Remilekun Kalid Shafaru is more popular as “Reminisce” in the music industry.
Over the years, the Edge Records artiste has grown from an emerging star to a full blown authority in rap music.
In a chat with www.theoctopusnews.com, the artiste traced his present street credibility to the neighbourhood he grew up in. According to him, in Ebute Metta, Lagos State, you see real people living real lives. Reminisce said because he is from a well-to-do polygamous home and he lived with his mother, made him see the other side of life, learn from other people’s lifestyles, and know that life is not a bed of roses, adding that one may have it smooth while others may not.
Reminisce recalls his growing up days in Ebute Metta. “I grew up in No. 1, Spencer Street, Alagomeji, Yaba, Lagos State. We lived there for eight years. The house got burnt and then we moved to Kanu Street, Ebute Metta, where I spent another eight years. Basically, I spent 16 years in the area and that makes me a typical Ebute Metta boy. I have all the street senses and know what is expected of a boy from that part of town.”
On how this has impacted on his career, the fair-complexioned artiste said this has helped him do music for both people on the street and for the elite but his preference remains the street because there are more real people there.
The road to stardom for Reminisce was never smooth. He had to run away from home for a while because his father was not in support of his music career. His dad wanted him to be a medical doctor and just couldn’t understand why a brilliant boy would simply want to be a musician.
Already in their family, they had a civil engineer and a soldier but they did not have a doctor so his father wanted him to be one.
“My dad did not support me, so I left home for three years and I was with ID Kabasa; during that time I learnt what it was like to hustle and feed myself.
My music was influenced by artistes like Nas and Snoop Dog but my dad was just adamant to me taking up music as a career.”
Reminisce said he has since resolved the issue with his father.
He said his father recently called him
when someone played a song and told him that his son did it but his father did not believe because Remilekun only majored in Hip-hop. Reminisce revealed that his dad called to clarify and when he found out the truth, he was very impressed.
Although Reminisce’s debut album titled Book of Rapstory is still selling, the artiste is set to drop a new one in November. He, however, said the debut was a success, as the major single in the work ‘Kakobi Chicken’ had a good reception, even though it did not tell who he really was because it was a commercial song. He said he tried to convince his fans with ‘Too Much’ another single, which was commercial too but with more rap.
Reminisce stated that the rap element in ‘Too Much’ was more pronounced and successful, which was why he had to do a remix with Ice Prince and Sauce kid to appeal to the elite.
The artiste revealed that when ladies began to complain that he was only singing for men and not women, he had to do a song for them titled ‘If Only’. According to him, “I try to satisfy everybody with my songs; the elderly, the educated, those on the street.”
When we sought to know the reason he always gives shout-out to Yahoo Boys in his songs, Reminisce said: “Some of those boys I grew up with, others we went to secondary school together and I am just doing my job, you have the likes of K1, Pasuma and Obesere and they have fans whose praise they sing, the same way I do.”
He further said: “It is not everybody who gives you money that you ask the nature of his job; that is not my business, I am doing my job. If somebody hears that I want to produce an album and he says ‘I will give you this’ the only way I can appreciate them, because I don’t have money to give them, back is to give them a shout-out. Moreover, people like to over-emphasise stories they don’t know. Most of these people are students and I don’t reside with them, I just do my job, I don’t question what they do, I just say thank you.”
About his seeming fanaticism and addiction to designers, he said he is a big designers fan. In his words: “I am a Nike head, I have about 46 pairs, 20 Jordan and a couple of Gucci. When I told you earlier that I left home and went into the streets to hustle, I was selling clothes. It was 9ice who told me that I can’t be selling clothes with all my rap skills, so he put me on a track called ‘Bachelors Life’ in his Gongo Aso album. The designer lines came from my days as a clothes seller.”
On what the meaning of his forth-coming album titled Alaga Ibile is, he told us that depending on how the listener wants to take it, the album could be interpreted as king of the street or local chairman. He said he expects it to be massive, as it has singles like ‘Fantasy’ and ‘Government’, a song which features Olamide. ‘Fantasy’, according to him, is the first official single of Alaga Ibile album.
The artiste also talked about his baby girl, and her mother, who he said he has dated for over 10 years. According to him, “we will get married soon when the time is right, but I will keep their names to me. I just want people to know that I am a family person too.”
He said the misunderstanding, he had with Vector last year had been resolved, as the artiste approached him when he won an award at the Headies and said they should move on. Reminisce said he respects Vector for that because he was man enough to have come to him for reconciliation. According to Reminisce, they have moved on for good, as they both want the best out of their career.
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