I PREFER TO BE KNOWN AS WONDER BOY-UK BASED NIGERIAN MUSICIAN SOLEK.
Soji, presently more known as Solek has dropped a Joker.A Joker because it is not common to fail when you sing about weddings.Yet this latest video of his AYABA track oozes class from all angles.The serious clarity (well it's DJ TEE afterall) and the array of movie stars like Iyabo Ojo,Muyiwa Authentic,MC/Comedian Jedi and so on ensures one stays glued till the end of the track produced by UK based ace Producer, Olly Jay(The fast tempo is quite typical of Olly Jay's works) and the mix of Highlife,Juju,Fuji and even a bit of Oldies lent more strength to Solek's versatility.This is a song and video that will rule the airwaves for years.Why? Apart from the theme,you don't go wrong much mixing many genres.Especially when it is well done.
Below is a Klaxi aversion of the chat with Solek last year as published in Thisday Newspapers,Nigeria.Enjoy.
When you decide to bring Terry G,(Gbogbo Ginger),Sauce Kid(Yanke) and a few other talented guys into your musical mix.,you cannot really go wrong.Soji has been able to experiment musically and he will tell you that he can conveniently dabble in all genres.To him,some people might not like it but a lot of people do,and as collaborations go,he has been doing this for over a decade even with his first album.With a four track album released last June in Lagos,he assures that shuttling Nigeria nad the UK he will do more collabos especially on his earlier albums.People who want a versatile,not rigidly Yoruba traditional Singer think Solek first, he adds.With Your Number,Why worry and The Most Wanted featuring Pasuma,Solek is no Pushover.The typical Choir Boy gone secular and a former pratcising Accountant,he knows his onions as many will agree.
British born but Nigerian brought up,he schooled at Loyola College,Ibadan,Osun state Polythecnic,Thames Valley University and finally qualified as an Accountant in the year 2000.Music he said was not initially about the money hence he maintained a corporate back up plan.
SOLEK,an acronym of Soji and Leke(Leke is also a top musician in London now).They were a duo Band way back in Nigeria.A few people talked about his dropping the name but Soji said loyalty and already being identified with the name made him continue even when Leke landed in London later in 2004.The pair are not together now and Soji's penchant for referring to himself as Wonder Boy made many wonder if he was trying to drop Solek."Everything about me is wonderful as I could play in Lagos in the day and be at an event in London at night ,then be seen in America the next day doing my thing.I would love to drop the name Solek,I would really love to drop it,in fact when I do,I will throw a Thanksgiving Service".It is not easy because people identify me with it. I love being called Wonder Boy.
A lot of people cannot stop referring to his earlier liaison with Mohits Guru ,Don Jazzy and Solek explained that he met two passionate Guys,Michael(Don Jazzy) and another Michael along his Musical journey in London which gave birth to Solek Crew.Yet,his reluctance to be identified as the Leader might have made many assume otherwise.Don Jazzy was the Keyboardist and the Mixer with the Band working together for four year before parting.
Solek despite shuttling the UK and Nigeria revealed that if he was Nigerian based,his act would have grown more than it is now.He said,he stands as the only UK artiste based in UK and still big in Nigeria.
Many who wish to savour Solek's music throng the exclusive Eko Bar,Hommerton in East London
Soji is married to Comfort,an Indigene of Edo state in Nigeria.They have three boys.
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