SENSATIONAL CROONER ANOGIRI(ISRAEL PETERS)UNVEILS HIMSELF.
''i am the masquarade that makes dance music with the afrosentric fusion''
'anogiri is not a name one hears and immmediately associates with is songs have so much flavor that one wonders why this really talented music maker is not at the top of his game.
his music videos 'oyibo' and 'you think say you know me' are have some of the most popular views on youtube.if you mention the name anogiri in the diaspora everyone immediately becomes alert with
'wey am,wey am'.we did some research on him and we were introduced by another Alist musician on the nigerian terrain.
anogiri 'the masquarade'we found out has relocated to nigeria from south africa.
if you think say you know anogiri,you dont until you read this interview by STELLA DIMOKO-KORKUS..
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what is your real name?
....My real name is israel peters.
-how did you get the name anogiri?
... The name anogiri is adopted.its the name of the most colourful and
most sort after masquerade when it comes to crowd atraction in terms of
entertainment in the part of edo state where i am from.for me, anogiri
depicts the realization of people to understand that they should be themselves
and not parade about as masquerades.this might be a contrast to the name anogiri
but if you understand that you dont have to masquerade as somebody else to get attention then you would begin to apreciate yourslf and make yourself apealing to people through your efforts to better yourself.Again,as artistes,we are are like different masquerades with different atractive atributes so we need not be other people to get followership.you just really need to be yourself.so its more like,even when i am "anogiri"the masquerade,you know me because i dont cover my face.i am real.
-tell us about your background.
... I am the 5th child in a family of six.i hail from the northern part of edo state
from a place called Okpella.i had my primary and secondary education in benin city.
emotan nursery/primary and immaculate conception colleges respectively.i later went onto the university of abuja to study computer science. i didnt practice my descipline because the call to do music was innate,moreover,the world has gone
global and that in itself has ehanced me in no small way in my calling as an artiste.
i have been underground for sometime trying to be heard.from my school days as
"easy e"-what i was called back then because i rapped in school .
i travelled out of the country for a while but i am back home for music business.i
like nature alot.i play table tennis for leasure and listen to all kinds of music.
.i depend solely on God for everything.
i am presently with a record company called DKL ENTERTAINMENT.
-howe old are you and what is your marital status?
...I am 32years old and i am not married yet.i am searching though
and i hope to get married when the time is ripe.
-when did you decide you would become a musician and how did the journey into singing begin?
....My decision to do music has been like almost forever.basicaly,it
starts with first realising you have a flair for it and then it begings
to throw a certain kind of weight on you and finaly overwhelms you.at the
last stage,you just know you dont have anything u can do about it but to
succumb to the somwhat call to music.now honestly,my decision to do
music emerged from the realisation that it was not what i could shelve for something else .i t was my destiny and i couldnt fight it.the passion overwhelmed me.i did shows in my university days and actualy had real aceptance from the enormous university crowd.that gave me a 1st hand understanding that i was in for this-entertainment.a couple of years down the line i did some songs that i put on air to sort of
"test the waters" and the response i got further confirmed i was
on the right track.infact,i made radio hits with these efforts.two years ago i came across my present record label and immdiately i put a video of a new single on air,it became
an instant hit.i can say that i am officially new in the nigerian music
scene but have been right in there underground "cooking the soup".this is the ripe time i think.soup don don...(laughs)
-you have a wide presence on the internet but none in the nigerian music
scene,why is this so?
.....I think the factor resposible innitialy for that was the fact that my
first official single "OYIBO" was accessed via the internet then subsequently
other videos and then local and international tv and radio stations followed
afterwards.but i am sure that has changed immensely.i think people have suddenly
taken interest and i am most honoured by that.
-tell is how many albums you have.your song'oyibo' and 'you think say you know me' seem to be very popular.
.....So far,i have one official album titled 'IGNITION'like i said,i have done songs i have put on radio before now. Those songs prepared me for this album and some
of the songs actualy make up the 10 tracks on this album .Meanwhile,we are concluding
plans to rebrand this dedut and add additional 2 new songs to make it 12 tracks
and relaunch in a bit.The love for the tracks "oyibo" and "you no know me" tripples
by the second.Glory be to God.other songs like "na you know", "love na feeling" havetremendous applause that keeps me saying thanks to my teaming fans
and most importantly God that makes things possible.To know you have millions of
people all over the world at 1 point or the other listenin to you is a wonderful
feeling.i render my lyrics in traditional pidgin english but i get encomiums from people as far as russia,north america and asia saying they feel like i am talking 2 them. Its wonderful how far you can reach people with music.
For me,it is a priviledge. I am back in "my closet"
working on album to and i hope to be through sometime soon by the grace of God. the Nigeria music videos awards in 2009,
how do you feel being recongised?
.....I feel very elated to have been recognised barely 3 months into the
release of that single by an award body that is credible. A month later,oyibo
won best highlife video and and song on the maiden edition of another award
body in edo state- south south music awards 2009. Thats is recognition from home and It just goes to show that you must try and put in your best in whatever you set out to do in life because you never know whos watching.
how would you classify your kind of music?
... I do dance and afro as a genre of music. That is dance music with the afrosentric feel or fusion.
-
have you been in any collab with any nigerian musician?
....I have been in a number of colabs but mainly with kc presh,iyanya and chika.chika is an upcoming gospel act.
-initially when i listened to your muisic and was asking around about you,i was directed to ask musicans kcphresh,are you good friends with them?
....Kc presh and i are very good. We are also on the same record label.DKL ENTERTAINMENT.
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Which nigerian musicians do you admire and Why?
I admire a whole lot of nigerian artistes. People like the great baba fela
anikulapo kuti, 2face,faze,black faze,timaya,sound sultan,
ruggedman,j martins,rymzo da gosto,Kc presh,naeto c,d banj,wande coal,mi,ikechukwu,9ice.,kel,sasha,nyore,100 degrees,psquare,asa,nneka,lagbaja,
late da grin,femi kuti,kefee,iyanya... Wow the list is endless. Not
forgeting up comin acts like chika and a whole lot of others. We
have very talented people here and thats the truth. Every one is
talented in his or her own very unique way and i admire them because their
music is selling nigeria a good name.
-
what do you think is the magic formular for success?
...Honestly for me,it isn't magic. It's nature's recipe for success and this
is dependant on wat u believe. I beleive it's the Beleive in God, The beleive
in urself and lastly,tenacity that attracts success to anyone.
i beleive that if u put ur heart to what u beleive in no matter the odds,uld taste of the fruit of that labour
when the time is ripe.patience is a virtue.u dont have an understanding of how God works just dont be caught idle because he must bless something u have passion for.there must be something in ur hand to bless.
-i must confess that i am one of your die-hard fans.thank you for your time and talk to you again sometime soon.
...Thank you for having me.God bless.
