Sani Danja needs no introduction. A Kannywood actor and artist in the northern entertainment industry, he has just released a new album, titled ‘New Guy In Town’. In this interview with journalists in Kaduna, he talks about his album and why he thinks it is going to make waves, amongst other issues.
From Lawal Sadiq Sanusi, Kaduna
What is new about your album?
New guy in town,’ is an album that tells stories that other musicians have ignored. I touched on issues that other musicians don’t talk about. It is going to be different and I believe my fans will enjoy it because it is something new from the North and would be launched this month. I will be establishing myself in the Nigerian English music industry. That is why I gave the album the name, ‘New guy in town’. I have been working on the album for two years now.
Give us brief background of some of the tracks
A song in the album named,’ Father’, is to honour fathers because their importance in our society has been downplayed. Yes, mothers are equally important but fathers are important too. But hardly do you find songs dedicated to them despite their fatherly role in the family and in the society in general. It also contains another song called ‘Bye Bye’, in realization that whatever you do in this life, you will have to say bye bye one day. It also showcases my own slangs or jargon, a sort of expression. All musicians have their slangs which their fans identify with. For example, D’banj’s is Koko Master. Mine is No Jigi Jigi. I always try to be different in what I do.
What is the message to your fans?
Generally, what I am talking about in this album are the realities of life, and we have many issues begging for attention which need to be addressed. Artistes are role models; people emulate them. If we can make peace our national creed, for example, if we are invited to any occasion, a show or any gathering we should always propagate peace through our activities. When you go to the market, traders don’t ask you to buy their products because you are a Muslim or because you are a Christian. They call everybody not minding our religious differences. Also, when you have an accident, you don’t call only Muslims or Christians to help you, you call for help.
We have seen how talented artistes from the North have come up and then fizzled out. What makes you think you would be different?
I think the music industry in the North has grown to a higher level now. We have come of age and have more experience now. What has caused a setback for us is the media. I am sorry to say this, but we lack the necessary medium to promote us. If I were from the South, I would have more recognition. I was a ‘Save The Children Ambassador’, I was also the first ‘Glo Ambassador’ and held that position for two years before Nollywood stars and other musicians became ambassadors. I was there before P. Square, D’banj and the rest of them and have many national and international awards but not many people know this. I got an American award for a film I produced on HIV/AIDS. I have another film which was rated number six in the whole world and number one in the whole of Africa. I have achieved so many things but do I have the trumpet to blow these achievements? The answer is no! This is because we don’t have the backing of the media in the North. Our people are also not helping matters. For instance, you will see a Hausa man playing English music without knowing what the musician is talking about but he would not listen to Hausa music because he thinks it is local. In fact, it was the advent of Kannywiood that promoted Hausa songs. Because of Hausa movies, people now listen to Hausa music. Before now, people see Hausa musicians as unserious.
But have you been soliciting media support?
We don’t have many active media houses to give us necessary support in the North. When we talk of television for instance, apart from DITV Kaduna, we don’t have private stations in other parts of the north that can really support us. Most people watch AIT and NTA, they are the major TV stations in the North. But when you go to the South, Lagos for instance, they have many TV channels and you will find that four or five of them are on satellite. So, artistes there get the kind of publicity they require. We also do not have active newspaper and magazine publishing companies to further our interest. Regretfully, most of the companies that provide these TV stations, magazines and newspaper houses with adverts in the South, make most of their money from the North.
Piracy is a threat to the Nigerian music industry, what suggestions would you make to tackle the menace?
It is very unfortunate that after spending your God-given energy, talent and money to produce your work, somebody somewhere will just copy it and make money at your expense. It is really sad, discouraging and killing the morale of artistes. The artistes cannot fight piracy. We need government intervention through use of law enforcement agents. Our fans can also play an important role in the fight against piracy by not patronizing pirated products.
Are you abandoning movies for music?
Not really. I am not abandoning the movie business completely for music. Most people don’t know but I was a singer even before joining the film industry. I have been working on the album for about two years now and it has not stopped me from doing my movies. When Glo signed me on for its ambassadorship, I did not sign as an actor, but as a singer.
How expensive was the album project?
The most expensive part of the album was the track ‘Is the girl that I love’. This is the most expensive video in the album which gulped about six million. The others were also carefully done to get the desired quality. I see it making a huge impact not only in the Nigerian or African music industry, but on the world stage because it has all it takes to make waves anywhere. Our target was to make impact internationally. The sky will be our stepping stone.
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