Encomium
Sexy singer, Emma Nyra has been quietly working hard at establishing herself as a force to be reckoned with in the Nigerian music industry since she dropped her first single in 2012.
Just two years down the line, she can be proud of her achievements within a very short period as she has improved track after track, also winning a number of awards.
The Triple MG first lady, who recently dropped the video to her latest hit, Elele, a song she did with one of Africa’s finest, Davido, in this interview with ENCOMIUM Weekly, bared her mind on several issues, including her belief that skin bleaching is a bad thing for women as well as men, her penchant for wearing revealing attires, her career progression, the competition among female artistes and many more.
How was your U.S tour experience?
The Triple MG tour started on July 2, our first show was in Atlanta. We literally didn’t sleep. We started in Atlanta then we moved to New York. From New York to DC, from DC to Dallas, from Dallas to North Carolina then to Kentucky to Houston to Minnesota to Detroit. We did about nine to ten shows. This particular tour was special to me because I got to perform my song Elele which was very massive. It’s been doing very well and received very good response from everybody there. Also, my mum was able to come perform with me on stage in Dallas and it was the first time my dad has seen me perform as well so it was very life changing. It was a good experience for me. I also got to host AFRIMA Awards. It also helped people to know that not only do I sing, I can also host, I can act, I can do different things like that. So, entertainment wise, the tour was very successful.
You said something about your mom performing with you…
Yeah, she came to dance with me on stage. It was so much fun. She really surprised me. As I was on stage, she climbed the stage, and I was like ‘mom, how did you get past the security’ because there was proper security because of the calibre of celebrities that were there. So she just came jeje from the crowd and joined me on stage. It was such a wonderful experience for me.
What’s your take on the explosion of female artistes in Nigeria now?
I’m very pleased with the progression of female artistes. That’s why I don’t really see people as competition because the more women, the better for me. On the male side, there are over 500 male artists and none of them are threatening each other. Yes, we are all competing for the number one spot but music has room for everybody. Now we can see the female side. If one female is charging one price another female can now say I want to charge that price, because it’s possible. All of us female artists are ground breakers, this hasn’t happened before. In this generation, we can see 10,12,13,14, girls, rappers, singers, reggae, gospel, everything. So, it’s such a good time to be a female artiste because we are the ones setting the pace for the future.
The girls coming up are depending on us to put our foot down, unlike in the past when you see only one female artist reign. It’s only maybe Onyeka who has been able to reign and still charge what men charge, hold that weight, because of her success. I’m very happy that now we can go to a concert and see not just a female but plenty females and upcoming ones too. So, it’s a very good thing.
But some people believe that to succeed as a female artiste, it will be difficult for them to settle down and get married due to the lifestyle?
This is the new age, so we can say that we are very experimental. Someone like Tiwa has been able to get married and still keep up the sex symbol that she is. So we now know that it is possible, you can have kids, you could get married, you could have a successful relationship and still be in the public eye and know how to carry yourself far and wide. So, I think it’s about the person, it depends on the person. People like Omotola, she has been in the industry for a long time. She has children, she has her husband her marriage, everything. And you can still see that her career is still flourishing. It’s something that is very possible. My opinion is that can the woman handle it? If she can handle it, then it’s possible. It’s not like before when as a woman you want to just respect yourself and not want your family to be out there. Now, women know how to be out there and still keep their families separate.
What are those features that you consider your greatest assets as an artiste?
I think my voice and my personality and my power, I can act, I can sing, I can model, I can do all those things and also I’m just a genuine person. I can work with anybody. I can rap, I can sing, I can dance. my personality is different and my upbringing is different. So, what I’m building together is a different sound from what all other girls are doing right now.
There are lots of our female celebs bleaching their skin right now. What’s your opinion on this?
I grew up with white people, and I noticed that white people tan. They wanted to look like me. Whereas, I wanted to look like them while growing up because I wanted to belong. This bleaching thing Indians do it too, even Americans do it too. It’s been so bad lately because the society’s perception of beauty has to do with. The lighter the better, whereas in Europe, the darker the better. Dark hair, dark skin, it’s a kind of class system. In India, the darker you are, the lower your class. That’s how they do their own class system. Our own is just, we’ve grown up watching aunties bleaching. When I first came to Nigeria, I went to a store and I couldn’t even find a regular cream, all I saw was whitening. I went to Dubai, the same thing. Indians and Arabs, they bleach. I am more concerned with clear skin, not light or dark or whatever because I grew up seeing girls wanting to be dark. So it didn’t affect me that way. If I had grown up in Nigeria, maybe because everybody wants to be light or fair, but that’s not how I grew up, so it didn’t affect me. But I want clear skin. I don’t support bleaching, I don’t think it’s right. Some people wear padded bra, some people wear padded bums. As a woman, you can choose whatever you want. You can change your nose, your breast, anything. But as for bleaching, because of the long term effect, I don’t think it’s good for you.
