| | Kefee
Label: Blue Pie Productions
Artists Genre: Urban
Kefee is one of the bright shinning stars from
Nigeria. She was recently niminated by her fans for
the coverted " BEST AFRICAN TRADITIONAL ARTISTE" for
Nigeria. Kefee was one of 5 nominess for the Kora
award. The nominees included:
CYPRIEN KAGORORA Rwanda
AYUBA Nigeria
JOLIDON LAFIA Benin
RAUL NEGRO Angola
KEFEE Nigeria
Kefee is an MGN Productions, Blue Pie and Perfect
Pitch artist and is now available at all leading
digital retailers on the planet.
ABOUT THE KORA AWARDS:
Kora was founded in 1994 by Ernest ADJOVI who now
serves as Executive Producer . Kora was first
broadcast in 1996 to 45 countries, and in 2002 Kora
was broadcast in 78 countries. This is the first
pan-African music awards which is internationally
recognised. The Kora is the first not-sportsman
African event broadcast live in Africa, Europe,
Asia.Since 2001 Kora event was broadcast in USA and
Canada.
ABOUT KEFEE:
By IME OLA and CHARITY NWANKWO
Friday, July 15, 2005 The Sun News - Nigeria
Irikefe Alec Godwin, also known as Kefee, is a happy
girl. And she has every reason to be happy. Only
recently, she got married to her best friend and
producer, Alec Godwin, following which she released a
new album, titled Branama 2, last week.
Beaming with smiles, the musician told Daily Sun: “I
am the happiest person in the world. I asked God for
three things and He has done all for me. I am so
grateful.”
Bold and beautiful, this singing talent started
singing in the church choir where she later became the
head at a very young age, leading the younger and
older choristers. Gradually, she discovered that
people were always thrilled by her songs. Later she
teamed up with her friend Estee to produce an album
which did not make much impact. By the time Estee
travelled to the United States to pursue a career in
Nursing, she went solo. Her solo effort, Branama,
released in 2003 was done mostly in her native Urhobo
language.
Right inside her husband’s Studios in Ikeja, the
singer spoke to Daily Sun about this new album, her
marriage to her producer and her plans to go back to
school.
Background:
My real names are Irikefe Godwin but my stage name is
Kefee. I was born in Sapele, Delta State. My parents
are Deacon Andrew and Mrs Rachel Obaseki. I attended
Ayomanor Primary School and later Ufuoma Secondary
School, both in Sapele. I have a diploma in Public
Administration from University of Benin. I am the
third child of my parents’ six children: three boys
and three girls.
Growing up was fun because my parents showered us with
love but I was closer to my dad. He encouraged me more
when I was singing in the church choir. Then I was
eight years old. In fact, I was singing basically
because of him, bearing in mind that he would give me
gifts at the end of the day.
I started singing when I was eight years old. And I
knew I could sing then but I was singing in the
church. I took it professionally when I released an
album with Estee in 1999.
When I left the children’s department, I graduated to
the adult choir. Then I was 15 years old. When I
turned 18, I was made the head of the choir because
they said I could teach the three-parts in music. They
also loved my confidence as I could stand in front of
adults to teach. I was the youngest but I taught
people who were older than me. We won all our
competitions. Later, the choir which was then known as
Temple Life Choir (TLC) released two albums.
I did not decide to go professional or take singing
seriously until Estee and I released an album entitled
Trip. Estee’s father was the founder of my church,
Temple Deliverance Mission and my father was a deacon
in that church. So we became friends. When Estee moved
over to Benin-City to study Nursing, I also gained
admission into the University of Benin to study Public
Administration. We decided that since we were together
in Benin, we should do something together. With the
help of his brother Alec, we went into the studio and
recorded our music. The album was well promoted in
Delta and Edo States but was not properly hyped in
Lagos. We did a bit of hip-hop with some African
songs.
My albums
When Estee travelled abroad in early 2002, I decided
to go solo because I knew she was not coming back so
soon. She is already a nurse with the US Navy.
Actually, what I wanted to do then was hip-hop. Right
now, I am doing something traditional.When she
travelled, it gave me the opportunity.
My kind of music
I play trado-hip-hop music. Everybody likes hip-hop.
So, to get attention, I added hip-hop to my
traditional music. That is why I featured hip-hop
stars like Sound Sultan and Free style in my new
album. I did traditional music because that is me and
the background I came from.
The name Branama
Branama means show off in Urhobo. And this is because
we want to show off what we have in our culture and
our own original stuff. Branama has nine tracks and it
was released in October 2003. The CD contained songs
like Branama, Akpo, Woruno, Let my day begin, Dance
floor, OK, among others. It was released on Alec’s
Music label.
Why I sing in my language
I sing in my language because that is where I come
from. I think, if I don’t sing in my language and then
ask someone from another part to come and sing in my
language, he may not do it the way I am doing it.
If I don’t sing in my language, I don’t know in what
language I should sing. I am very original and
secondly, it calls for unity. I wanted to do something
that would promote my culture. I wanted to be
original.
The Impact
I have made a great impact in the lives of people.
Moreover, my costume and everything about me I believe
have made an impact. I do not have an identity problem
because when people see me, they know it is Kefee. I
make my costume with George materials which is what I
wear. So, I am doing that to popularise my culture.
