THE CATALYST
The Catalyst is a long-form video and audio podcast exploring identity and belonging, culture, belief systems, power, and change in a rapidly transforming world.
Through honest conversations, personal narratives, and cultural analysis, we examine who we are, who we were, and who we are becoming — as Africans at home and in the diaspora.
This is a space for generational dialogue, cultural introspection, and conscious evolution.
Hosted by Ifeanyi Nwanonaku
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Welcome to The Catalyst World.
THE CATALYST
The Evolution Of D–Smart
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What does it take to start over in a new country?
In this episode, we're joined by DSmart to discuss the realities of rebuilding life abroad, from letting go of past achievements and embracing humility to creating new opportunities through networking and resilience.
Whether you're planning to relocate or already living abroad, this conversation offers practical insights on adapting, growing, and succeeding in a new environment.
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His name is Dalentin Smart. AKA D Smart. Welcome to the catalyst.
SPEAKER_00Thank you, my brother.
SPEAKER_02Thank you so much.
SPEAKER_00It's good to be here.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. And now in Canada, right? You're you're doing um a whole lot of stuff. Um not just music, you know, but other creative stuff. You do comedy and you're also venturing into uh movie production. Can you walk us through how it all uh started?
SPEAKER_00Sure. I'll be happy to. So um I moved to Canada in 2023 and um it's been um a very graceful journey. Um graceful because uh all I can say is God's um God has just been the one um calling the shots, directing my path and my movement. Um before I came here, I've always been an artist, uh singer, um, done a couple contents here and there, uh one or two movies and stuff, but um when I got here, um I didn't stop, I just continued in that same night. Um recorded a couple songs, both here and back home. Um, then started doing some music videos. Then I landed um on The Abandons, which is um a Netflix original, which um I happened to play um some of the um I played a role as uh a what is it called again? Uh Emila because it's an ancient movie, right? Uh-huh. And after that, you know, I organized the live concert, which um gathered a couple of people um here in the world.
SPEAKER_02I was I was one of the.
SPEAKER_00Of course, you were what you were in attendance. So after the live concert, um right now I'm working on a short film which um um we'll be shooting sometime in the year. So, like I said, all I can say is just it's a movement that has been powered by grace, nothing obviously, yeah.
SPEAKER_02Um the talent is there, and I can testify to it myself seen it, right? Yeah, but at what point did music become lifestyle to you? At one point did it become uh the main extreme to your creative um ability, yeah.
SPEAKER_00So for me, music has always been um my passion, it has always been uh my calling, I would say, because that's one thing I know I can do for for a lifetime and be happy doing it. Um, because I believe that um a lot of us do certain things as a job. Um, some of us do certain things, you know, to make ends meet, um, different kinds of hustles here and there, right? But there are there's this thing that God has put inside of you as a talent that you do effortlessly. And that's music. That that you do for me is music. For you, it might be something else. For some people is carpentry, for some others is making clothes, for some others is how to dress, you know. Right. For me, it has always been music. Um, and I started at a very young age and started, you know, creating this, you know, creating songs, recording, shooting videos. I've always been in front of people.
SPEAKER_01That's good.
SPEAKER_00I used to tell people that I can sit with just one person and be extremely shy, but I can stand in front of a thousand people and not shy. That's that's that's completely opposite complex, right? Yeah, so it's different. It's different for some people. In front of one person, they are you know 100% bold and they can do everything, talk, but when they stand in front of a crowd, they start sweating that. But for me, it's the other way around. Yeah, so that's how you know that you're actually created for this.
SPEAKER_02That's good. Like, so for someone like me who have uh stage fright, like right now, I have a little bit of nervous nervousness going on because you this is the first big interview that I'm actually having as someone who is starting out, right? So um, do you have any advice to people who who like harvest uh stage uh uh fright? Like what would you what would be um a kind of a a kind of trick to overcome that?
