One thing you will be amazed about him when you se him perform is his ability to switch voices; one minute he is on cool tenor and can switch in a cool crescendo to a deep soprano that can sear your soul. Nuel Adejumo a.k.a Ohun is no doubt gifted with a gift of possessing a chameleon voice but many see the talent in another light. In this chat with AHAOMA KANU, Ohun opens up on what he has been doing since dropping his debut album, how he achieved the feat that made him to be called the one with the golden voice and reveals that because he is hot people think he is gay.

SINCE the release of your album under the Orangootan label not much has been heard about you what has been happening?
I have been doing some promotions on the album as well as performing on shows and concerts. My record label have done a video for one of the tracks and the promotion is also going on all in a bid to harmonize my record and make it a total package so that the public receives it in the right light. That I will say is what has been happening so far and I don't have to move ahead of what the label has lined out for me.

With the razzmatazz that followed your debut by now you should be working on your second album or is that not in the pipeline?
We are concentrating on promoting the first album and that has not stopped the second album from coming out; it will be out by the end of the year. The video of Smile Again is out and rocking television houses as we speak. With the kind of response I am getting I believe I am encouraged to do more. I believe that my work stands out any time and anywhere and that gives me the encouragement to do more. Have friends calling me to say they have seen my video and commended it as living up to international standards. I think it is among what I will say I have achieved in the past one year. I am not going to leave any stone unturned in the next project.

When you came out you were dubbed the singer with the chameleon voice, will you say that with your experiment on switching voices it appeals to the kind of audience we have in Nigeria?
The only thing I will say is that I have an international tones and I don't have any regrets for that because that gives me an international appeal and I am having international responses and accolades which is good for me now. What I think I will add in my next album for the Nigeria market is to do more Nigerian thing. I want to really move into the club, that's what I really need to do. Most of the songs in my last album were mostly mid tempo songs, more classical and songs that are Retro but right now I want to hit the clubs. It's like taking my company to the stock exchange, so I will say that I want to take my songs to the Nigerian Stock Exchange. I want to move to the floor of the clubs.

Your name Ohun means someone with a golden voice, what convinced you that you have a golden voice?
I will say it is a gift from God and I learnt how to develop the voice through trainings and it has worked for me. The voice came about years back while I did church stuff.

Your songs sound too western so does it mean you grew up listening to foreign songs and this has led you to be singing for that audience thereby ignoring the home base?
I will not say I ignored the home front because the first track you hear in the album is a Yoruba song but what we did was to give it a foreign feel on the Nigerian lyrics.

Was that the kind of songs you wanted to do or did your label have more creative control over the tracks you did?
For me I think it is a combination because I wrote four songs while the company did the other two. Naturally I am an adventurer and I am not afraid to go on adventures. When I met Carl Raccah, I saw an opportunity to go on a trip. So when the production began I allowed him have control because I wanted a producer that can push me towards a particular direction which I didn't mind because I know I could do different type of stuff due to the fact that I am flexible; if I work with another producer tomorrow you will be hearing another Ohun and that is what I am trying to achieve with other producers now. So the producer I had then wanted me to do what I did at the time I did that album and for me I don't have any regrets because it's all about you and what you have to deliver.

I noticed that in your debut album there was no track you did in collaboration with any artiste, are you going to do that in your next album?
Yes I will be doing that but with the right people. I will rather work with my producer. I give the producer the right to choose the artistes that I will work with because they are the people trained to know who can flow with you in the songs you do. I am a singer and when it comes to vocal jobs I know what to do and how to blend the voice to the tune but when it comes to song arrangement, sequencing and all others, it is the job of the producer to fix it right. If the producer says that he wants Ego to come on board then it will be Ego, if on the other hand he wants the song to be a little weird and calls for Weird MC then we will work in that direction. It is the job of the producer to think; he listens, he meditates and come up with something.

It has been mentioned in the grapevine that you are gay, how do you react to the allegation?
That is quite a statement but then I am hot that's why they say I am gay. It is not new to me. You know everybody coming up in the industry that is hot is always rumoured to be gay. It is a regular thing I read on the papers also. For me I will remain me and I am as straight as Jesus Christ.

Are you not disturbed about the development?
It is a regular thing I read every time in Nigerian newspapers. If you are hot and good people must say something.

So who is this lucky girl that happens to have a hot and good guy?
Like I always say, my love life is private and I leave for the public what I want them to know about me. I am a very private person when it comes to romance.

You had a father that was in the military, how was it growing up with a soldier as your father and how did his style of discipline influence the career you have chosen?
Growing up was fantastic and my dad as disciplinarian and military colonel build a foundation for me. The life you desire lies on your hands. Over the years I have grown to become who I am by the grace of God.

What was his reaction when you made it known you want to become an artiste?
Well he is an old man now so to him you have a life ahead of you and if that is what you desire to do then you can go on. When I was young I used to ask him a lot of questions and he called me my young lawyer but he is fine with what I am doing today.

Is music a full time job for you?
Yes because I don't want to confuse my fans. Maybe after my second album, I intend to start a talk show program like Oprah Winfrey does.

What influences your dressing?
It has to do with upbringing; my mum was a power dresser and was always gorgeous. Source: AHAOMA KANU