28th May, 2010
Paul Play Dairo, the award-winning musician and son of the late Juju music maestro, I.K. Dairo, had a close shave with death late last year when he was diagnosed with a kidney tumour. Born Paul Babatunde Dairo, this versatile producer and song writer in this interview with P.M .Entertainment, speaks on his health, the music industry and other issues
Q: Congratulations for surviving the illness that almost claimed your life last year.
A: Thank you very much.
Q: Can you tell us briefly what you went through during that period because there was anxiety over the state of your health here in Nigeria?
A: It was something I was not aware of. I never knew I had something of that nature until I travelled to South Africa to shoot the video of my album. I was diagnosed with tumour of the kidney and that came as a shock to me. We immediately made a move to go for surgery because the doctor told me that I needed to do it so that the tumour would not spread to other parts of the body. I had already done the operation and was okay before the news got to Nigeria that I had cancer, but I didnâ€
Q: While this was on, how were you feeling and what were your thoughts?
A: I was in shock. I never thought of going under the knife in my life because I live responsibly and drink responsibly. I donâ€
Q: We learnt the ailment relapsed when you returned to Nigeria?
A: It was fake news. I saw it in one of the magazines too. The ailment did not relapse, I only felt that I was imperfectly healed. I was healed medically, but I knew I needed the spiritual aspect too and God intervened.
Q: He intervened through Ireti Ajanaku?
A: Yes.
Q: How did you meet the pastor?
A: Well, as a Christian, I donâ€
Q: Now that you have agreed that the illness was spiritual, where do you think that could have come from?
A: When you see things and experience what you havenâ€
Q: Can you share one of those bad dreams?
A: Having someone giving me something to drink and eat every morning in a dream and it always looked very real and when I am about to drink and eat, I would just open my eyes and hearing strange voices that I couldnâ€
Q: Letâ€
A: I needed to carry some of my fans along and the new album is a way of reaching out to those that need to be carried along. There is a difference between Paul Play and Paul Akindero. Paul Akindero is a physical artist that plays highlife and R&B, while Paul Play is strictly into R&B music. In order not to create so much vacuum in bringing out highlife music, I decided to drop that album just to clear the air on that aspect.
Q: What are you working on now?
A: I am working on a gospel album now. It was the vow I made to God that I was going to record a gospel album. It is going to be for free download and will be distributed free. This is to tell God that I am grateful for still being alive. I have a company in Abuja working with me. I have started already and it is going to be on the website.
Q: At a point, it was believed that highlife music was going down the drain in the music industry, but if you listen to most of the hip hop music now, you will find out that there are some traces of highlife in it. What can you say about this?
A: What most artistes do these days is to pick a little from highlife, hip hop and others. Highlife itself is dead and we need to revive it. The only one person I know that still plays highlife apart from me is Sunny Nneji. The real traditional highlife is dead. Jazz and classical music still exist, while other types are still on. I donâ€
Q: As the son of the late legendary juju musician, why are you taking the responsibility of reviving highlife music?
A: That was why I released this album, Hero.
Q: Do you intend to train one or two people to keep this on?
A: The music industry in Nigeria failed in training people. They failed to pass the knowledge of highlife music, afro beat and fuji music. Although fuji music is more passed on in Nigeria than other music, for me, my father did not teach me music. In America, they have schools of music to help them, but it is a pity that in Nigeria, we donâ€
Q: Do you subscribe to the notion that the Nigerian music industry has no structure?
A: It doesnâ€
Q: What roles are being played by music bodies abroad having travelled far and wide?
A: We talk about Grammys but we donâ€
Q: Should we put the blame on PMAN or should there be another body in charge of that?
A: I donâ€
Q: As a versatile singer, how do you fell when you listen to hip hop musicians these days?
A: I believe we have a future and that the industry that needs us will keep sustaining us. The music industry depends on all other institutions.
Q: Why has Nigeria not been able to produce an international artiste?
A: An international artiste is one who is recognised all over the world. Akon, Shade, Tunde Bayetu, Dr. Alban, Lemar are international artistes. We have not been able to produce an international artiste because we have not been able to make sense to the mainstream music industry. We are talking about Universal, Sony, etc., most of them still donâ€
Q: Can you tell us one of the components of good music?
A: Hip song is a good song when it becomes a hit although you have good songs that are floppy and bad ones that are hit. People believe that a good song must have good melody and lyrics. It should have a hook.
Q: As a musician, what legacy do you intend to leave behind?
A: I have worked with so many artistes and all of these will amount to nothing if we donâ€
— Bayo Adetu & Zainab Afege