SPEAKER_00Well, honestly, there's no trick. There's no trick. The only thing I I can say is I I tell myself anytime I'm given the mic that there is a reason why I'm the one standing with the mic, and every other person is there listening to me or praising with me or worshiping with me or watching me perform, there's a reason why I'm the one standing on the stage, on the platform. And the only reason is because the only reason is because I have practiced, the only reason is because I have I am prepared. There is something that I've put in time to do that these other people probably have not have not done. So um one thing you can tell yourself whenever you have that stage fry is once you're prepared, once you're good to go, I mean, just do what you what what you practiced, right? And um, some people say, look at their foreheads, don't look at their eyes. I don't believe in all those. I look at their eyes, look at their eyes, yeah, somewhere in between. Look at their for something to focus on us, you know, things like that. I don't know. I look at their eyes. I if you want to be an actor, you have to learn how to look into people's eyes and be able to actually communicate. That's great. That's the way you feed off people's emotions. So, yeah. Um, the only advice I would give to anyone, like if you're frightened, just know that you're prepared for this. You worked for this, yeah. You want this, you deserve this. Yeah, yeah. So just do it.
SPEAKER_02Okay, okay. Let's um let's zoom into music a little bit. I remember that hit song, uh Pekin. You know, it was special. Like myself, I had it on my phone as a ringtone. You know, those days, you for a song to be a ringtone, it means that yeah, it's it's it's it's number one, yeah, exactly. It's the bump, right? So um I a lot of people shared it, right? So it was it was good. Like I saw the creativity behind it, I saw the message behind it as well, right? But you know, when you hear someone who is so talented like that, you would like to hear more from them, right? But with that song, after that moment, it seems like you've you you vanished, you disappeared from you know uh from from everybody from the public side, right? So what was that? Was that were you taking a break or was just life happening or something else?
SPEAKER_00Well, there's a story um behind Peking. So, first of all, when I worked on Pekin, I wasn't an artist, I wasn't like a performing artist at that point. So I started my music. Um, one of the people here in this room knows how I really started, Oscar. He was there from the very beginning when I started learning how to play the drums with a boy called Acho back in Buttacot City. We used to just play drums, and that was all we we knew. We we wanted to play in in front of the church, that was our goal. Eventually, I grew into becoming a music director, a choir leader, and all that. Long story short, I I bought some small, small computer studio equipment. Oscar was the first artist that recorded in my studio. Uh oh, okay. Because he was my friend. Interestingly. Uh um a a couple uh so at the point where Peking was released, I wasn't thinking about performing as an artist. I just wanted to create uh uh I just I was just creating random things. I was experimenting with sound, with songs, so I wasn't really prepared, I wasn't ready for showbiz, I wasn't ready for fame, I wasn't ready for things like that. So I just created that sound, and a DJ came to my studio and said, Hey, I love this thing you were playing with the baby voice because I was just doing everything. Yeah, and it was like, what is this? Give it, just give it to me. Let me play it on radio. Yeah, wow, just like that. Just like that. So he took it and you, you know, DJ, cool, he's dead now. You know, it's he went to the uh to Ray Power, where he was his radio station, and started playing it. And people were calling and requesting for the song. Wow, and you know, before I knew it, I didn't have a car then. So I entered the bus, I was sitting at the back of the bus, somebody's phone rings, and I hear, Mommy, I need to drink. And I was like, What's going on here? The guy picked up the call and talked and talked and talked. And when he was done, I said, Sorry, where did you get that song? He said, My brother, the song is the song that is raining now. I went to Gary's in, they put it in my phone, and blah blah blah. I said, I'm the one that sang that song. So come on, get that friend, yeah. The song what are you? He didn't believe me when I told him I was one, I'm the one that sang that. He said, No, don't don't don't say that, you know. And before I knew it, the song went viral. The song went viral. So my point is, I wasn't ready for performing, uh like to be an artist, to be, I just wanted to produce songs, make money, and all that, you know. So by the time I was ready to kind of you know start getting into showbiz, another narrative is I've always been a church boy, and Pekin is somewhat a gospel song, but a lot of people don't even know. They thought it was a secular music, so they were inviting me to secular places to come perform. And because I'm a choir boy, there are just a lot of things I couldn't do. Yeah, you know, so the expectations were so high. People wanted me to come perform in clubs, people wanted me to come and do certain things I couldn't do. So, um, long story short, it's not like I eloped or left the face of the earth, it's just that I didn't do a follow-up for Peking because that was not like where I was headed. I was still recording gospel songs, but they were not going as viral as Peking went. At some point, I even went secular and started singing secular music, but by that time, there wasn't anything there for me. You know, I've always been a church boy, God has always wanted me to be uh a gospel singer, so that's great.
