Ashionye: Story of her early battles with dad

I consider my beauty one of God’s many blessings to me – Ashionye

By Samod Biobaku

Sixthsense34@yahoo.com

Like an exotic four-wheel drive with countless striking parts, Mitchel Ugboh Raccah popularly known as Ashionye clearly possesses glaring endowments that have continued to keep her relevant in Nigeria’s ever-evolving entertainment and showbiz industry.

Her warm smile, bubbly countenance, undying passion for music and her unassuming nature have earned her a permanent place in the heart of thousands of fans within and outside the country.

So much has been said and written about various spheres of her life but like a relentless tornado, Ashionye has continued to keep her head up and grow from strength to strength despite the odds.

However, in an interview with Simply SAMAD, the elegant singer has attributed her good looks to God and simply considered herself privileged to be blessed with the looks and physique that have become a part of the musical brand that she represents.

When asked to comment on the secret behind her good looks, she said, “Let’s not lie here. I haven’t worked out in ages (laughs). I haven’t been to the gym in ages. I’ll just say I’ve been blessed because there was a time I went on holiday in 2009 and I came back and I noticed that my size had changed. I was a size 6 when I left and when I came back, I was a size 10 and now, I’m back to size 8. That’s the way my metabolism is. I thank God for what he has blessed me with.”

At a time, her relationship with her producer and Orangootang Record Label boss, Carl Raccah was one item that the press feasted on for so long that many wondered where the arrows of destiny would finally hit.

As the beautiful singer continued to struggle to strike a balance between staying focused on building her musical career and the apparent media attention on her relationship with her producer, one thing was certain – the hands of time would unequivocally reveal how she would strike the perfect balance between her professional and intimate life.

The fact that she is married to Raccah is perhaps, no longer news but we all recall that prior to her marriage to Raccah, Ashionye always expressed her preference for having her intimate life under wraps. In fact, sometimes, when the pressure from the media appeared to gathering the temperature of a furnace, she would bare her mind on how she perceived the media’s interest into her intimate life as she once said when asked about her man, “Hmmm, I’m not going to go there. I’m sick and tired of the press talking about my relationship and my man in the papers. 2008 was my year courtesy the press. I’m not doing that anymore. All you should know is that I have a man. I’m not single and I’m not searching.”

Today, all that has changed as Ashionye does not only flaunt a wedding ring and was delivered of a baby boy (precisely June 9, 2010) at a Lagos hospital, thus, silencing her critics and those who have always kept a close tab on the intimate part of her career for so long. Their marriage on August 29, 2009 was a low key wedding that involved only family members and very close friends of the couple. All that is history today as Ashionye has continued to sail deep into the sea of possibilities that her immense talents and appetite for musical greatness have opened up for her.

Ashionye might be enjoying her fair share of being a celebrity but this was not the case when her career kicked off, especially while trying to make her father understand that her passion for music was a genuine calling. “Initially, my dad had a problem with it because I was in school when I started singing. I studied Mass Communication and I majored in Broadcasting. I was at Cool FM at a time. When I started, my dad didn’t buy the idea. He was against it. Everyone else was in support; even my step-mum and my siblings were in support but after I invited my dad to a concert; because at that time, I was in girl group and it was really worth it because after the show, my dad called me and said: ‘I give you my blessing…’ Now he understands what I do and is in total support. He even does free PR for me. He has my pictures in his office and has become very fond of me and what I do. Without being asked, he is always eager to say so much about me and that really makes me proud of him.”

In case you’re one of those pondering over how Ashionye handles her male fans, she easily lets the cat out of the bag when she says, “I just smile and say ‘thank you’ and it’s always enough because I know when to draw the line.”