In the 80s, Stella dominated the airwaves with her award-winning track ‘Oko Mi Ye’ performing at the prestigious Golden Tones Concert. She also represented Nigeria in several music and arts festivals across the globe with her albums such as Arigosamba, Change of Heart and One Nation. Here, she recounts the story of her journey into the world of stage.
How has the journey been so far after 30 years on stage?
It’s been wonderful. I’m most grateful to God because it’s been rough, tough and tumbled. But somehow, I survived it. I know some of my colleagues who are no more today, here I am. Glory and honour go to God. It’s not easy to be consistent with what you do for a living in this part of the world, considering the tough situation.
Somehow, some of us have been able to overcome the obstacles,and stay there like soldiers. It’s nice, it has it’s own pros, cons and ups and downs. It comes with all kinds of problems but all the same , I enjoyed my 30 years stay on stage.
Could you recount some of the bitter experiences you had as a result of the path you have taken in life?
They are many because in a world that belongs to the men folk, a woman cannot stand in front to lead the way. When you are too ambitious, you are bound to encounter many obstacles on the way. It is applicable in all professions, not only in the music industry. It depends on how you comport yourself.
If you give your male colleagues their respect, they will give you the room to excel. But that does not mean there was no bitter experience. It could be frustrating sometimes when somebody instead of doing you a favour, would consequently demand for your body in return. And of course, you no longer have your privacy . These were some of the bitter experiences I had during my early stage in the industry.
*Stella Monye
I started singing as a teenager. I was just a young girl who went into music. I didn’t make money then, does not matter because I was still under the care of my parents. Of course, you can’t compare our time to what is happening today. This is because, during my time, we didn’t have the kind of leverage the present day musicians have today.
Instead, they talk about their girl friends and how they slept with them last night. They sing these things and get all the money. But some of them are very creative and they are doing very well. Sometimes, I listen to some of the highlife music played by these new generation of musicians, it does not show any difference between what we did then and now.
As a bridge between the legendary musicians and the new generation, we didn’t do well to cement our relationship. But we are waking up to that reality today. Some of us that ran out of the country are coming back and want to do music again. We need this generation of musicians because it goes to shown that the country is developing. But I must say that Nigeria is a place we don’t give opportunity to everybody.
In America, you could see late Whitney Huston doing duet with Madonna, and Dolly Parton doing duet with Kanye West. I should be doing duet with Davido or 2face, but the way their managers try to segment them does not give room for growth in the industry. A couple of people have asked me in the past why I haven’t retired from singing. Today I’m 30 years on the stage.
The first time you hit the studio to record your debut album, what was the experience like?
I remember, I got dunk that fateful day. I took some alcoholic drink (wine), and I thought taking the drink would make me feel high. I said to myself, how am I going to handle this vocal. But after taking the drink, I became weak and I couldn’t sing again. Everybody was fanning me. It was so funny but it was a wonderful experience.
30 years ago, ventured into music, who were your contemporaries and what were some of the challenges you faced then?
The late Christy Essien-Igbokwe paved the way for most of us. She was there when we don’t have female singers in the country. So, as soon as she opened the door and it was good, most of us followed suit. Unfortunately, I was very young but I was thinking like the old school.
I was wild and had gone far in my thinking as I was able to fit into the generation. It wasn’t easy though, we scaled through. Then, my contemporaries included Funmi Adams, Funmi Davies, and others. As a youth, it was easier, because I didn’t have any commitments then, but as an adult, as one pays bills, and things get tougher, it wasn’t really very easy.
For some years, you were off the stage, what happened?
My son had an accident that almost claimed his life. I reasoned that it wouldn’t make any sense if I should continue to adorn the stage, while my son was bedridden. I had to take a break to be with him. God has been seeing him through, and I know that he will finish what he has started in his life.
You could not release an album for a long time now?
It hasn’t been long I released an album. I had an album in 2007 titled , ‘Outburst”. What you can ask is whether I promoted the album because when I dropped the album it was supposed to be a project album . That’s why you are not seeing it around.
It was supposed to be an album I would take to the campuses to educate the female students on the issue of morality on campuses. But unfortunately, the sponsors of the project declined for so many reasons. They weren’t able to put down enough money to sponsor the project, and I wasn’t ready to do a half-hazard project, that was how I suspended it.
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