SPEAKER_02And one thing that is unique to your music is that like you mentioned it was not meant to be a circular song, but a lot of people see it as um a secular song, right? So is it one thing that makes your music unique is that both sides can relate, like you have something that you know stays in the balance. Yeah, you know. If if you're into circular, you can you can enjoy it, right? If you're into um if you're into gospel, you know, you can also enjoy all in that same song. I've seen a lot of other stuff that you that other songs that you did that are like that, right? Yeah, okay. So now you are in Canada.
SPEAKER_00What changed? Um, well, all I would say that has changed so far is my location. Because I am the same person, same message, same attitude, same push. You know, um, a lot of people are saying, hey, how come you're just like less than two years or three years? Or I'm not even up to I don't know. I'm up to three years now, like two years plus. Two years plus. Yeah. Um, and you have already shot two music videos, you've done a live concert, you're doing a short film, you've been on Netflix movies, like three Netflix movies, um, like two or three other um Canadian original movies like Billy the Kid, um, what's it called? Wow. Um yeah, I've been on Billy the Kid, I've been on Heartland um season 18. I've been on uh yeah, a couple of movies, right? And how, how, just in less than three days. That's great. I'm like, hey, it's it's just that grace that God has given to you that you kind of stand out wherever you go and you you're fearless. You just keep doing what you know how to do best.
SPEAKER_02I mean, I mean, what's what you are doing, you know, like you made it sound like it's uh it's not it's not easy, you know. You know, I mean a lot of people like some of what have been here way longer, right? You know, uh we are not I I know that there are people here that didn't know that that is actually a part for them in the movie industry, yeah. So, but someone just came from Nigeria within a few years is already everywhere, is is doing music video, doing concert, and so that's great. So, what did you have to unlearn to survive here? Because if you come from Nigeria to this place, the culture is definitely different, right? So what was how did you what did you have to navigate to survive to get into these positions and this um project that you you just described?
SPEAKER_00One thing I can say for sure is um it's it's networking, um and being able to take out every every um well, I I don't want to use the word pride, but I want to say um don't think you know it all, right? Ask questions, um, be open to to connect and to network with people. Um for me, it's I will still I'll still channel it to grace. It's just grace. It's not because I know anything special, it's just because it's also because I I know what I'm looking for, right? I know what I'm looking for, I know that I want to I want to grow. I know I want to be um an entertainment hub, right? I know that's my goal. An entertainment hub is not just music, but movies, but content, but everything that has to do with showbiz and entertainment. I want to be able to be that person who will be able to, you know, carry that that embodiment. So um when I got here, one of the things I did for sure was to connect with like minds, right? And to forget the fact that I was whatsoever in Nigeria and I started from the grassroots, I started from the bottom. A lot of people when they come here, they want to say, Oh, I'm a celebrity back home, and this I don't introduce no, I don't introduce myself like that. People on their own find out, yeah, and they come, bro. How come you have XYZ amount of followers? There has to be something about you, yeah. Like um, it's just me. I'm like, no, no, no, no, no. I someone told me that you are a big deal in Nigeria. I'm like, well, maybe. Yeah, yeah. So I don't go about telling people, hey, I'm a big celebrity, back home, I am this. No, no, no. I start from the bottom.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, it's good to be humble.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I start from the bottom. I I play the menial roles. I whatever you give me to do, I do it. Because once you get your foot on the door, once you get your foot on the door, it's it's opportunity that meets preparation. That's what brings about success, right? When you are when you are prepared, you meet with good opportunity, then you become successful. The two of them match together. But if you're not prepared and the opportunity is put in front of you, you blow it.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, that's the same thing I I try to like explain to my um younger ones back home, right? Opportunity might come, like, but when it does come, are you ready to grab it? Right, so that's a different thing.
