Encomium
Multi-award winning singer and maiden Project Fame winner, Iyanya Mbuk, alternatively known as Iyanya, is currently wearing a big smile after clinching the award for Best Dance in a video with Lekwa Ukwu at the 2014 African Music Magazine Awards (AFRIMMA) held at the Eisemann Centre in Texas on Saturday July 26, 2014.
ENCOMIUM Weekly cornered the hunk and he spoke on various issues ranging from his just-concluded United States (US) tour, his latest single with Oritsefemi, the controversies surrounding his yet-to-be-released Mr. Oreo video and more…
Congratulations on your award. How do you feel?
I thank God for the award. I got the award for Best Dance in a video for Lekwa Ukwu. It’s a blessing. It feels good to be rewarded. I recognize that.
Tell us about your recent US tour?
I thank God. It’s one thing to have people who love you at home, then you go out there and people still love you. Though it can be quite stressful flying back and forth, but every time you go out on stage and the fans scream your name and show you love, it feels good.
Was the US tour strictly about the shows only, or it involved other business dealings?
Yes, we shot a video, met a couple of people. When we travel like that, we try to connect.
How would you compare last year’s tour to this year’s?
They are quite similar. The only difference is that there are places we went to this year, that we didn’t last year, also there were places we went to last year that we didn’t this year. So, it’s a new experience for me. This year, we went to places like Indianapolis, Minnesota and Louisville. They were amazing.
Not all the Triple MG crew members were part of the tour. Why was that?
I don’t really know about that, because my own job is to be available, which I always do. The only person that can answer this question perfectly is Ubi Franklin, not me. I’m Iyanya, and it was Iyanya’s concert. But the whole arrangement and stuff like that is Ubi’s role.
Don’t you think taking some crew members and leaving others behind will create some sort of friction in the label?
I don’t know anything about that. I’ve never really thought about that. Everybody’s out there, we’re chilling.
Your Mr. Oreo video is not out, but pictures from the shoot are out and people are talking already…
People will always talk now.
People are saying it’s raunchy…
People will always say stuff. Even when you try stay safe, they say you’re too safe, that you should get out of the box and try new things. When you try new things, they still say things. Nobody is going to put me under pressure, I’m just being myself, let me be very honest. I feel like I owe my fans good music, which I try to do. The fact that those pictures are like that, doesn’t make what it seems. It’s music, it’s entertainment, it’s showbiz. If you don’t like it, another person will like it. Take the one you like, leave the others. Don’t condemn the artiste, don’t say bad things about the artiste. At the end of the day, we do all these things for the fans. It hurts when a ‘fan’ insults you or abuses you, when you are trying to please that fan. There are better ways to get this done. There are people that advise me constructively and I take it. People walk up to me and say ‘hey, I think you should do this, it will help you’ and I’ll be like ‘hey, thanks’. Because when somebody is saying the truth you’ll know. I’m not a child! I know what is wrong, I know what is happening, I have an idea. If a fan says, ‘I think you should have done this like this, it would have looked better’ it shows you care. Not just calling the artiste names. I’m no hypocrite! If the director comes up with a script, I play along.
A publication even said you are encouraging threesomes…
There’s nothing they are not going to say. Why have they not said that Trey Songz is encouraging threesomes? Or R-Kelly? Don’t they play the videos? Why does it have to be only Iyanya that’s encouraging threesomes?! The video is not even out and I didn’t have sex with the girl on the scene. It’s a video! It’s acting! Everything was just acting. It wasn’t a pornographic film, we had over 50 people watching, you understand? So, I don’t see anything wrong in it.
There are pictures from your tour where girls mobbed you and all that, it’s like you enjoy it…
Bro, I won’t say I don’t enjoy it, because they are my fans. Whatever they do is because they love you. I see where artistes that are even bigger than me go on stage and those same fans just stand and stare. So, I’ll never judge any of my fans. I love them and I appreciate the fact that when they see me, they show me love, they don’t ‘form’. It gets crazy sometimes that we try to manage the situation, but my fans are the best part of me.
Have you ever had the fear of fans hurting you when you go close to them?
Yeah. I’ve got bruises. They’ve got nails and stuff, they scratch, they drag you for pictures. When I started I was like, ‘is this what this is all about?’ But I just said to myself that this is what I chose, so I can’t complain.
Let’s talk about your trending new song, Story Story featuring Oritsefemi. What inspired the song?
Nothing personal. Because very soon, they’ll say I sang that song for one person. Oritsefemi is a great artiste, I loved him from the days of Mercies of the Lord, then recently he came out with Double Wahala. So, I just buzzed him and was like ‘I appreciate your work, I like your song, and I’ll like us to do something’. Sometimes you need to do certain songs with some certain people to send that message. I needed to do it with somebody that’s grounded. People love the song right now because it is the truth. Everywhere there’s a story, check it. So, I’m just saying ‘be real’.
It’s not as if you were dissing some other artiste?
No! I don’t have that kind of time. There are too many fans to please, asking you for music every day. I don’t have beef with anybody. I respect everybody. And I believe that everyone that sees me respects me, at least in front of me. That song is for everybody! I’m saying, ‘be real, no come wind me with your story’. If you say you got dollar, show me! If you say you are a bad guy, show me you are a bad guy, don’t tell me! Respect me, and I’ll respect you.
What’s your view on the twitter jibes between Wizkid and Davido?
Trust me, I don’t think I really have anything to say about that. You know why? I feel like they are adults, and they are obviously in control of anything they do.
But you tried to advise them?
I didn’t try to advise nobody. I didn’t mention anybody. I was with Davido in the US, we were together in his room, so if I have anything to say, I’ll say it to his manager, because I have to respect him as an artiste. So, if I want to advise him, I’ll tell his manager, his manager can then send a message to him. Davido is not a child, or Wizkid, that I’ll just call and say things to them. You’ve got to respect people, respect is reciprocal. They are adults. But I believe all these will fade, I look forward to a song between them. I see that coming.
What’s your view on the Ebola outbreak?
It’s scary. All these things are end times stuff. We only pray for mercy. the air you breath, just be thankful. it’s good at the end of the day, let’s be honest.
How would you advise your fans on the outbreak?
There are precautions. be very careful. be on the alert. don’t also kill yourself before you die. let’s all pray and believe it will pass. it’s very scary, even sanitizers are not so safe. when you sanitize your palm, what happens to your hands?
What’s the latest with Iyanya?
I’m on that level where I’m just working, dropping more singles, more videos, more collaborations. I’m just working.
Are we going to see a video for Story Story?
Yes, definitely. I don’t think it will be a bad idea to have me and Oritsefemi on a video. I think it would be a very dope video.
-MICHAEL NWOKIKE
