13th October, 2023
US-based Nigerian artiste, Udeigwe, real name, Lawrence Udeigwe, who is also a Manhattan College professor of Mathematics has made groundbreaking achievements with his previous projects in the music industry and he is becoming force to be reckoned with because of his remarkable talent and business acumen.
This multidimensional performer has a talent for enthralling audiences with his jazz flavoured with elements of African soundsand making an impression that sticks.
In this interview with Taiwo Okanlawon, Udeigwe speaks about his inspirations, aspirations, life as a mathematician and musician as well as his brand.
Who is Lawrence Udeigwe?
My name is Lawrence Udeigwe, I am a musician, mathematician, and entrepreneur. As a musician, I adopted my last name, Udeigwe, sometimes stylized as UDEiGWE; however, prior to 2022, I was using Lorens Chuno as my stage name. I am an Associate Professor of Mathematics at Manhattan College in Riverdale, NY, and a Research Affiliate 21/22 MLK Visiting Associate Professor and in Brain and Cognitive Sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, MA. Udeigwe is the Founder of the podcast, Doing Jazz, and the independent recording label LCM Cube.
What was your growing up like?
Growing up was fun. I come from a family of seven children – three boys and four girls. I’m number three. We grew up in Makurdi, Benue State in Nigeria.
My father (who passed away in 2007) was a trader. He had a provision store in Makurdi and in the 10 or so years before his death, he also ran a laundry and dry cleaning business. He was just a typical hustling Igbo businessman.
My mother is now retired but she is a tailor. She had a tailoring business that flourished. In addition to providing very reliable service to a good section of the Makurdi women’s fashion scene (the small one that existed then), she also had many apprentices. In fact many of the female tailors in Makurdi today were taught by her. My mother also made sure she taught the seven of her children how to sew, although I think only two of my sisters and I can still cut and sew.
For primary education, I went to St. Theresa’s Primary School in Wurukum Makurdi, a public school. I had great teachers and I remember playing a lot, even in class. I don’t remember studying at home or doing homework but I always managed to come first in class lol. Secondary school was different; I remember struggling with mathematics in JSS 1, but I quickly got better with the help of some very good teachers. I went to Mt St Gabriel’s Secondary School Makurdi, the same school that 2baba (Tuface) went to; he was in his final year when I was in my first year.
I moved to the US a couple of years after secondary school.
How did you get into the music business?
I have always loved music, but the first time I took music seriously was in secondary school (in JSS3) when I joined the school choir. I was not really good and probably sang lead only a few times lol. My interest drastically grew when I came to the US and fell in love with jazz. I found myself reading books on jazz theory and jazz history, and when I bought a keyboard and started to teach myself jazz piano, I knew that I had been bitten by the music bug and was now infected for life.
How long have you been in the music business?
I usually count this from the time the CD version of my first album, “Highlife, Soul, & Ecstasy”, came out and this was in December 2007. So I’d say I’ve been in the music business for 16 years now.
Your latest single ‘Do’ featuring Skales, how is the reception on it so far?
The reception of ‘Do’ has been great, especially in Nigeria, and I believe it will get better. I’m very thankful for this.
How was the process of making this song?
I came up with the intro riff and chord progression on the piano one morning sometime in April. I quickly recorded it on my phone and listened to it on my way to and from work each day; and by the third of doing this, I had already added melody and lyrics to it in my head. When I came back to the piano to work on it, I knew I had something good. I took one weekend to program the beat and record some scratch vocals; I then sat down with Wayne Tucker, my good friend and a wonderful trumpeter, to arrange the horn session and we immediately went to the studio to record the horns and my lead vocals. While leaving the studio after this recording session, I knew something was missing but I didn’t know what.
On my way back home from the studio, while on the train, I was listening to an Afrobeats playlist, and Skales’ song with Zoro, “Katapot”, came up. Once I heard Skales’ voice, I said to myself, this song needs a rapper who can sing, like Skales. Also, his voice and mine operate in the same register, though mine is a little darker. So once I came back home, I sent the song to my manager, Myro Ozah; I remember his first words after listening were “I think we have our next single”. But I immediately replied, “Not yet, I need a rapper on it, I need Skales on the song”. To cut a long story short, he asked Skales and it was an easy yes. So Wayne and I went back to color the chords a little differently to really match Skales’ voice and flow style. Overall, it was a magical and fun process.
How challenging is it to be a musician and an academia among others altogether?
To be honest, it is very challenging timewise to be a practitioner in both music and mathematics. This is because both fields require a lot of attention for sustenance. I need to keep solving interesting problems to remain a relevant enough mathematician, and I practice the piano for one to two hours each day. But I think I’ve done it long enough that I now have a system that works for me.
How do you balance music and other obligations like work, leisure, and family?
I try to do anything music-related first thing in the morning, and when I go to work, I try to forget about music. Although I have a guitar in my office at work, it rarely gets played, it’s just there for emergencies – say I need to quickly find a pitch or something. I don’t have any kids yet, so my family life is still all mine (laughs).
Do you plan to give one career up in the future? Let’s say you became a bigger artiste, will you quit the academy?