SPEAKER_00Okay, so um, was there a moment when you question your move to this place? Of course, of course, of course, as a matter of fact, every moment I've been questioning my move to this place, yeah. To to some people, they're like, hey, you're doing so well, blah blah blah, you're oh god, you're you're there, and all I'm I'm I'm in my head, I feel like, hey, are you sure this was the right move to make? You know, because to me, yes, I was doing a lot better than I am doing right now back home. So, why did I come here to start afresh? Why did I come here to start um the entire thing again, like building all over again? So, there are a lot of times I've had to question this move if it's the best, but when I think about it again and again, I have always believed it's the best move that I made. Because at this time, what am I doing? I am in a in a global stage, competing globally. I am not a local champion anymore, so it's no longer about Africa, it's about me now, an African, in a global space, telling the African story. That's great. Do you understand? So if I'm creating movies, I'm creating movies that that is telling the African story, I'm creating movies that is going to be um creating opportunities for my African people and building capacity so that I can go back home and become the light, right? Uh-huh. So when I look back and I see the journey and I see all I left to come here and start afresh, that is what I keep telling myself that is worthwhile. That is the reason why I feel this move was the best move that I ever made.
SPEAKER_02Okay, that's great. So, how would you describe the Nigerian music space that you came from compared to what is obtainable here?
SPEAKER_00Honestly, Nigeria music space is very, very big. Um, right here, um I would say the music here, I mean, there are big artists, of course, doing really good, I mean, secularly in gospel as well. Um, but when you talk about mainstream artists in Nigeria that are doing like major things all over the world, um it's uncomparable. It's uncomparable. Um, so to the top at the top of my head, I actually feel like Nigerian artists are more like doing a lot more global things right now. Afro bits, um, you know, even the gospel guys, like they are all over the world. Yeah, all over the world doing big, big things. However, um right here, um, there are still people doing good, still people doing great. But the because of the disconnect from the type of music that is being celebrated here, it takes a longer time for you as an African to come and you know, bring your kind of music and have a major breakthrough. And for you to have a breakthrough here, you don't breakthrough is not when you're invited to a lot of African. For me, like it's not just about singing in African churches, going to one redeem or performing in African gatherings. I mean, if that's my goal, that then I've already made it. Yeah, but for me, it's about creating music that can transcend both the African culture and the Western culture, right? Yeah, and for you to be able to get into that space, it takes a longer time. It takes, yeah, it takes time. Yeah, it's a different, there's a difference between somebody that wakes up in the morning and is going to from Pota Court ABBA, and somebody that wakes up in the morning and is going from Pota Court to the US. Okay, okay. Both of them will start at the same time. The guy going to ABBA, we get there and say, Oh, I've arrived, I've made it. Everything is fine. The guy going to the US is still on his way.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, he's not.
SPEAKER_00He has not even he has not even left the airport, you know, he's still packing his bag, he's still so there's a process when you're targeting a bigger audience, you have to dig deeper.
SPEAKER_02Okay, yeah. That's good. Um, do you think that location still determines success?
SPEAKER_00No. You can be anywhere anywhere, anywhere the world is a global village right now, especially. So if you stayed in your in your village, you can make it. There are people who are who are in in the back of Nigeria that are creating content with their phones and all over the world they're making it, yeah. Okay.
