I was given 500k for my first Show – Ill Bliss aka Oga Boss

Tobechukwu Melvin Ejiofor popularly known as Ill Bliss or Illy is a Hiphop/Rap recording artist, CEO, The Goretti Company (Talent Managers) and Principal Partner of Capital Dreams Pictures. He can be characterized by these three features: consciousness, lyricism and creativity.

His diverse approach to hip hop ranges from social issues to love/relationships, peer pressure and topics the average head can relate to, while retaining elements of hip hop and ethnic content, a virtue which sets him apart from the crowd and makes him the OGA BOSS himself!!!

Tell us about your musical background?
I got into rap music through my older brother. He brought some tapes to the house and asked that I listen to it. I did and the first song I heard was Eric Birac, it sounded interesting. So I wrote down the lyrics, then from there I started digging into that kind of music. It was that regular for me, I mean growing up in the eastern part of Nigeria; rap music wasn’t something that was all over the place. From there I found other artiste like the late heavy D, LL Cool J, Cool Moody, The Nice; the list is endless. I just got into it and I liked it because it was different. It sounded like words over beats, from there I started writing down the lyrics and from writing the lyrics; I started writing my own lyrics and that’s what brought me to this stage.

When did you decide to go into rap professionally?
When I was in the university, my first year in the university; my pocket money was never enough. So, I had to start rapping and doing something else to get money. So, I started doing shows; my first show I earned N500 and I tore the whole school down; from there I moved up my money to N2000. Then it started growing, that was a lot of money back then in school; so it will be my first year in the university. I just realized that I was never going to be a cultist or a club boy, I just wanted to be different; so I went in for rap and started performing. But before then, I’ve been writing music, trying my hands on rap. I’ll go to a record store, record instruments and start to write over them; try to see if I can find the bounce and the flare for it.

Tell us about your company?
I have a management company called Goretti Company. We manage talents basically. However, I got into partnership with a very close friend of mine, Clarance Peters, who owned a label at a point; called Capital Hills Music. We met and discussed and started working together; after a few years, it became a full blown partnership. So Capital Hill is the record label and Goretti Company is the management Company. My direct business is Goretti Company but because of the affiliation, we also take care of the entire artistes on the platform.

How have you been able to differentiate real talent from one hit wonders?
I guess its God though. It is very divine because I take my time in the selection process and I give it a lot of insight, then I put everything in God’s hands. If this is that talent that we need to stay on top of the game; then so be it. Like Chidinma and Phyno, if you’ve noticed these two talents are very dynamic and different.

What we do is to find a talent and create it. At Capital Goretti, what we do is to find a talent and then mold it into what they need basically; make him/her look different and unique from everybody else in the business. We also pay a lot of attention to the music, we always insist that people maintain their originality and retain their sound. Tomorrow if you see me signing a rock band, don’t be suprised or even a saxophonist. All I’m just trying to do is to make sure that I put people in their comfort zone and then give them a platform to go main stream with whatever they are doing. No matter how eclectic it is.

When did you first meet Chidinma and what was striking about her?
She won the third edition of the MTN project fame show. So, after the show I was called to have a meeting to discuss management with her. And then, we started working from there. She came straight from the choir to win Project Fame. She has never recorded a single song in her life, so the first song she recorded I was there. So we built it all up from the scratch to what it is today. And then, it takes a lot of hard work, a lot of perseverance. As at the point she started nobody really gave her a chance but today she is “Miss Kedike” “E Mi Ni Baller” and everything is really pouring up for her.

Does your company have any contact with MTN Project Fame considering the number its winners on your management company?
It is a contract. We take Project Fame winners every year, groom them and put them in the business. It took Iyanya four years to blow; sometimes it is bigger than the competition. Sometimes, we just need to take them through the Nigerian music industry, teach them the hustles because when they come out there are other artistes that will be like “so you won that competition right? So you can sing abi? Okay cool, let’s see you do it now; it is not about singing other peoples tunes on TV and getting votes. Come and sing your own and let’s see if you will get the votes from the streets”. So, it is a process; a process that is a lot more demanding than the academy itself. What the academy does is to you the rudiments of music, it builds you for this.

So, there is an established contract with MTN?
I have a contract with Ultima Studios. They produce Project Fame for MTN. They let you know exactly what they want you to do. It is a revolving contract on a yearly basis.

Is your company involved in grass root talent search?
Absolutely, but the truth is that Project Fame is a controlled environment and we can pick artistes from there because we’ve seen their strength over the weeks. We continuously look for talent from the masses/street, just that we haven’t found it yet. We have gotten a lot but I’m not comfortable with what I’ve found. But we continuously search, don’t want to go down that road of a talent hunt or a competition; asking people to pay a certain amount. We will find that talent but not just immediately, so I’m keeping it really small; don’t want to rush into it, don’t want to take too many people so that I can manage them.

