You came on the scene a couple of years ago, and now, you are everywhere. How are you coping with the fame, especially from the females?
It’s interesting because I have my eyes on the prize. I didn’t suffer for that many years to come and let frivolity take my glory. So yes, I get advances from women and that feels good, to be honest because I remember when I was chasing them as well. I’m friends with them. There’s no pressure. When I want to say yes, I say yes.
Did you believe that you were going to be this big when you started out?
At the risk of sounding cocky, I knew I was going to be great, I just didn’t know when.
Where there hard times you had to surmount?
I grew up in a not so well to do family. We were not poor, we were just comfortable. I was the eldest son. There was the dad and mum drama and I just had to be there for my sisters. I lost my youngest sister at a point in my life. That was in 2011.
How did you deal with the loss of a sister?
My world crumbled that day because she is my feminine version.
What are you working on currently?
I just had the last leg of my concert series, One Night Stand. I started early in June. We held it in London, and Dublin and we did it in Lagos on the 26th of December. It is called One Night Stand, Adekunle Gold And The 79th Elements. That’s my band.
Why the name, One Night Stand?
It was an intimate moment with my fans where we talked and sang our hearts out. It was an amazing night. It was fantastic in London. It was amazing in Dublin. Lagos was a larger crowd. There was lots of music. There were surprises and the stage was electrifying.
Do you feel threatened by other artistes?
I’m not threatened that someone new will come. I’ll be lying if I say that it’s not attractive outside, especially the new sound that everybody is jumping on. I’d be lying if I say that sometimes I don’t think about doing stuff like that. But when I remember my goal, which is to be timeless, it keeps me going.
What was it like working with Simi?
It was amazing. She has an excellence spirit, and that’s my vibe. We had issues on some songs that I thought was fine already, but she’ll make me do it again. We recorded Nurse Alabere three times. And that was Simi trying to be perfect. Even me that I have an excellence spirit; I lost it because I felt it was fine already.
Was there any point you felt like quitting music?
I thought about quitting when I was still in a band called the Bridge. It was me and my friend, Seyi Keys who’s is my producer now. We weren’t getting any attention.
What genre were you singing?
We sang everything. At one point, I felt I was Bruno Mars. I was always trying to sound like him. But people didn’t pay us any attention. I will write songs and put all the English in the world. Imagine writing a song that is titled Last Dose of Sadness. But people just didn’t notice us. I guess people like what they like. So I told my friend that he should focus on music production, let me sing. Let’s try with just one song. If it doesn’t work, then we can focus on other things. It was not easy to have that conversation, but I’m glad we had it. That was when I released a song called Let It Stop, and that song changed everything for me. When I released the song, it was Dotun of Cool FM who supported me all the way. That is why I will forever be loyal to him. He played the song every day for one month. And people started listening to it, people started loving the sound.
You once trended for posing with female stars using Photoshop?
How naughty can you be? It wasn’t Photoshop. I took pictures with them. That was just fun. I was bored one Saturday, then I saw a picture of Tiwa Savage and I felt I would love to take a picture with her someday. And it occurred to me that I can. So I did the magic with Photoshop and posted it. I saw that people started liking it and I felt it would be a thing. That was how I started doing it.
Would you marry a celebrity who is as big as you are?
Yes, I can. Someone like Demi Lovato or Taylor Swift.
What is the greatest decision you ever took?
There are lots of them, but the one I can remember now is quitting my job in 2014. I was working with a social media brand activation company. And I was the brand manager. I was earning very good money; good enough that if you earn that kind of money now, you are still big. I wasn’t getting shows then but I knew that my music was suffering and I wanted to do something about it. So I just woke up and resigned.
How did your family react?
They thought I was crazy. Everybody thought I was crazy because I didn’t have any back-up plan.
Where you not scared of failure?
Then, I was very fearless. Who wakes up in the morning, from earning good pay and just decides to quit? There was no back up plan, it’s not like I had saved money somewhere. I just felt I was helping someone else build their dreams and mine was lacking. I wanted to do my thing.
Will today’s Adekunle Gold make that same move?
I still make a lot of decisions like that.
How much influence did YBNL have on your sound?
YBNL moved me. I had Sade before YBNL and it was already getting popular. When I got signed to the label, we shot the video and it became like a sensation everywhere. Getting signed to YBNL took me to London for the first time. That was in 2015. So YBNL changed everything for me.
What is the secret of your success?
First God; and then hard work. And it’s not just enough to be hard working. You need to want it. I’m fearless. I just said I quit my job because I wanted to do music. How bad do you want it? That’s the question you should ask yourself. And whatever I want, I go for it.
Are you working on a sophomore album?
Yes, I am. It’s titled About 30. It will be dropping in the first quarter of next year. I have more than one feature this time.
Are you closer to getting married or is that still far away?
I don’t even know. I’m just focusing on music.
How would you describe your sound?
My sound is urban highlife. It is a fusion of pop and highlife.
Do you think it will catch on?
Well, when people mention my name, they talk about urban highlife. So people are beginning to understand it. They are loving the sound and it resonates with people. Eventually it will be a celebrated sound.
What was growing up like?
It was fun, it was interesting and it was challenging at the same time. My aunt who used to live with us would take us outside to sing, teach us how to sing certain harmonies, alto and all that. That was when I discovered that I have a knack for singing. And then I joined the church choir. I was always trying to be the lead singer, but it never happened all through my years in that church. My parents are Muslims so I grew up in an Islamic home. But my dad allowed us to go to church because he thinks religion is education as well, so it’s okay to learn from any religion. But when we grew a little older, he stopped us, so we started learning the Quran.
How then did you end up a Christian?
When I went to school, that was when I met a girl and she invited me to church. So I said ‘sure, sebi it’s to go to church? Let’s go na.’ Then I went to the church and I discovered God differently. And that’s why I’m a Christian now. How did the relationship play out? It was good. We dated for a number of years and I became a better person because I met her parents and they are like my parents now.
So is she the chosen one?
She’s not the one. We broke up, but we are good. We are still family.
Is there a possibility of a comeback?
With her? No! But with another person? Sure.
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