Having A Record Label Has Really Helped Me – Simi

Having A Record Label Has Really Helped Me – Simi


‘Love Don’t Care‘ crooner, Simi, bared it all in a new interview with Bold Magazine.

The talented singer/sound mixer, opened up on her music and more in this interview with Bold Magazine, saying having record label has really helped her as an artiste.

Read excerpts below:



O: What do you think makes your song mainstream and what what makes it alternative?

S: I don’t really like the word alternative because the kind of sound I use, the tempo of my music is mellow. It’s not a dance type of groove but it is still really really groovy. I think what makes my music more mainstream would be what I am singing about and then cos I use a lot of ‘Pidgin’. I’m not too for a lack of a better word too ‘Oyinbo’ I try to keep it as African as possible.

O: Speaking about Niche, in the news most recently there’s a lot of talk about black consciousness and black people coming together than ever before. Would you say that there’s a black renaissance going on and are you part of that said renaissance?

S: Well, I live in Africa; in Nigeria so it is not as pronounced as it is in the west as we are all black well predominantly black here. But I am very aware of what is going on and I try as much as possible to be a part of the conversation because it is very important. I feel like there should be an increase on how black people are valued. For me it is just not about black people, it is about women, it is about the society, if the status quo doesn’t not necessarily automatically benefit you, that’s my side. So I definitely like to be a part of the conversation.

O: Would you say that this reflects in your music or it has been reflective in your music?

S: Well I Have a song “Love don’t care” It focuses on tribalism. There’s a lot of tribes here. We have so many tribes in Nigeria, we have over 200 dialects. It’s ridiculous how we let things like that especially seeing that we are supposed to be more alike. We let it keep us way from benefiting from each other.

I once went for an interview and it was for Love don’t care. So the presenter asked if one should let tribal differences dictate who you love. There were a lot of people calling in; like Igbo people calling in and most weren’t calling to say they can’t marry from this tribe or that tribe They were calling to say they can’t marry from another Igbo group, Imagine. I didn’t even know there was such a thing. Like your own people and you’re like no this is not good enough for me.

O: Do you consciously create songs like Love don’t care because of the social message or it just depends on the the music you want to create, different song for different mood? Is there a method to the madness?

S: I think it depends. There are a lot of people that would write about conscious things. Take Fela as an example he was a very socially conscious musician, even if you’re laughing at his songs, he is writing about real stuff. I try to do that as well but I don’t just focus on conscious stuff, in fact I like to put a little humour in my songs even if I am talking about something serious. I want people to laugh and smile and say oh that’s ridiculous but it’s true. Personally with song writing, I am not usually stuck on one idea, I don’t have a formula, I don’t have one topic and I say this is what I must talk about. If in that moment I am feeling conscious I will write about it, I want to talk about love, happiness that is what I will write about. For me it depends on how i feel.

O: So looking at your career path, It is safe to say that you left the independent route behind and got a label deal. Do you think you would have as much impact if you were independent?

S: I tried the independent route but it’s not easy. For me, having a label has really helped me, even before I got signed, people will tell me oh yeah you are very talented but not a lot of people were hearing my music. So it definitely made all the difference. Even if it is not a record label, yo