Kenny Ogungbe:Naija Star Search is about Sustaining Afrobeats

Kennis Music is credited with ushering in a new era of Afrobeats on the Nigerian music scene. After successfully making a significant impact with his Kennis Music, AIT Jamz, and later Primetime Africa Jamz, Kenny Ogungbe is set to mould a new generation of Nigerian music acts. He spoke with Chinedu Ibeabuchi about Afrobeats, and the Naija Star Search reality show set to premiere on StarTimes on September 4th

What exactly would you say about Afrobeats now?

Afrobeat is enjoying global acceptance from Jakarta to Niger. I don’t even want to mention London or New York. In every part of the world, Afrobeats is celebrated, and they dance to our songs. That is why it should be sustained. How do you sustain it? You look for the younger ones that have not blown; we gather them together and pick the next ones. That’s what we want to do with Naija Star Search. We will discover, coach, promote, support and sell them to Nigerians. That is the essence of this competition. Naija Star Search is about sustainability, so we don’t get checked out on billboards. 

Kennis music started the revolution that produced some of the most prominent artistes, but after a while, there was silence. Kenny Ogungbe now wants to produce new music stars, and many doubt he still has the touch to make stars.

Kennis Music has been there from the beginning. I started when I was very young from OGBC when I was in my early twenties. I later moved to Raypower and then Kennis Music International. I never shifted my focus to Kennis banking or Kennis politics. It has always been entertainment. There were times when there was no money in Music. So, what time would you rather be in business? When there was no money compared to when there was money? I’ve been in the industry since then, and I’ve been selling Music till now, and I will till I die. My radio station Kennis FM has been on for seven years now.

 What is Asha Gangali bringing to Naija Star Search?

He has the experience. Some may know he started a talent show called Roc Da Mic Africa. I will mention one name or two that came to that talent show celebrated today globally – Wande Coal and Timaya. I was with him then and figured he was an identifier of talents like me. And he is also an artiste. He understands the pains of an artiste. He can say follow me, and if you do and follow instructions, you will blow. That is why it is him. ID Cabasa is another judge on the show. ID Cabasa is a Music Maestro responsible for several musical hits from 9ice to Olamide and Wizkid, among others.

African Queen is one of your most significant achievements so far. do you think you can still give us another one?

You are a journalist; can you create a work that is better than the best you already have? That answers your question. We are all ambitious. We are all humans, and we have things that we want to achieve. I read one article that said he is judged by his African Queen performance, and he hopes every song he releases will be as good as African Queen. You put your best foot out and keep working hard and praying to God to make it click. 

Kennis Achievements?

Kennis Music has the highest number of songs in a catalogue, the biggest in Afrobeats till today. From 2000 to 2022, you won’t see any if you ask everyone to bring out their catalogue. Kennis Music has released over 80 albums in the last 20 years, an average of 12 songs per album. If you multiply it, how many record companies can come out and say I’ve produced such an amount of songs? That is why we celebrate Music; we remix and rejuvenate them. Songs will never die.

 Artists don’t die as their work outlives them. Do you think you will be remembered?

People are still singing and dancing to Lady by Fela Anikulapo Kuti to date, and Fela is dead. When I’m dead, they will still sing African Queen, and my hand is in that Music, my hand will forever be in that Music. 

 How is this search for new stars different from your previous search? 

If my experience at that time put up a great song when I was younger, today, I’m mature; don’t you think I will be better like old wine? My biggest credit is identifying what is good. I identified African Queen. We just released Nfana Ibaga, a song by 2face at that time, and then he brought African Queen to me. I said this song is going on air today because I identified it. Usually, you wait for a song to go around a month or two before you release another song, but we released it even while Nfana Ibaga is still gaining momentum.

Naija Star Search reality show is quite different from other reality shows anyone has seen before because this show is not about celebrating Foreign Music. It is about celebrating Nigerian Music. If you go to some talent show rehearsals, you will hear them singing Beyonce, John Legend, and Kanye West’s songs. There will be no foreign songs, only Naija sounds, Afrobeats precisely.

Let’s look at how Nigerian Music is widely accepted today, trying to gain worldwide attention. We have a population of about 200 million people; let’s look at Jamaica which has a population of about 6 million people; everybody knows it is Reggae music that is popular in Jamaica. It is popular among 6 million people in Jamaica; everybody worldwide sings Reggae music. I want everybody to be singing Afrobeats too.

It is time to take over the world with our language, pidgin English; people singing in pidgin English in Paris, China and everywhere. That is where we are going with this. I want to say a big thank you to StarTimes for bringing this up. Starting September 4th on ST Nollywood channels on StarTimes, we will begin to watch the making of new stars.

Greatest albums?

The greatest album produced by Kennis Music is Face to Face by 2face Idibia. The second is Grass to Grace by 2face Idibia. We have Eedris Abdulkareem, he spent a long time in Kennis music, the longest, even till today we are still working together. We also had VIP from Ghana; we brought Ghana Music into the mainstream of Nigerian Music. Then Tony Tetuila, Essence’s Facebook Love, Jaywon, and Joel. They all made classics and timeless songs under Kennis Music. 

 Some songs have outlived their time. Are we hoping to get that from this new set while also keeping pace with trends, judging from artistes who gained prominence but cannot keep up with the trends? 

You are right. Not everyone popular now will be famous in the next five years. I’m sorry to say it, but it’s the reality. When African Queen was released, it was a slow song; at that time, nobody danced to slow songs. It was the energy I put in and the love of Nigerians. That particular song can be done as jazz, or reggae, today. Even 2baba did a reggae version of it. In five years, another type of Music will come up, and they will sing the song to that genre. That is how versatile Music is. It depends on how versatile the artist is to identify it and turn it into the reigning beat of that era. Music is time, and the best thing is to write classic songs that will outlive you. Fela Anikulapo is a great example; he wrote so many classics. King Sunny Ade is another example; he wrote many classics that will outlive this generation. It will be heard in the next 50 years. 

Musical videos and lyrics are so lewd now and very disappointing. As an older man in the system, how can you compare the old times to this time? What do you think makes these artists go so crazy?

I want to add more to your question because I’ve heard people say that what they are writing now is nothing more than ‘your bum bum’. Before we were born, they had been singing like that. When all of us here are gone, they will still be singing like that. That attitudinal problem that you mentioned is universal. If you have it, then you have it. If you don’t have it, then you don’t have it. The next set of musicians that are coming is going to have it. The best thing is to teach them before they blow because some of them come from not-so-good backgrounds, and when they see money being thrown at them, they get crazy and lose it; it affects them a lot. It’s good to tell them early. I will go back again to the lyrics. You will wonder if King Sunny Ade, Sir Shina Peters, Fela Anikulapo Kuti, etc., all sang those songs that today’s musicians are singing. Every time has a trending word that they use in their songs.