you get paid so it’s difficult for you to settle down and think of how to move forward.

So they don’t pay on time?
Yes, that’s a big challenge in the industry, sometimes you don’t get paid for months, I’ve had payments delayed for four or five years. But I’m still going, what keeps me going is the passion and the love for it.
There’s something that I say, “whether you pay a dog or not it won’t stop the dog from barking.” I can’t deny myself, this is what I do, this is me so that will not make me change who I am.

So the talents in the advertising industry should be shown more consideration?

Yes, that’s where the problem is, as per the agencies they are doing fine some of them have international affiliates. If they’re not doing well those guys won’t come.

What about the religious aspect of your ministry? Let’s talk quickly about that before we round off.

That is the foundation of it all I told you that my journey into advertising started with music, producing jingles but that came about from that grace and gift that God has given me musically, to write songs and make compositions.
About the religious aspect I would say it has been challenging, mind you, I had to deal with doubts as yonis it worth going it to, the kind of environment I was in terms of negative friends and people not believing in me even though occasionally they will still celebrate you when you’ve done a good song and all that.
But when it came to going headlong, it was obvious that people didn’t believe that anything could come out of Nazareth that is a major challenge that still exists today. In some homes you still have it, some parents maybe because of what they’re seeing now all the musicians riding Bentleys and having money, their mind-set is changing we still have people who have that negative attitude and that is affecting religious aspect.
A Christian child for example who is gifted is going to discover himself in the church because the tenets of Christianity do not advise you to go to the club or other places like that so you’re going to get your platform in the church.
If you’re now unfortunate enough to find yourself in a setting where they just believe that this music thing is for the four walls of the building just do your thing here and go back to your studies…
So if you really believe you can make a living out of it that will become a challenge, they don’t really see it as a ministry. It now becomes a stepping stone for the preachers and prophets, they’ll want you to give them good music for the power of God to come down.
Music goes beyond that, mind you there will be no preaching in heaven, there will be no evangelism in heaven we won’t need prophesies in heaven because everything will be clear to us. So in heaven music continues because we’ll keep worshipping God, having said that I want to thank God for ministries that are really doing a lot to encourage musicians and if you want me to mention names I’ll mention Pastor Chris Oyakhilome and I want to thank God for the life of Pastor Paul Adefarasin from the House on the Rock.
Especially Pastor Chris, see what God has used him to do in the life of someone like Sinach, Frank Edwards, and others and we have some other pastors like that who believe in the life of talents.
To me I don’t believe that ministry is having structures all over the place, I believe ministry is used to build the lives of people under you, help them to get to their God-given destination. If you have someone who is gifted in music invest in them, send them for training. There are churches who send their people for training abroad in this country, what you will do for your own children, do it for these people.
Not just in music, in drama and other areas, I know churches who send their people for training abroad and it is beneficial to the ministry.

Where do you see yourself in the next five years? Where do you hope to be?

The purpose of God for my life I believe is to impact the lives of others through music and to give him glory. In the next five years, I trust God that I will be doing that on a large scale. Right now because of the challenges we faced in the past it has not given us an opportunity to push out there, we’re at the point where we have contents produced but I realize that it takes a lot to push your content out.
Like Donald Trump said, “Go big or go home”, so this is what is keeping us. We need funds, I won’t deny that fact and that is where the church comes in. A church like Christ Embassy invested in the lives of Frank Edwards and Sinach and took their works out.
I’m a person that believes that there is no song that is not good, every song is good it depends on what is put into it. If you put time and energy it gets better and if you get money to push it out.
I believe God that in the next five years our works will be out, in fact before then. We want to push our contents, that is really a major one and if you don’t have that backing, except God does it some other way.
Thank you so much.