Inspiration
I get my inspiration from God. I also get inspired by
people’s good works. Sometimes, if I go to a seminar
and they say something that makes sense or raise a
good topic for discussion, I can be inspired to write
songs on it. I also get my inspiration from everything
that happens around me and my society.
Why I am in music ?
I am in music because I know I have the talent. But it
is one thing to have the talent and another to develop
it. I have been in music all my life. I have the gift
of singing. When I sing, I make people happy, so why
shouldn’t I sing?
As a celebrity !
I really feel good about it because sometimes people
do not know my real name, they call me Branama and I
will say hello to them. When I go to some places to
buy things, some of them who recognise me and love
what I am doing would not collect money from me. While
in some places, they would want to cheat me. It is
normal because if God blesses you, it is good to bless
others. I feel happy when I walk in the street and
people will start saying, ‘Oh that is Kefee.’ I always
like to disguise by not putting on earrings. Even at
that, they still recognise me. I feel good about it
because it means people love what I am doing.
Challenges for Nigerian Artists:
What I call challenges were those times I had to
travel to Port Harcourt to shoot my video clip, pay
hotel bills and then come back to Lagos. It was rather
stressful. Talking about carrying my demo from one
record company to the other, I did not experience
that, Alec did the recording for me. He had already
started his record label but it was not very big. So
by the time he released my album, everyone knew he did
a good job. Now, Alec Music is a big label with so
many artistes.
Awards
I have won several awards. Some of them, I have not
collected. This is because sometimes, some people
would call me to say that they are organising awards
in Bayelsa, Benin, that I should come. That day, I may
have been booked to perform and would not be able to
travel there. Those ones, I am yet to receive. But I
have collected five awards so far. I got two from TOMA
Awards: Best Gospel Album and Traditional Song of the
Year 2004. I got another one from Nigerian
Entertainment Award as Best Traditional Album 2004.
Last year, the Catholic organisation also gave me an
award in recognition of my good works and
contributions as a youth.
What was the most difficult time 4 U ?
I have not really had a most difficult time but of
course, there are challenging moments. It was not a
difficult time but I was really embarrassed when I
went to a city in Nigeria and some people said: “Look
at this artiste that refused to come to our show. The
show was well promoted there but the organisers did
not invite me, they only used my name to promote the
show because they knew I had fans there. I was really
really embarrassed because I was not informed about
the show and they still went ahead to say that I
refused to show up.
What is you happiest moment ?
I have a lot of happiest moments. When I went to Akwa
Ibom and Enugu, I was so surprised when I heard them
singing Branama because it is a difficult song. Most
people choose to sing Woruno because it is more of the
do, do, do sound. So, it is easy to sing along. They
were singing Branama as if they were Urhobos. I was
really thrilled.
Sad moments
Oh! I am a very very happy person but I feel sad when
people tell me lies. I don’t like people who make
other people feel unimportant.
Aside music
Right now, I am fully into music and I am going to put
in all my efforts because I know it will reward me
better than any other job.
Role models
There are many of them likeYolanda Adams, Noraine
Hills. But back, I liked Christy Essien Igbokwe as a
child.
Who is Kefee?
Kefee is a very patient person, very unpredictable,
even to myself. Sometimes, I can’t say what I will do
next. I do not pretend, I like being myself and I am
not a noisy maker.
Costume
I wear what I wear because it makes me feel good and
makes me discover who I am. It reminds me of who I am.
It is not as if I wear them on a daily basis. I use
the George fabric to make them because that is what we
use in my area. I also use the horsetail, it is always
with me. I use it in place of the handkerchief and it
is African.
Marriage
I got married in February 2005 to my best friend Alec
Godwin, the Chief Executive Officer of Alec’s Music.
Well, you would say I married my producer. We have
been together before he even became a producer. We
have been very close for a very long time now. He is
someone I love and I knew I can stay with.
Showbiz couples’ marriage often crash
Well, mine will not crash. But I think it depends on
the person. I can live with anybody, good or bad. I
can live with them and not have problems. I think they
have problems when they do not understand each other.
Why I married ‘early’
I am 25 years old and is that early? Okay as an
artiste I should have waited, but I married someone I
love. And I really did not want to lose him to any
other lady. It is good to get married because that
would make you get focused. I do not think it will
affect my career because we have our plans. Married
life has been good, it has been fun. I am very happy
and I have more control over my life now.
How I met my husband
I met my husband in the church. His father was the
founder of Temple Deliverance Mission, Sapele. He was
the choir director then. I was 20 years old when we
met. Then he was like a big brother to me before he
spoke to me about marriage. I was attracted by his
humility in church and the way he treats people.
My new album Branama 2
It is a new album and a continuation of Branama. But
it is Kefee with friends in the music industry. I have
Paul I. K. Dairo, Sunny Neji, Sound Sultan, Rymzo,
Pastor Goody Goody, 2 shorts, Free style, Gordons,
Recky D, Estee in Branama 2. I invited these friends
because I wanted to do something different. I also
remixed Woruno which I did with Sunny Neji. The album
was released on June 20, 2005 under Alec’s Music
label. It is a 16-tracker. It features songs like
Kukuruku, the African Woman and Ohoyin, which is my
response to the rumour once making the rounds that I
was dead.
Aspirations
I look forward to getting an international deal, a
very big one. I want to be recognised internationally.
 |
