Reggae musician and producer, Rhymzo De Gusto, speaks about the Nigerian music industry, his career and other issues

Q: Rhymzo, what are you working on right now?
A: I am trying to do some re-mix. It is part of the strategies I was working on in order to get closer to reggae music lovers. I am in the studio working on some popular songs they know. I am doing a reggae version of some of my songs.

Q: Which of your songs are you working on?
A: Some of them are Soul sick, Jello’s, Hold you down and Phat Joe.

Q: What is behind your passion to promote reggae music in Nigeria?
A: Reggae music is a good medium to express oneself. It is a music for the soul. That is why I am working hard to make it effective right here.

Q: Do you believe in reggae music because of your Caribbean background?
A: Not really. The truth is that reggae music is accepted all over the world.

Q; How did you start playing music?
A: I started from my childhood. I had always liked to be in tune with music. When I hear music, especially reggae music and rock, I would make sure that I listen to the song over and over again. My love for music made me study it and later became a musician.

Q: How did you start?
A: I recorded for the first time in 1985. At that time, I was with a group called The Rock Culture and we recorded a song. But before then, I used to perform in schools, churches, play the drums and other instruments. When I was nine years old, I had started playing music.

Q: What happened to your former group?
A: Well, as a child, I moved from one place to another. So, if you get a group together here, as you move on, you start with something fresh. The groups were changing all the time, you will be with some group today and maybe you will never meet them again in your life. So, you have to go on.

Q: If you were not a reggae musician, do you think you would have been more popular than you are now?
A: The way it is right now, I don’t think it would have been so. A lot of people accept Rymzo for the music he plays, but the truth is that to be popular in Nigeria, you need some people behind you and I have none. I don’t have managers, I don’t have people running around for me. If I am out of the country, nobody is talking about Rymzo, nobody is calling. It is not about music, but I want Nigerians to accept Rymzo as a reggae artiste. I have been to shows with R & B and Hip hop artistes, but the audience prefers Rymzo. I see the love from the streets, so I don’t think it is about music, it is about people or group of people being there for you. Right now, I do stuffs myself, but I think I still get the love I ought to get from the streets.

Q: Are you planning to get a managing team now?
A: Well, the guys I really like to work with seem not to be ready for me right now. The truth of the matter is, in management, you have to look for people who believe in what you are doing. It should not be a situation where you will be the one spending, you need people who can stand on their own and believe that they can make it through you. I have picked interest in one or two people, but they are too busy right now.

Q: Who are they?
A: Well, one happens to be my friend and brother, Efe Omorege of Now Music. I like his passion to do his work. I have not talked to the other person, I am still watching him. So, I would not want to mention his name.

Q: Is it Kennis Music?
A: Kennis Music is a label, the company is not into artiste management. If you want to work with Kennis, you have to be on the label and I don’t want to be on any label because I have a whole lot of stuffs going on outside. So, I don’t want to be trapped in any contract.

Q: But how have you really been coping without a label?
A: It is difficult because you have to do everything by yourself. But I am not going to rush things because I am building something and once it starts, people are going to feel it.

Q: You have produced a lot of music acts. How have you been combining that with your personal music career?
A: My music career has not given me much because I have always worked with the wrong set of people. People I started with were bad and that has reduced my passion for my own music. I am still investing in my music, I will rather be creating for people and getting paid than investing so much without getting something back.

Q: Who are the wrong set of people you started with?
A: The truth is that my first album was released by Alex Music and as everybody knows, all I got from that album was N84,555. The company made money from the sales of the album but nothing was done on its promotion.

Q: Don’t you think you are better off doing collaborations than singing alone?
A: No. Rymzo is definitely better singing alone because if you listen to my two albums, you will know that I am better off singing alone.

Q: What is your mission in music?
A: My mission is to make money out of music and at the same time, bring back those vibes that people have missed in reggae music.

Q; Has the Nigerian music industry come of age?
A: There is no music industry in Nigeria right now. It is just musicians that are moving themselves. There is no industry. Musicians are doing as well as producers because they have been able to step up the music quality, even the videos. So, musicians are the ones lifting themselves. There is no industry, if there is one, you will know how many copies of your album that were sold. I can tell you that no Nigerian artiste is getting royalties for the sale of their albums now.

Q: But a lot of people are talking about the Nigerian music industry everyday, why do you have a different view?
A: The music in Naija is based on the musicians and their music. There is no industry, there is nobody rewarding artistes for their works.

Q: What about PMAN?
A: Although I am a member of PMAN, I don’t seem to understand what is going on. Right now, I don’t get involved too much because we are just partying every time. Today, Regency Night, tomorrow, Gala Night, I don’t know what they are doing.

Q: What about the leadership of the association?
A: PMAN is PMAN, whether you go to Abuja or Ikeja, you will discover that PMAN is PMAN everywhere. They just need to sit together and iron things out.

Q: What is your source of inspiration?
A: My source of inspiration is my everyday experience. What I go through everyday is what inspires me to do or say what I want to say.

Q; What about ganja?
A: I don’t believe that any man must rely on something for inspiration. The ganja is just like herb. It is like drinking water. It is just one of those things people like to do. But for me, I don’t smoke, so you can’t tell me that before I write music, I need to take ganja. The only thing I rely on for my inspiration is that I read a lot of books, the Bible and look at what is going on around me.

Q: So, you don’t take the ganja at all?
A: I don’t smoke.

Q; What about drinking?
A: Well, I drink sometimes, but I am not a drunkard.

Q: Do you womanise?
A: I won’t say I womanise, but I have a whole lot of female friends. That is why I am married, but I don’t have kids yet.

—Bayo Adetu