With his exceptional talent and ability to translate experience and emotion into inspirational words and music, Cobhams Asuquo continues to make waves as “Nigeria’s Stevie Wonder”. This multiple award-winning producer and singer talks to us about his music career, his love of life and the unique experience of working on the Bayelsan Silhouettes project.  

Tell us a bit about yourself.
My name is Cobhams Asuquo. I’m from Calabar in Cross River State. I’m the last of six children. I went to Pacelli School for the Blind for my primary education, and then I moved on to King’s College, Lagos. I studied law for a while at the University of Lagos but went on from there to pursue music. I’m a musician - I’m a songwriter & producer. I used to like writing & reading letters, reading books, watching movies (but these days I don’t have time to do more than just work). I play the piano or guitar to relax. I love being surrounded by those I love and those I think love me - I’m very sensitive and responsive to love. I’m a Christian – unashamedly, I love Jesus. I love coffee - no I used to love coffee but coffee now makes me nervous, so I love tea. I love my mum. I love my wife in advance; I’m so in love with her. Yeah, I’m learning how to fry dodo for her, I hope she likes it!

What led to your interest in music?

I guess I’d always been interested in music, even before I realized it. I mean, at age six, I used to make a lot of noise around the house. I would bang on any and everything, I just used to drum on stuff, you know. Rather than do beat box, I would play baselines with my mouth, like the 12-bar blues. And I would whistle. I played music with every part of me. Then I got a piano from a friend and got other toy musical instruments, and it just took off from there. I started to play for my church and I moved on to playing small-time jazz. So music more or less found me. My mum had always been interested in music – she wanted to sing but she never quite got the chance. So I guess I’m fulfilling her dreams in a lot of ways.

What inspires you?

The bathroom - I love the bathroom! I think my bathroom is going to be one of the most elaborate places in my house, when I decide to build that house – the one with the helipad! I love the bathroom because it’s the one place I can get to be anything and anybody - an astronaut, a pilot, a bishop, a bank robber, a lawyer, a senator. Some of the best songs I’ve also written I wrote in the bathroom. I’m inspired by train rides and long bus rides. Funny enough, when I’m heavily paid, I lose inspiration for a while. The demand that falls on me scares me. I’m like, “Oh my God, now what are these people expecting of me?” But well, at the end of the day, God is the ultimate source of inspiration for me. I’m very “God, God, God” like that!

Who inspires you?

I’ve always admired Quincy Jones for his production ability. I admire Doctor Dre – he’s one of the most fantastic beat makers. I’ve always admired Timbaland – I think he’s phenomenal, and he’s able to keep up with the changing times. I like Stevie Wonder – well not necessarily because he’s blind but I think he’s really versatile. He’s done a lot of things I would like to do. In Nigeria, I like Lagbaja for a side to him that most people don’t know – which is the fact that he’s a fantastic producer. I like Jazzy Phe, Swizz Beatz, and David Foster. I love Don Moen, Donnie McClurkin, Ron Kennoly, and CeCe Winans. And then I’m inspired by a number of old classical greats –Mendelssohn, Bach, Tchaikovsky, Strauss, Haydn, and Handel.

How did you get involved in the Bayelsan Silhouettes project?

A friend of mine – Oliver Aleogena of Allied Productions – rang me up and told me about a short movie that he wanted me to score, and I said “Great!” I always wanted to score for something that wasn’t necessarily home video. Film scoring – well, two things: first of all I get to do what I’ve always wanted to do; secondly, I get to make money because nobody wants you to score for next-to-nothing. Then he tells me they’re an NGO, and I go, “ok…” Now, my heart goes out to NGOs. I believe that there’s value of life that you gain from adding value to society and contributing to a cause. In Nigeria we’ve been taught to survive, and that’s what we do. We wake up, get in traffic, go to work, write a couple proposals, do a PowerPoint presentation, get paid at the end of the month, and we do it over again. We die without knowing what else there is to life - you don’t take risks, you don’t do something new. For me, it was just an experience. And I identified pretty much with the  Bayelsan Silhouettes  cause, especially after I met Yejide  Spong, Panni  Kanyuk  and Awoba  Bob Manuel . I met them, and immediately my heart just went out, you know. I could identify with the project more than just wanting to work professionally. It caught me, I was moved, and I guess I just decided to get involved!

