In an emotional interview with #WakeupNigeria, Nigerian singer Jodie Great opens up about her new life as a mum and how she
cried while recording her latest song. You may remember her as J’odie from her hit song “Kuchi Kuchi”, over the last 2 years, she has kept a lower profile and now she has revealed why. From her childbirth experience that put her between life and death, to her son being diagnosed with cerebral palsy, to taking care of a child born with special needs and a whole lot more.
Jodie immediately went emotional in the studio and started singing……”I am going down on my knees, Babababa hear my plea, I cannot do this alone, Please show me the way, I cannot do it alone, my life is finished if you leave me, oh Lord please give me happiness, too many wahala on my face make me a happy person, people judging me but I understand………” Titi the presenter gave her a pause as they were all almost close to tears.
After a while, the singer continued saying: ”Having my child has made me more compassionate, I am now more aware of peoples emotion, the new song I am about to release was produced with tears. I was practically crying while I was singing.”
The emotional singer said: ”I want to say I am happy to be alive, because when I was having my baby I thought I was going to die. I was in the emergency room, induced to give birth while the excruciating pain was going on, I asked my husband who was in the theater if my son was fine…..Immediately I slipped into unconsciousness. While in that state it was as if I was in between life and death, the I remembered some of the songs I wrote……It was a traumatic experience because my son cried for good nine hours none stop, it was after series of test that the Doctor diagnosed him with Cerebral Palsy and its a condition without cure which might also lead to death.”
Shy, quiet and with a personality that exudes a calmness not often seen in the music industry, J’odie still has that church-girl demeanour after Ten years in the industry.
Her music career took off with the successful single ‘Kuchi Kuchi‘, and J’odie, real name Joy Odiete, released her debut album ‘African Woman’, to critical acclaim but without much commercial success.
The Delta State born soul singer said while growing up, ”My parents didn’t bring me up in a social way – I grew up in a strict Christian home. My father is a Bishop while my mother is a Reverend. All l knew as a child was church, school and home. So, the life l had as a child didn’t reflect my choice of career which is music and entertainment. I am still a little conservative but my music is
bringing me out gradually.
”My hit single hit song ‘Kuchi Kuchi’ came through a creative process that may not sound different from what a lot of people might say. I wrote and viewed the song from a different angle but from the responses I have gotten from fans, friends, family members, I have learnt that no matter what angle an artiste takes his or her music from, when it gets to the consumer and the audience, they take it the way they like. ‘Kuchi Kuchi’ was a song dedicated to children but I found that people sing it at their weddings and some even call me to sing it at their weddings. No matter what I thought it was, the fans and the audience had the final say.”
On her first song she said: ”I actually released ‘Kuchi Kuchi’ alongside another single. Before that, I had not been doing music professionally. I had been singing and working on my craft and music. What I am today is not because of ‘Kuchi Kuchi’ like people think; I had been in the background, working. Kuchi Kuchi was the first evidence of that background work.
”I started singing as a child. In my secondary school, I was in charge of the school choir. When I completed my B.sc in Mass Communication from the University of Lagos in 2006, I went for the West African Idols and came sixth. I was loved by viewers and that encouraged me; people loved my performances, my delivery, my sound and I believe it gave me the platform to build myself. For the first time, I thought, ‘I think I want to do this professionally’. Before that, during my days in secondary school and church choir, I just enjoyed it and never thought of it as a profession. Maybe somewhere inside me I had been thinking about it, but I wasn’t sure yet. But after my experience in the West African Idols in 2007, I realised I really wanted to go further with music. After that, I started going to the studio.”
How do you get inspiration for your songs?
Inspiration can come from anywhere. I am an emotional and deep thinking person, so, a lot of times, anything that happens around me can get into my head and songs can come from there. It can come
anytime too, like when I am just waking up from sleep and maybe a dominant thought will form into a sound. When it comes, I either write it down, or pick up a phone and sing into it.
How have you coped so far in the industry?
There is no industry that does not have its own challenges. I have chosen this industry as my profession so I am ready for whatever it pushes at me. I have told myself that I will stay and not back out from its challenges. I can’t really tell what politics looks like, but the Nigerian music industry is like politics. From my vague understanding of politics, I see the industry as exactly the same but I cannot back out because of that, because if I do I have lost. We all cannot be the same, we have rice, beans, pounded yam, so when you set a buffet, you have all varieties of food there. At a buffet, you don’t see everybody eating the same thing, so I believe I am meeting some people’s need in this industry, and I will continue to do so.
We can’t help but admire her strength and poise! She’s such an inspiration. Do you think she should have another child?