So you have never felt the need to enhance any part of your body to look sexier?
When I was younger, I used to wish I had bigger breasts. But now that I am older, men don’t complain. So, I don’t. When you are younger, you will always have this vision of what you want, bigger bums, bigger breasts and so on. All the women in my family have big breasts except for me. Now that I’m older, I haven’t had a man tell me that my breasts are too small. Breast is breast. When I get older, it will sag so it doesn’t matter at the end of the day. But as far as my skin is concerned, I used to have bad skin with pimples, and have always wanted clear skin. It was when I came to Nigeria that my skin cleared because of the food I was maybe eating in America. But as for bleaching, no. I don’t support bleaching.
You have been flaunting those breasts of yours a lot lately…
(Laughs) It’s not that I flaunt them but part of your selling point as a female artiste is your body, your voice, your look, your hair, everything. Chidimma’s lack of hair is her selling point, you understand. Each part of you is your selling point.
That’s the irony. Your breasts are not so big but you still expose them?
It’s confidence, you understand. Somebody like Toolz, for example, her selling point is her body. Before her voice, it’s her body. As a woman, her own packaging is always different. I have grown up to be comfortable with the way my skin is because I have accepted the fact that I can’t change, I have to accept the way I am. Men don’t look at women the way women look at women. If I go out with or without make up, a man will not notice. But if I go out and I see a woman she will say Emma Nyra you are looking different from how I see you on TV. She would comment on everything to my eyebrow. But a man won’t look that deep unless he is into fashion and everything. I have learnt to accept myself. If you are not confident about yourself, people won’t buy your brand.
Let’s talk about Elele, your latest single with Davido. The song is doing very well, how do you feel about that?
The song has been my breakthrough in the industry, it’s the first song that I will go on twitter or the internet and see that they are playing it in Uganda, playing it in Tanzania, playing it in Kenya. It is my first song that I have done that has blown like that. Also, it’s the first song that I have performed. And before the music even started, I say ‘If your body na’ and the crowd will say Elele. It’s something that proves that as an artiste, I’ve grown into this industry and I didn’t have to try hard. They accepted it without me having to over perform it or over sing it or over hype it. I can go three days without tweeting it, but I will see my song is being played unlike before when I will call radio stations, tweet and tweet, call them myself to play my song but this one they played just like that. By Gods grace, my music will continue to move like that.
Observing your career progression, it’s been steadily rising. From Ori mi wu to Everything I do, to Kere Shere and now Elele, each song does better than the last. What’s the secret and how do you like it?
I think some people wouldn’t understand from the artistes stand point. As an artist, you just hope that every song you drop is a hit, even those that drop hits have to sit down and regroup. The fact that I’m progressing makes me happy. I don’t want to now have a hit and then go back silent for two years, that makes your career go up and down, it affects your brand. It’s important that you continue to progress, and I like the fact that I am consistent because once you are not consistent your fans start to doubt you which makes it even harder for you. Even when you get a hit, things are harder for you because you can’t drop that standard. I am very happy with my progression and I’m looking forward to dropping more successful singles and videos. My video is out now and I’m delighted with the response too.
Was there any point in time that you doubted yourself, especially when you were still fresh with your first singles?
I was never discouraged because I’m always around artistes, so we know how this thing goes. If I’m in the game for ten years and there is no progression, then I will start to feel disturbed. I dropped my first single in 2012, Ori mi wu. So if I drop my first single 2012, then 2022, I don’t see anything then I can be worried. But even then I won’t stop because that’s my dream, it has always been my dream, I have always wanted to sing, either in Nigeria or America, I didn’t care. That’s why I moved to Nigeria. I wanted to sing in any way I could, anyhow, so I was never discouraged. But there were times when I was like, when is it going to be my turn, what’s going on, what’s happening?
What else are you up to now, is there any new material you are working on?
I’m doing some collabs with some African artistes and some endorsements are coming that I can’t speak of right now and I’m doing my foundation, Emma Nyra Foundation. It’s going to be focused on kids, I was going to focus on women but I decided to stick with children because they are vulnerable, especially in this country. Children are sometimes forgotten and that is very risky because children are the future of this country. The only way our country can get better is if we focus on children. So that’s what my foundation is being centered on right now and I would do some fund raising things for the children. I am working on it right now.
How will you have time to run the foundation along with your music?
There is always time, we have to multi task and it’s our duty because we musicians have the loudest voice. That’s why when politicians are running for any office they would call musicians. We have the ear of the public, we have the public eye ,we have that control, that power. So I want to use my own power to affect children, to help children.
-AJOKE ONITOLO
