my kind of man: nikki LAOYE

The man I want for a husband –Nikky Laoye
By Adeola Balogun
Saturday, 26 Jul 2008

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Nikky Laoye

Anyone who is familiar with the artistry and stagecraft of Yinka Davies will appreciate another talented contemporary artiste called Nikky Laoye. What she lacks in frame, she compensates for with the energy and zeal in her music.

Interestingly the two have not met. Asked whether she had come across Yinka Davies, Laoye smiled and said she looked forward to meeting her one day.

“People always ask me this question,” she said. “They say we are the same in stature and that we are both loud when we perform. One day, I saw her picture and thought it was mine. On closer look, I realised that it was not mine. People say we are the same. I actually look forward to meeting her one day.”

On stage at her album launch last Saturday, Laoye held the audience at the ever-busy Shoprite supermarket in Lekki spellbound as she launched into number after number and the crowd kept asking for more.

A granddaughter of a professional musician raised in a family of notes and tunes, Nikki has always been surrounded by opportunities to develop her musical genes. She is a princess from the Laoye royal family of Ede in Osun State where the legendary master talking drummer, the late Timi of Ede, Oba John Adetoyese Laoye, reigned.

The late monarch is reputed for making the talking drum popular, which today makes Ede a reference point in the art of drumming. He together with his group of skilled drummers and poets entertained the Queen of England when she first visited Nigeria and thereafter in her palace in England. And until his death in the 70s, he remained an entertainer even while he held sway as the traditional ruler of Ede.

It was not surprising therefore that throughout high school, Nikky remained an active member of the school band. She later began her professional music career with the female group, Soul Sistas, comprising herself, Aboyowa Tene and Debola Kester), while studying Computer Science at the University of Ibadan.

She told Appetiser that her degree in Computer Science had greatly enhanced her musical talent. “I am also a producer and we use computers to do this. I work very closely with my younger brother, Xblaze, who is highly talented. Our outfit is called RocSteady ’86 Productions and that is where my debut album, Angel 4 Life, is coming from.”

Nikki is also a voice over/radio jingle artiste. Fidelity Bank’s No Greater Feeling, Reltel’s Make it Happen, The Palms’ Mall@Xmas and MTN’s Xmas GO are some of her creative outputs.

Besides, some recent Nigerian and Ghanaian home movies such as Where the Heart Lies, Mission 2 Nowhere and In the Eyes of my Husband have her vocal signature on their soundtracks.

Inasmuch as she would want to be seen as singing gospel, she prefers to describe her music as Christian contemporary music. Her unique sound is spiced up in an eclectic mix of influences such as alternative rock, R&B, soul and hip hop, as she shifts effortlessly between styles while demonstrating strength in songwriting.

According to her, “I am not restricted to any particular style of music.

All I want to do is talk about the great God who I love so much, speak words of life and truth to the soul of man and touch peoples’ lives through my music.”

Nikki’s debut, Angel 4 Life, features artistes such as Jeremiah Gyang, Lagimo stars, Rooftop MCs and Blaise, with tracks like Angel 4 Life, Believer, Get Ur Praise On, Eyin Loba, Taka Sufe (snap and whistle), Someone 2 Love, Never Felt This Way Before, Healing Waters, Whatever It Takes, Baba Loke and Nikki Praise.

The vivacious artiste told Appetiser that all she did now was music, but that when it is time for her to settle down, God would guide her.

“I am not in any serious relationship right now,” she said. “But when it is time, I surely will do so. I want to be a successful wife to a successful husband and have a successful home. But right now, I am still looking for the man and I will find him very soon. The man of my dream is somebody who loves God and loves me dearly. He can be tall or short, fair or dark but someone who is God-fearing.”

Asked whether she preferred an artiste like herself, she said she had left all that in the hand of God. “I am not restricting it to anything. I am not saying he must be a musician. God will decide that for me. We will meet and I know that I will get married to a man that loves God, because any man that fears God will love you; he will not treat you badly.

“I want a man that is crazy about me and successful. When I say successful, I am not talking in terms of money but someone who knows what he wants to do and how he wants to achieve it.

“But I know that whoever I want to marry will never ask me to stop music.