How have you been able to manage the challenges being the Boss and an artiste under Goretti?
Well, for Goretti Company, I have other people that work with me; so we handle the briefs that we have like the Project fame winners and everything but for me, I came into this business by myself; so I kind of learnt everything the “Kamakazi way”, the do it yourself  way. I’m absolutely the D.I.Y. kind of person, like I will throw you into the deepest part of the ocean and expect you to swim or drown.

I look at things from the perspective of “Only the strong, survive”. And I look at myself like that too, so anytime I’m giving instructions or motivations; I’m also talking to myself. I just try to make sure that we give it our best shot, that we give it our all. The competition is fierce; if you have to succeed you have to keep hustling, so if you are the Oga of the company, you have to lead by example.

There is a difference between the brand that we have now and the Ill Bliss we used to know; did you rebrand yourself?
I guess if you have worked for the number of years I’ve worked in this industry, you become the boss eventually. Am an entrepreneur, am self-employed and I never had the plan to be just a rapper. I always wanted to have a platform where I can put other people on. So I’m in the process; this is just like baby steps to achieving what you want to. But I was never the guy to be an artiste in his forty’s or fifty’s and still rapping on till City People or Encomium write the 20 Dying artistes in Nigeria and put your face on it before you know you will quit.

Art keeps evolving; I had to keep looking at the game, “what do they want to hear”. As for lyrics I still rap, I’m a rapper and my lyrics still make sense. If anybody is in doubt they should go listen to my last album “Oga Boss”. I had good lyrics there; I still rhyme. But a lot of people like the fans; they want you in a box creatively. They want you to be doing the same thing you’ve been doing over the years; music continues to evolve and you have to evolve alongside; you need to be updated. Rap is a very youth centric genre of music and the people that listen to me are all bank managers, M.D’s in their companies and that basically keeps you with the young people. They want to see you, they want to see Ice Prince, Yung Six and they want to see M.I.; so you need to be able to be fresh and appeal to these guys. In a way that they will be like “ah! Ill bliss is fly, I also like Vector “, so that is how it works. Jay Z is like 45 and he is still relevant, I guess you take a cue and borrow a bit from that. So, we constantly evolve; constantly continue to make it happen for us by understanding the youths.
 
What inspires your lyrics?

I’m a rebel and I write what I like as long as it is not offensive. I talk about things and say it as it is. I’m like a poet really. I look at the society, take the things I want to take from the society and I just put them in records. It really don’t have anything to do with the depth of the lyrics but is about the meaningfulness of the music. It is message driven; when I get into the lab, I keep asking myself “what are you recording for? “, is it a country song, a romantic song or is it a balling song? I’m a theme based rapper. The kind of influence I have over my music comes from the likes of Nas, Jay Z, Biggy and these are rappers that have built their careers based on theme. So, that is what I’m about; creating a theme and chasing it down and delivering it in a way that the audience can understand. I’m not too simple, I’m not too complicated; I’m just somewhere in between.

We are conversant with the name “Ill Bliss” but not too familiar with the face. Was it a strategy for your brand?

I’m not a very outgoing person, I mean besides the music. I stay at home a lot, I work and record a lot and guide other people. I come out when it is time to come out but I choose the event I attend very carefully. You wouldn’t see me at every Elegushi party neither would you see me at every award; I believe in scarcity, plus I’m a really busy dude. So I create my schedule to keep me always from being all over the place. I attend my business meeting; I attend things that would benefit the business or me as an individual. About knowing the face, that is the price you pay, that “Ibo Boy” is a brand, you create the brand and let it stand; after a while I switched it up as I have grown in the business. I switched into another persona called “Oga Boss”. “Illy” is for people that can’t pronounce “Ill Bliss” because for some reason it is a mouth full for them. So, “Illy” is fresh and easier for people to remember and pronounce because the attention span of the youth is very short. So, the need to connect to the brand, my name is still Ill Bliss but the truth of the matter is “Illy” is what I have pushed to the youth segment because I’m trying to make sure that I stay relevant in that circle.

We are pushing the face, but I wouldn’t spray my hair, I wouldn’t put tattoos or put ear or nose rings on because I’m trying to differentiate myself. Differentiating yourself as an artiste is key; like Chidinma, once you see her, her size and her short hair, you will know it is her; same thing for Phyno, his hair and his tattoos set him apart but I choose to be this way. It is just a personal decision and I think the simplicity works for me. I’m anonymous; I’m able to blend with the crowd without anybody making a fuse. So, today you might see me on the street with normal people and tomorrow, you might see me in a range. I’m just trying to make sure it is not difficult for me to be who I want to be because as an artist you are under so much pressure.

Culled from:  Happenings9ja