Encomium
Kehinde Ajose is a respected journalist, publicist, and talent development strategist. He burst into the scene when he wrote the Armchair critic column as a student for Daily Independent newspaper. In 2008, he was christened Nigeria’s youngest motivational speaker by Edutainment magazine.
In this interview with ENCOMIUM Weekly, Kehinde opens up on the reason he wrote a book on Don jazzy amongst, other issues…
Your book, Donjazzyfied has been generating a lot of buzz lately, what is the inspiration behind it?
As a writer who has a calling in helping individuals master the business side of their talents and making a living from it, I realized that a lot of youngsters look outside our shores for inspiration. Young Africans will rather read a book that unveils the success secret of Jay Z or Kanye West than read a literature on the success secret of an African which is not supposed to be. When you read a book like that, it doesn’t resonate with you because you are alien to that environment. Reading about someone that is succeeding in your clime and achieving massive feats helps you not only to adopt the principle shared, but also creates a sense of familiarity between the reader and the author.
Donjazzyfied is the alternative. It’s a proudly Nigerian tale embedded with principles of how individuals can move from being best kept secret to becoming a don in their fields.
Of all the famous African celebrities why did you use Don jazzy as a case study in your book?
I particularly picked Don jazzy because he is an enigma. He is like a mystery to be unraveled, a gift to be unwrapped. He is a young Nigerian whose rise from the throes of obscurity to stardom is legendary. You will agree with me that the dude isn’t just another music producer contented with making instrumentals, he is beyond that. In one of the book’s chapter I wrote about how Don Jazzy differentiated himself, refusing to be another statistic. The likes of Emma Nyra, Kehinde Bankole also buttressed this point in the book. Forbes magazine calls him Africa’s number one beat maker and the undisputed king of social media in Nigeria. He isn’t just a celebrity, he is an inspiration, a source of hope to young Nigerians. In a recent article I read, the writer says Don Jazzy has a social equity that can embarrass pastors and politicians.
Why did you write the book?
Donjazzyfied isn’t Don Jazzy’s biography it’s more like a road map to becoming, a don in your field using Don Jazzy as a case study. I wrote the book based on three reasons that I have called P.I.E – Persuade, Inform and Entertain. The motive is to first of all persuade the reader to unveil the greatness within them, inform them about what it takes to be a shining light in one’s field and also entertain them. While embarking on the journey I met a lot of young gifted Nigerians at the verge of giving up on life and on themselves. This book is the needed boost to chase their greatness. It took me close to six months to write it, because I didn’t just want to write another book that won’t make any major impact. I set out to write the book, not just a book.
How does becoming a don in your field contribute to nation building?
The truth is that when you gain mastery in your chosen craft and become the best at it, you end up emerging as a beacon of hope, a light to your world and you can influence more people that way rather being that mediocre that is living an average life instead of living life uncensored and unlimited. When you dream big dreams and create a master plan to achieve in collaboration with God it will have a rippling effect on the nation. A nation’s growth is tied to the success of her citizenry.
How can people get the book?
Donjazzyfied already exists in an e-book format, but there are plans to publish it in order for it to have a wide reach. It’s sure going to cause a mind revolution.
