Aba-born Chinyere Ugokwe does not like to be put into categories. She finds it, in her words, “restricting,” like a corset wound around her artistic freedom. But she admits her music is a fusion of Afro and Drill. The US-based Nigerian creative is many things: singer, songwriter, rapper, poet, writer, entrepreneur, and social advocate. Her journey as a creative began formally in May 2017, and her raison d’être is to speak for the voiceless and disenfranchised, a trait she says was instilled into her in her early years by her parents.
Her song, GBOS, released in April 2021, offers a glimpse into her social activism. In it, she critiques bad governance and police brutality. But she is not only about mounting the soapbox to preach social reforms. She also wants to make music that celebrates life; that is fun and uplifting.
In her interview with Michael Aromolaran of Culture Custodian, which focuses mostly on her music and has been slightly edited for brevity, Ugokwe provides insights into her artistic sensibility and aspirations.
It’s rather curious that you’ve chosen your real name as your stage name. Most musical artists opt for a pseudonym.
Yeah. The reason is because that’s who I am. My authentic name can also be my stage name.
Could you talk about your upbringing and how it impacted your music?
I was born in Aba, Abia State, and was raised there up until eleven. My father was assassinated. A lot of things were going on in the state at the time, in the sense that there were a lot of shootouts. That shaped my understanding that the country we are living in isn’t so great, and that Nigeria could just happen to someone. That incident also impacted my music, made me want to speak up for issues people normally wouldn’t address and it has given me a sense of being empathetic to what people are going through.
I am sorry to hear about your father. When you say assassination, do you mean it’s political?
I cannot say for sure. But he wasn’t a political person. He was just a normal businessman.
Would you say you are mostly a socially conscious musician?
I wouldn’t say most of my music is socially conscious. Normally, my parents taught me to speak up to things that aren’t good in society. So that’s just who I am as a person, and I have some songs that address that. But it isn’t most of my music. I also try to achieve other things with my music, like inspiring people.
Who and who would you regard as your musical inspirations?
I love Koffee, Bob Marley, Michael Jackson, Flavour, Gunna, Black Sherif, African China. I love the way he [African China] spoke about things in the society and made it in a way that people wanted to listen to it.
How would you characterise your music in terms of genre?
I don’t like boxing myself in. But what I do is a sort of mixture: it has drill in it; it has trap; it has Afro in it as well.
What’s your philosophy of music?
Music is like a spirit. When the message comes to me and then the melody, it’s irresistible; it’s just something I have to connect with and push out.
So, for you, the message precedes the tune?
Right. The message comes first.
If I gave you a word now and asked you to come up with a one-liner, would you indulge me?
Sure. Tell me.
All right. The word: Codeine
Codeine/ Do you know that’s the Devil’s juice?
That’s clever. Since you are a social advocate and we are talking about codeine, what do you have to say about the spate of drug abuse among Nigerian youths?
Drug abuse is linked with depression. In our society where mental health isn’t valued, people resort to drugs as a way of coping. That is sad because they are dependent on it. All these things are addictive. So they keep using and using it until their potential is totally wiped out. So that’s why I said that codeine is the “Devil’s juice.” I’d advise that one stays away from it.
Before music and deciding to be a full-time creative, were there previous career aspirations?
Yes. Initially, I was in my way to becoming a doctor. I earned my degree in Biology at the Montclair State University in New Jersey. I have always been someone who wanted to help out in society, and I thought the route to doing it was medicine. But when I took my brother to the hospital and I saw how repetitive the task was, I figured it wasn’t for me, as I don’t like being boxed in. I also don’t like seeing blood or seeing people hurt. As God would have it, in my junior year in college, my sisters and I started an e-commerce business which really took off. And so I became a full-time entrepreneur after I graduated. With my entrepreneurship, I just wanted to and was able to express myself. I started writing, too, and got positive remarks from my professors when they graded my college essays. And then, with my music I started a fundraiser — I have a charity — to raise money for youths to help them with capital to start up a business. I wrote a poem for the fundraiser, and it was in pidgin English. So I thought I needed to put the poem into a song, as some people might not find poems catchy. So that’s how it all started, in 2017.
A year before that, Bob Dylan, the musician, won the Nobel Prize in Literature. Let’s talk about the nexus between writing and music, specifically as it pertains to you.
I think that for those whose music isn’t just melody but also involves a write-up, their songs approach poetry. In songs, you make use of poetic devices to being it to life. For anyone to say there’s no connection between music and poetry, that’s just being selectively blind. People, and by this I mean certain literary heads who play gatekeepers, also need to understand that culture and society are ever evolving. The way Shakespeare wrote was according to his culture. So someone writing today doesn’t have to write that same way. Also, our ideas of certain things have to change. So that’s why some people had a problem with Bob Dylan winning the prize. I’m glad he did win it, to show how society has evolved.
Given the chance, what music collaborations would you want to have?
I’d love to collaborate with Burna Boy, Wizkid, and Davido. I mentioned those three because I think their Afro around would nicely compliment my sound. And then, of course, there is Phyno. And Flavour. I have even had a dream in which I had a musical collabo with Flavour.
What are your long-term plans?
I want to get my album out. That would be called Epiphany. I’m also writing a somewhat non-fiction book, and it’s titled Obianuju, which is a combination of prose and poetry. The title is an honour to my mom. The title is Igbo and it means “to bring wealth.” It aligns with my hope that the book brings wealth into people’s lives. The book is mainly about showing how patriarchy affects our society
To end this interview, could you mention some of your literary influences?
Certainly Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Toni Morrison. Maya Angelou. Chinua Achebe.