What was it like creating the montage (and other music) for Bayelsan Silhouettes? Were there challenges involved?

Yes, there were challenges. Let me explain: I had to create something that was international yet local, that would have global acceptance in terms of quality and standard but that would also have the Nigerian and Bayelsan identity as well. So all of that came together and influenced my creating the montage. For the film scoring, I tried to create the emotions that would drive the music. For the first theme music, I was talking to a friend and the idea came into my head. I recorded it on my phone, went to my studio, played it out on the piano, and the next morning began to work on it. The second theme music was a bit too western so Bolaji Fati, Yejide Spong and I had to talk and I played one or two things for them, and we created new music based on these ideas. At the end of the day it was an interesting experience for me - an experience I needed to have. It was an eye-opener to a new field of scoring – because initially what I had scored was absolutely western, and I had come to a point where I had to represent the interests of Nigeria and Bayelsa. I loved it, absolutely, I loved it.

What other music projects have you been working on? We’ve recently heard you in a new song “Lagi mo”…

That was for the Rooftop MCs – they’re my homeboys, I work with them a great deal and I featured on that particular track. I just finished producing an album we’re hoping will be the album that will bring home Nigeria’s first Grammy. It was produced for a young lady -- Asa. I worked on her entire album – I wrote some of the songs, and I co-wrote others. I’m working with Dare Art Alade on his soon-to-be-released album and also worked on his last album. I have a working relationship with all the people I’ve collaborated with in the past - from Faze, to Charlie Boy, to Dare, to Lady D, to the Rooftop MCs, to Mode 9, to Silver Saddih, to Dekunle Fuji.

What is your personal take on the HIV & AIDS situation in Nigeria? Do you have any advice for young people in dealing with this issue?

It’s interesting – sometimes it’s sad to think that there are people who don’t believe it exists. And it just breaks my heart, because I know a few people who passed on as a result of AIDS, and I know a few people who are living with HIV. There are people who are hale and hearty who will die tomorrow and there are people who have HIV who will live for another six years. I’ve learned to be careful, yeah, but it’s no reason for me to discriminate. I think the awareness has really increased over time and that’s good, even though I think more and more people are still having unprotected sex. I just hope that someone will devise a campaign that would make people realize that it’s a situation you almost don’t believe can come to you until it comes to you, and that it’s no respecter of anybody. I’m hoping that more people will pay attention to it, and take it as a matter of emergency, before it takes out a generation.

For young people, I would say don’t push yourself to a corner, because you have very little control over your hormones and your biological reflexes, and no matter how in control you think you are, you can’t explain certain things until after they’ve happened. And then be conscious – you can never be too careful about sharp objects: clippers, razors, needles. You can never ask too much or insist too much because it’s your life. You have a right to protect it, and you should go to any length to do so. Don’t allow yourself to be idle because I remember that one of the most dangerous periods of my life was after secondary school and before university, when I didn’t really have much to do. Try and be engaging – if you have much to keep yourself occupied with, you won’t have as much time for unnecessary possibilities. It sounds like what an older person would tell a younger person, but it’s the truth, frankly.

We know there are a lot of young people in Nigeria who are interested in pursuing a career in music. What advice do you have for them?

Be sure that’s where you want to be. See, one thing I realize with us Nigerians is we don’t have career counselors, and because of that, we don’t make the right decisions or we don’t make any decision at all. We’re blown by the winds of society and security, where you want to be a banker because they are paid well, where we’re no longer risk takers. Meanwhile we have innate abilities that can break boundaries. And so I would say, first of all, find out if that’s where you really want to be. And if it’s where you want to be, then get up and go, stop procrastinating! Stop imagining that one day you’re going to do this. That one day is today, that one day is now. You’ve got to get up and go, ask questions, talk to the right people, improve your art. If it’s singing, you’ve got to keep singing. If it’s writing, keep writing. But make the concerted effort to do something; you’ve got to move! Because believe me, you’re just going to sit down and see ideas and you’re just going to be like “I thought about this and I thought about that.” But that’s what you’ll keep doing – thinking about them while other people are doing them. So you’ve got to get up and go -and the best time to get up and go is right this minute.