At the moment, I only do very few performances outside the US, so I am able to keep up with most of my academic and music industry engagements. When the travel needs increase, I will certainly need to readjust and this may result in substituting my current full-time academic with something part-time that will allow me to fully participate in the music industry without fully killing my academic career. I know I will always do some kind of teaching and research.
Tell us about your upcoming projects.
I am working on an EP that will come out in the first quarter of 2024. I already have 7 songs recorded of which Do is one. I am also concurrently writing for an album I would like to release in 2025.
In terms of academic research projects, I am currently working on 3 different federally funded projects; through which I mentor 5 graduate and undergraduate student researchers. One of them involves mathematically modeling amblyopia, an eye disease common in children, in which one eye is weaker than the other because it is poorly stimulated.
How do you hope your sound evolves/changes going forward?
My compositions have a strong jazz foundation and I’d like to preserve this element because it’s something that my spirit really connects with. At the same time, I’ve resolved that I want any music I release to not sound too foreign to the average Nigerian ears. Apart from these two constraints, I’m open to any kind of fusion sound that my growth arc may bend toward.
Describe your creative process when you write new music.
Lately, I get inspiration from anything including current events, personal experiences, funny sounds, etc. However, the proper crafting of all my songs has started at the piano. The process for the creation of ‘Do’ that I had described earlier is pretty typical for me. Also, I don’t rush my songwriting; I let my songs breathe while I create them. For this reason, I tend to write multiple songs at once, sometimes up to ten of them at once, because I know it usually takes several weeks for my spirit to be fully satisfied with a particular song. Also, I like being able to perform any of my songs solo on the piano, so I have to factor in the time it takes to learn to play them.
How would you describe your struggle over the years finding your feat in the industry?
I can say the music industry is the toughest industry to exist in Nigeria. It is also very expensive and financially risky. For me, it’s been 16 years of hard work and a roller coaster of successes and failures lol. But I’m exceedingly thankful for the successes along the way, and I would not take back the hard times because they really prepared me for this moment as I’m finally mapping out a territory in the Naija music industry. Also, I am tremendously fortunate to be blessed with another successful parallel career in academia that has sustained me, so I should not complain too much.
What accomplishments do you see yourself achieving in the next five to 10 years?
In 5 years, I’d love to be leading a successful internationally known band that does well on both big stages and small listening rooms. Also, I have enough materials to release an album each year for the next 10 years.
What strengths do you have that you believe make you a great musician?
I know how to learn, and I like understanding the fundamentals of anything I do. I’ve spent time learning the theory and practice of music, especially jazz. This makes it easy for me to work with musicians. As an artist, I communicate well with musicians and have led my own band for more than a decade now.
What are the challenges you’ve faced so far?
Being a self-funded artist has not been easy on my bank account. Sometimes, I have beautiful ideas that are just hard to bring to life because of lack of funds. I’m however not complaining because I believe things will always happen at the right time.
The Amapiano sound is sweeping through the continent now. How do you feel about it?
I like amapiano. One thing about Amapiano is that it’s not just a production style or “sound”, it is a musical instrument – a digital musical instrument. So just like the guitar or saxophone is here to stay, Amapiano is here to stay. However, artists should be bold enough to jettison it if it does not go with their style of music.
Who influences you in the music industry both in Nigeria and Diaspora?
In terms of sound, I open myself up to be influenced by any artist. I listen to everyone and everything: from Onyeka Onwenu to Portable; from John Coltrane to Offset. But in terms of artists navigating the industry, there are a few names that I admire: Among the international artists, I would name American jazz singer Gregory Porter and Malian singer Faroumata Diawara. Among Nigerian artists, in no particular order, I can think of 2baba, Flavour, and Kizz Daniel.
If you’re not doing music, or not in academic line, what will you be doing?
This is a tough question (laughs). To be honest, I’ve become all the things I wanted to be as a child. As a child, I wanted to be a computer programmer, a university lecturer, and a musician. And today I’m a university professor, I’m a very good programmer, and I’m a recording artist; so I don try… no be only me waka come lol. That being said, I’m open to hosting a TV show on technology and the arts; I’ve also always wanted to learn how to fix cars, so there you go.
Who would you like to collaborate with among the heavyweights in the Nigerian music industry?
Well, I don’t know the definition of heavyweight. I enjoyed my collaboration with Skales and would like to work with him again when the time is right. I hear Ladipoe’s voice in a song I’m working on. I’d work with Yemi Alade in a heartbeat. I would also like to collaborate with at least one artist that works in the Igbo language – Zoro and Flavour come to mind.
When are you going to drop another major project?
My EP should come out before Easter 2024. And I should be able to release a follow-up album in December 2025.
What do you think the future holds for the Afrobeats in the Western world?
Afrobeats are currently flourishing. It’s actually had a lot of growth since it started and the sound is a little more diverse now. In terms of danceable tunes, it occupies a good piece of space. However, I think there is still a huge unoccupied space that Nigerian music could be filling – we’re still yet to tap into our potentials when it comes to listener-friendly music and purely instrumental music, even though we’ve traditionally had those kinds of music across all the ethnic groups of the country.