Wande Coal reveals past

Wande Coal reveals past:

I was once a teacher

By Samod Biobaku

Sixthsense34@yahoo.com

To state that Mo’Hits act and star singer, Wande Coal is a gifted artiste would be an grand injustice to his incredibly ability to deliver a continuous flow of rhymes that have become a personal brand of heroin to millions of fans and music lovers across the globe.

In his album, ‘Mushin 2 Mo’Hits,’ Wande Coal (born Ojosipe Oluwafemi Wande Oluwadeji Omosalewa Funto) made a striking statement about his God-given ability to hold the entertainment industry in an unforgettably lethal grip.

Prior to the release of his album, Wande Coal had dazzled the industry with his hit single, ‘Bumper to Bumper,’ and not a few had waved his conquest aside as another prelude to the emergence of what most Nigerians have come to know as ‘one-track stars (artistes who release a hit song and are usually unable to follow-up their success with another potential hit song).

Interestingly, Wande Coal unequivocally split his teeming fans into two broad categories; those who couldn’t stop admiring his immeasurable talent and those who lived in the fear that their star might be unable to consolidate on his effort in ‘Bumper to Bumper.’

However, after he dropped ‘Mushin 2 Mo’Hits,’ all lips were silenced with Wande Coal’s musical ingenuity.

While, a lot of his fans might be familiar with the story of how he warmed his way into one of Nigeria’s most formidable musical empires, Mo’Hits Records, many would be surprised to know that once upon a time, Wande Coal was a teacher. Yes! Wande Coal was a teacher and as hard as this might be to picture, Wande Coal also had students who looked up to him as a teacher.

In a chat with Simply Samad, Wande Coal spoke about his days as a teacher and how him mum would often flog him from his class to the classroom whenever he misbehaved in school.

The dark-skinned singer also reminisced about his days of growing up on the streets of Mushin as well as other interesting issues.

Mum as a disciplinarian

My mum was a teacher and she would often beat me from the class to the staffroom whenever I misbehaved. I was once a teacher too. I taught at Idi Araba High School. I taught Economics and Christian Religious Knowledge (CRK). It wasn’t easy especially considering the fact that I wasn’t paid. It was part of my court. Instead of doing IT, we did Teaching Practice (TP). I didn’t finish my programme. I deferred it because I had to go to America.

Memories from Mushin

Early in the morning, the first thing we do is play street soccer. Thereafter, we go to Odo Eran (a popular abattoir) because that’s where boys from the ghetto, computer village and other boys involved in cyber fraud, 419, crooks and other ‘Jibiti boys’ converge. Whenever we’re there, we discuss, have fun, dance, sing and do all sorts. We also had a culture of drinking ‘Sepe’ in the morning because that was the routine. Basically, after I joined the Mo Hits family, my whole life transformed.

The Wande Coal voice

I didn’t attend any training school. My mum has a very tiny voice as well. I am however aware that I can work on it so I am putting a conscious effort into making the best of it.

Typical Morning

It depends on what I have to do but a typical day starts at 7:00am when my manager informs me that I have to do interviews or one thing or the other. My life is much more organized now compared to when I used to live in Mushin.

Relationship

I’m not in any relationship at the moment. I used to be in a relationship but it was extremely difficult to merge the relationship with my work. I just found it impossible to strike a balance. I’m 23 years old at the moment and at this young age of mine, I don’t think I need the complexities of a relationship right now. I want to concentrate fully on my musical career in order to achieve a lot of things. Perhaps then, we can start to talk about relationships but for now, the only girl in my life is called ‘my voice.’

Dealing with female fans at shows and clubs

I appreciate all my female fans and I admire them all but for those who usually want to go the extra mile of getting intimate, too bad because my manager would not allow such a thing. The first thing my manager says to any girl who approaches mw with such things is: “Did you know him before now? When he was hustling you didn’t know him. So it is now that he has become a star that you want to get close to him?’ The most important thing for a young man is to be successful. You don’t allow all those female attention get into your head. It’s not a good deal. When a female sees me and show appreciation, I try and act as nice as I can by saying: ‘Hey, my baby… Thank you so much…’ and before you know it, I’m off.

Parents were suspicious of his interest in music

When I started music and my mother noticed it, she had a little doubt. She was very supportive but she insisted that I finished school. Today, she has become ‘Mummy Wande Coal.’

How much is Wande Coal worth?

There’s too much money in my Agbada. At the moment, I know I am worth billions; not even millions. Mo ti migrate (which translates into ‘I have migrated…’). I have gone beyond millions. I’m now worth billions.

Wande Coal’s ideal Kokolette

I like a God fearing woman who is very humble. She has to be beautiful on the outside and on the inside because if you are too much on the inside, you would not know what’s happening from the outside. What I want is more of the inside and little bit of the outside.

What part of woman’s body drives Wande Coal over the edge?

What part of a woman’s body drives an African man crazy? That’s the question and the answer is everything; ‘Gbogbo ero,’ ‘Overload,’ ‘Onjamilaya’ and all that makes a woman beautiful.

Challenges of being a celebrity

The first challenge of being a celebrity is that you have to look good no matter what. You have to ‘di kpa (meaning ‘dressed to kill’).’ You have to hold your side because everybody is looking up to you. You’re now like an idol and you must live up to expectations especially when you are seen as a music God of your own genre of music. Secondly, everybody wants to be associated with you. There are times when you just want to be on your grind but there are things you can’t do. There are limitations. There are however some things you can do and get away with as a celebrity. There are advantages and disadvantages. It’s just that you have to be versatile and be able to keep to your alliance. There challenges o; heavy challenges. More are sill coming but I know that with time, we shall conquer.

Smoking marijuana?

I believe everybody has got what he/she does and I’m sure people do what they do to please themselves. If anybody thinks it is Akara that works for him, he/she should sell Akara. If it is Eba and Nkwobi, go for it. If they say it is marijuana, let he/she go ahead. As for me, I don’t smoke and I don’t drink anymore. My eyes are naturally thin. I stopped drinking because drinking is not good. You can take a little bit of champagne.

Awards

I’ve picked up Sound City Awards as a group, Next Rated Artiste at the Hip Hop World Awards 2008. I’ve also followed D’Banj to a lot of awards; MTV Base in Germany, MTV Base Kenya, MAMA Awards. We’ve picked a lot of awards globally and internationally so they are plenty.

What do you miss most about Mushin

I miss my friends. We can’t hang out again but I can never forget the kind of life we used to live in the ghetto. You wake up in the morning, jog, have fun, play in the ghetto and do a lot of things together; sometimes singing into 12:00midnight. Now I wondered how come we never got tired or singing all the time no stop – just because we wanted something out of it.

Some of your critics say you’re arrogant

There must be the other side of human being. You can’t avoid that. Do not underestimate the other side of a human being. That is the answer I will give them because there are some things that you cannot allow to happen at certain points in time. It’s good you don’t pretend at times like that. Most times, it’s not being arrogant. I consider it just trying to set a trend to make it right. If somebody throws shit on you, you let the person know that he has clearly crossed the line. Most times, people just want to naturally step on your toes and take you for granted. ‘Gbagaun! O ring bell.’ On a normal day, they go: ‘To ba je pe o blow (which means What if you hadn’t made a hit in the industry). I just tell them to drop that.

The Mo Hits journey

When they call Don Jazzy, call D’Banj and call Wande Coal, it always feels great being there and being seen and heard. I’m happy to be associated with Mo Hits. They are the best thing that has happened to me. Don Jazzy and D’Banj have really tried for me. They are like big brothers to me. They are always there for me and everything is going on smoothly.