Joel Amadi: I Want To Sound Like Akon, Ended Up Sounding Like 2Baba

…stages a great come back

Joel Amadi, a popular Nigerian afro-beat music star, songwriter, multiple award winner and performer, otherwise known as Joe El, started his music career in Kaduna.

The former Kennis Music star is an indigene of Jema’a Local Government Area, Southern Kaduna while his mother is from Benue State,

Joel recently left Kennis Music after Eleven boisterous years, he is now ready to manage himself on his record label as a brand, for his next birthday he has carefully put together a synthesised EP, (a song longer than a single but shorter than an album) to wao his ever waiting fans come March 23rd this year (2023).

According to the iconic music star, his parents orchestrated everyone in the family to do one thing or the other in their church choir while growing up, it is either you sing or you handle a musical instrument, and that was how the music thing started radiating within the family, on the other hand, he is a lover of good music as a growing lad.

While in Kano, Eedris Abdulkareem was one of the rappers his music peer group was looking up to, when Eedris came out from Kano his group’s hope was rekindled they opined that if Eedris could make it this big, they could pull strings as well.

While working with Mr Biggs in Kano he was shortlisted for Star Quest context in Jos but did not scale through.

He has the intention of doing a music collaboration with Burnaboy, Ayra Starr and Buju Benson.

The Nigerian music star who has staged his coming back into the music terrace with more scintillating music took a few questions from CREEKVIBES OLUWADAMILARE DANIELS. Excerpts;

As a good musician, do you also have plans to act in Nollywood?

I know I am a great actor, I know that one day I’ll find my way into the Nollywood scenes, I have spoken with one or two movie bigwigs, but not keen on stepping in yet, I think once I sort my record label stuff, I will be settled to take that adventure more seriously.

Do you have any song you are presently working on, that you think if released will send your fans to cloud nine?

Yes, I have a lot that I am working on right now, but it is still a work in progress, the Nigeria music scene has changed it is no longer what it used to be, I am trying to incorporate more trending sounds, I wouldn’t want to dish out anything that will make me look like an apprentice.

Then when you were very hot, you sounded like 2Baba, what was the secret behind that?

The 2Baba thing, I want to believe it was a coincidence.

 I want to believe it was a coincidence too.

Yeah, looking or sounding like 2Baba wasn’t my dream, I had wanted to sound like Akon, he is the one I thought I was sounding like, before I started receiving comments like; ‘guy you sounded like 2Baba’, ‘you look like 2Baba’. In my heart of heart I was like, are you guys serious?… the rest is now history.

If I check your phone, what five artists/songs would I see on your recently played list?

Laugher, my brother it will be boring to you, I am more into Reggae music, on my phone right now, I play Lucky Dube, and Bob Marley, I also play a lot of Christian music because I am a Christian, I hardly play random music.

How do you ward off female fans who want a relationship?

Well, let’s be honest it is not always easy, but we have been surviving, (laughs) what I try to do is I don’t take advantage of them, because I also have sisters that I wouldn’t want anyone to violate their privacies, and that’s why I’ve not got any harassment scandal from any female fans.

I have a lot of them within Lagos and we do chat on WhatsApp, I don’t go ahead telling them what I am not and ended up disappointing them, some of them have been my friend for over five years, but funny enough I haven’t set my eyes on some of them. I kept it that way to avoid unnecessary attention.

How did the attack that led to your dad’s demise happen?

It was on a Friday evening, July 24th, 2020, I was about to go out to have dinner, my younger sister called at about 9 pm, I could feel how terrified she was while speaking to me on the phone, she said, their community, Zikpak was under attack by Fulani herders who were shooting intermittently and everyone in the community scampered for safety. 

A few hours later when the invaders have left the people started coming out of their hiding places, and all they could see was dead bodies littering all over the place, and quite, unfortunately, my dad was among those gunned down.

The Fulani herders were just all over the community in Kafanchan, while my cousin’s wife who left with her daughter earlier before the attack, said, she came across them, and she started begging them, she even told them that, the daughter with her is the only child she has, in the process her daughter fainted, but she was fortunate to have escaped.

A message for your fans?

Yes, it’s been a while, and I must have been missed, I have missed my loyal fans too, I want them to know that a more scintillating song is coming from my stable, this is not an empty promise, it will go viral soon.

I also want everyone to know that these coming elections concerns all of us, with your PVC you must go out to vote for your favourite candidate that you know that he is capable to make this country better, go out there and be a part of the people that will make the Nigerian dream a positive one that we all will be proud of.