She is the first female winner of the MTN Project Fame talent game show and also one of the surviving female musician in Nigeria, Chidinma Ekile aka Miss Kedike takes our reporter through her past, present and future in this exclusive interview.
Can you spot the difference between the Chindinma before Project fame, Chidinma of Project fame and Chidinma now?
There isn’t much that has changed though. The Chidinma then was a girl that was under strict parents, all I do then is to go out to get recharge card and go back inside until I took the risk of going in for Project Fame. Before PF, I have always practice my journalism skill facing the mirror since that’s all I have, I never wanted to be a musician. The Chidinma in PF is just tha normal girl you can think of but sincerely, I never imagined myself reaching the finals. Project fame thought me a lot, not just music, we had classes on how and what to do, business classes, and live band music. To the Chidinma now, I must confess a lot has changed about me. After PF, I said to myself that nothing would make me tint my car but I later had no choice because I could barely walk on street nor take water in traffic. A lot of people now know me.
So which do you prefer, the cool and homely Chidinma or the Popular musician?
I think I prefer now though, money is involved now( laughs)
You opted for journalism after project fame
She cuts in…yes I did.
Why journalism? Is there any special reason for that?
Like I said earlier, I have always seen myself as a journalist, not a musician. Music just came by the way, I always rehearse in front of the mirror. So, choosing journalism isn’t a strange decision, it is what I have always wished for.
Can you leave music for your passion career, Journalism?
(Laughs). No I can’t o. I actually dropped the journalism course because by that time, music was taking the larger part of me, I had to drop the journalism thing. Now, I am studying sociology in the University of Lagos.
That sounds good. But are you studying Sociology just for the record or we should expect Chidinma the sociologist in the nearest future?
I am not just doing it for the record, I am doing it for really but sure if I will end up doing it.
How does Chidinma manage her fans, especially the male fans?
Its been really tough if I must confess. Almost everybody want to get that familiarity and I have too attend to them so as not to loose my fans. I think I have more female fans than male. Its not been easy. The fact that I am young and still new makes it hard but with the kind of strong team I have, God has been seeing me through.
You are in limelight with young male artistes. Do you get approaches from young colleagues like you?
(Laugh) Yes. I get advances a lot but please don’t ask for names, I won’t mention(laughing continues)
There has been speculations about you and Adam. Would you like to clear the air?
I keep laughing each time I hear it. Let’s call Adam and Eve(laughing continues). Let me respond by saying it’s the industry I am, the path I have chosen so things like that are expected to happen. I am sure this won’t be the next. The first time I saw that, I took it to be part of my job.
(Cuts in) so, can we say there is an element of truth in the rumor?
Hmmm, you can figure that out. All I will say is that, this won’t be the last to be heard.
Let’s go a bit social. What do you think of the different awards? Do you think they are justified?
To me, I believe there are boards that look into different categories of awards, that makes each of the award genuine.
What do you think about the situation of the country? The Boko Haram negotiation and all the bombings around?
Nigeria is getting terrible by the day and for now, I think what we need is just God.
If you have the opportunity to go out of the country, where would that be?
I can afford to go anywhere I want but for some reasons, I like it here in my country.
There should one artiste you would love to perform with, locally and internationally.
In Nigeria, the first person is my God mother, Omawunmi. I love her music so much, I love everything about her. 2face Idibia is definitely the male artiste.
Only few female survive in Nigeria film industry what would you say your magic is, coming from a reality show to the mainstream of music in the country.
Actually it was hard and it’s still hard, it requires a lot of hard work. The first issue is where you are coming from, people believe you are one of those microwave artiste. That makes the hard work a necessity. In the competition, that is, Project Fame, its all about ballad and RnB but I said to myself, the competition is over and I need to create my own style in the industry. It has not been easy to break into the industry, it’s just a lot of hard work.
Has there been any form of segregation from people in the industry?
No, not at all. I was given a warm welcome,o especially from people like sound sultan.
Finally, what should we expect from you as regards album?
I am working on it at the moment, ‘Emi ni baller’ is part of the album.
I love Chidinma very well,non of her music track is my time wasted, i normally called he my wife never i heard her music.Chidinma is talented and bless,so remain bless.