A singer, Labule, has said that the cost of promoting music is quite prohibitive.
Asked what he would like to change anything about the industry, he said, “That would be marketing. As far as I’m concerned, that is the most difficult and expensive part of the industry.”
The trained engineer, who is gearing up to release his eponymous debut album, Labule, also stated that he would be staging a listening party for the forthcoming 10-track body of work in August. He added that there would be a live performance of all the songs in the album at the event.
Asked to describe his style of music, Labule said, “My sound is called ‘highfro’. It is a blend of highlife and afrobeat, backed by heavy African percussion, such as gangan, omele bata, omele gangan and sekere.”
Speaking on the highlights of his musical journey, he said, “I started playing drums when I was about six or seven years old. While in elementary and secondary schools, I was in the school band. In the university, I took a backseat to focus on my education, but I was still a regular at Lagbaja’s Motherlan event centre in Ikeja, Lagos; and Femi Kuti’s New Afrikan Shrine.
“My regular appearances at Motherlan led many people to think that I was a member of Lagbaja’s band, particularly because I also had a deep knowledge of his music. In 2010, I left Nigeria to pursue a Master’s degree in the United Kingdom, and that was where the journey really started for me as a professional.
“In the UK, I was bored and one way to kill boredom was by joining the choir. I used to play the drums for my church back then. After I bagged my Master’s degree, I returned to Nigeria and joined a construction company as a site engineer. However, the passion for music was still there, so I taught myself how to play the talking drum. Then, I started recording my songs, and the rest, as they say, is history.”
