Founder,
Chief Executive Officer, Hybreed Music and Entertainment Company, Moniyke, in
this interview with ADA DIKE, divulges why people should listen to his latest
single, Water Don Pass Garri.
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A
prominent record label owner in Nigeria and renowned musician, Moniyke,
recently released a love song, Water Don Pass Garri.
Born Ikechukwu Solomon Keneze, Moniyke’s unflinching affection towards mankind
led him to use music to preach love. Hybreed Music act, Water Don Pass Garri was
produced by the combined effort of the Hybreed Team, mixed and mastered by Suka
Sounds. According to the song writer, “This is a love song for the season. You
just have to listen to Water Don Pass Garri by Moniyke.
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| Moniyke |
He
explains:
Water Don Pass Garri is a song which has its root on Highlife,
but you can’t afford not paying attention to the Soul, Rhythm and Blues in it.
It is a song which every single person who is totally in love and ready to take
a relationship to the next level has to listen to. It is a beautiful song from
the soul, deep down from the soul, and I am sure every person who is sincerely
in love will like to play the song for his girlfriend (for the single men) or
his wife (for the married) or his boyfriend (for girls) or husband (for married
women).
“I have
been hearing the phrase, Water Don Pass Garri from childhood but I
realised that most times, when people say Water Don Pass Garri,
they always connect it to the negative direction. I understand that Water Don Pass Garri is
a phrase like an idiomatic expression that has to do with you being able to say
this situation is beyond your comprehension or beyond what you can handle.
Apparently, when the phrase came to my mind I thought about instead of putting
it in the negative direction, to infuse it in the positive way, and I decided
to write '
Water Don Pass Garri' to be a love song. So it stands for the
kind of love that you cannot resist and it seems overwhelming to your
imaginations, and that is the inspiration for the song,” he added.
Moniyke
emphasised on why the song was projected shortly before the Valentine’s Day:
“This is a love season, so we are pushing further in the spirit of the season.
The song was premiered on MTN Fresh on BEAT FM by Olisa Adibua and the feedback
from listeners has been massive. It has been trending on Twitter. It is going
to be spreading to other radio stations while we are preparing for the video.
So we are taking this bold step this Valentine period to spread love to
mankind. Late last year, it was posted exclusively on MTN Music Plus and it
trended. The number of downloads we have so far is awesome. We also have it
available on Tecno mobile. If you have a Tecno mobilevBoom Player app, you can
as well search for Water Don Pass Garri by
Moniyke. It is available on iROKING. We intend
making it available on diverse places. It is going to be on Spinlet, Cloud9 and
other platforms.”
 |
| Moniyke |
The singer’s foray into music began when he
was in the university. He was formerly the Creative Director of Farenheit
Entertainment Limited from 2007 to 2013 before he set up his own organisation,
Hybreed Music and Entertainment Company. He speaks on what informed his
decision to set up his own company: “I have always told myself that I don’t
want to do music for the sake of doing music. I have passion for the business,
that is why, immediately I graduated from the university, I went into artistes’
management.
I was recording my songs while doing all
those things because I needed to be grounded in the industry, so I had to lay
my hands in the other aspects of the industry. It has been an experience I will
never regret and thanks to the Almighty God for bringing me to this point that
I am established not just an entrepreneur, but also a stakeholder in the
entertainment industry. I have signed a couple of artistes in the past before
projecting my career. This time, I and my team have decided to push the
'Moniyke' brand and ensure I am there before we pick up other talents.
Moniyke’s Public Relations Manager, Nelly
Ohuche (Nelly-J), says, “Moniyke is a premium brand that brings to the table
ingenuity and creativity, and with his dedication to his career, it gives his
audience something new to look forward to for every material he puts out, and
makes work a lot easy for us his team.”
This is his third single after Were Obim and Oh My God! (OMG!).
Among these three songs, which one do you prefer? he was asked: “That is a very
tough question, but I will say that the three songs are so dear to me. Were Obim (Take
My Heart) is a deep song that can connect to anybody, apart from the sense of
love, it has a deeper understanding whereby, we all have to connect when it
comes to love in our society. The song is saying ‘Take my heart and give me
yours’. So if we express love to each other sincerely, there will be peace
in the world. That song goes beyond the man and woman love but other aspects of
relationship in life.
OMG! is a very special song which is saying, “God’s blessing is
overflowing in my life, He didn’t let them fall my hand.” That song is used as
a medium to testify to God’s goodness in one’s life. Then, having Water Don Pass Garri,
means telling people that we are ready to go into the next level with you. You
can’t compare these songs. I think Water Don Pass Garri is
a step ahead because any song we put out has to be better than the last, but it
is left for the lovers of my music to say the one they love most.”
Commenting
on when he would release his sophomore album, Moniyke said: “I am doing
everything possible and praying to God so hard that my first official album
drops this year. My friends and fans all over the world have been calling and
asking me when my album would be launched, so I don’t think about whether the
marketers are going to pay me big money or not, I have made up my mind and
trusting God to help me that the album drops this year and become a great
success. The title of the album is ready and we have a compilation of songs
that will make the album. We are going to be shortlisting the songs for the
album maybe, towards the middle of this year.”
Among
players in the entertainment scene he appreciates their works, Moniyke said
Audu Maikori is his mentor. “When I look at the modern day entertainment
industry and the way things are going, I used to love Questionmark due to their
concept initially. But someone I respect so much is Audu Maikori due to the way
he and his team have been able to push their brand and built a family that has
stood the test of time with the likes of M.I., Ice Prince and others. Even
though they have their individual brands, they are still together as Chocolate
City. It is something I really do admire.
When it comes to the creative path, I
really love the grace and the talent Don Jazzy has to push on from Mo’Hits to
Mavin Records yet, he is still representing. His artistes including Korede
Bello, Reekado Banks and Dí’ja have good endorsements, that is something I
admire too. God bless 2Face Idibia. Anytime I see him, I pray to God for the
kind of grace he possesses, his humility is impeccable. I have met a lot of
people in the entertainment industry; and I sense that humility is what lacking
in our time. I hereby advise every artiste and whoever is in a position whereby
he or she relates to people to stay humble. Above all, don’t trust in your
talent, wisdom or intelligent, understand that God has it all. When you think
of making it on your own, you will start to fall. You need God and people.”
Aside his music career, this industrious
Production Technology graduate who hails from Anambra State is also a Business
man and a Fashion Designer with a clothing line that speaks of his simplicity
and creativeness.
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