SPEAKER_02So why Kagre? Why did you choose Car Grey and not bigger cities like Toronto, Vancouver? Because for with your experience and with what you've built in Nigeria, right? Um, I would think that someone in your um someone in your someone in your mode, right? Consider where you are now, at the level where you are now, I will feel that someone in your mode who is making that move from Nigeria would rather go to places where there is you know um bigger stage, right? Like Toronto or Vancouver. So why Cagri?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, honestly, um first of all, when I wanted to leave um Nigeria, my um visas, work permit, everything was actually to Manitoba. We were supposed to land in Manitoba, but that's even lower than Calgary. Now, when you're in Nigeria, you want to you just want to get out. Yeah, exactly. You know, so wherever you get, you know, your move to you you so we got Manitoba, right? But while I was preparing to hey, I want to come to Canada. Oscar again, my friend, he's in Calgary. That makes sense. Oscar has been a support system for us. So he said, Hey, if you guys come here, he said it's a lot better than that, Manitoba. You want to go, bro? You you actually freeze to death there. I was like, okay, Calgary, it is so soft landing. He helped us settle and everything. No disrespect to Manitoba. No disrespect to Manitoba. Um I love Manitoba. In fact, I I have a lot of family and friends there. So we moved we moved to Calgary, um, and we kind of settled here. And like I said, for me, um, I'm in Canada, that's all that matters, right? Um, Calgary has even been a more blessing to me. I I don't know what would have happened if I went to Manitoba or went to Vancouver or Toronto. But one thing for sure is no matter where you are, like I said before, no matter where you are, you can still do good. If you create your own opportunities, you can you can go and you can be global. Yeah, there are people that are that were born in Calgary, that started in Calgary, that are all over the place in Los Angeles now doing movies. They are all over the place performing. So for me, it doesn't matter where I start. It's more about you know where I'm comfortable, you know, staying. That's it. So if if I I can have an agent in Vancouver, I can have an agent in Toronto, and I I would still do big things. I can still go to Toronto, perform and come back. Yeah, I can still go to the new to New York, like you can be anywhere, bro.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah. Okay, so my next question is you have the talent, you know, to you know to do mainstream, right? But you chose gospel. Why was it um was it um was it strategic decision or a calling? Calling.
SPEAKER_00Calling. It has always been calling for me. It's it's not any if there's no strategic thing about doing gospel. Um for me, gospel is not the music, gospel music is not about business. If I wanted to do music business, I mean I have done music business, I've been to face Edibia's head of production. I've worked with him for about I worked with him for about three years, and I know what uh the kind of money, I know the kind of structures and everything that that is there in the secular world when it comes to music, right? And if it was all about business for me, music business, I wouldn't be doing gospel music. So gospel music for me is about calling, it's about purpose. That's it. Did you ever feel that you have to dilute your message to make it? No, um, I don't ever feel like I need to dilute my message to make it. Um, like you rightly said at the beginning of this interview, you said there's a way I create my music that is it is actually appealing to both the secular and the gospel guys. That has always been me. Um, I believe that the gospel is not it's not just about Jesus came, died for you, and all that and all that. There's a lot more about the the message, the gospel, right? Christ came all the way from heaven because he loved humanity and he gave his life for us. That is the gospel. So we can create music that has the Christian community dancing, we can create music that talks about love, we can create music that talks about anything, it just depends on where we're coming from. So for me, it's beyond um trying to please any sector. Say, oh, I want to create a music that is for the secular world, I want to create a music for the gospel. God gives inspiration, and whenever He inspires you, you create that music the way He inspires you to create it and leave the rest. For me, I don't expect anything. I'm not waiting for my music to become if he goes and becomes a global hit, thank God. But hey, is this what God called me to do? Yes, then I'm gonna do it. Okay, so it's not about who and I'm I'm not creating music for the people that will just enjoy the music. I'm creating music that will stay the test of time so that even after I'm gone, people can still play the music and can still be blessed playing it.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, so you are not just uh releasing music, right? You are uh building something. So, what does ownership mean to you? Brand and ownership mean to you? Is it very important or everything?
SPEAKER_00Brand and ownership is everything, you know, it's it's it's still about legacy, right? So are you creating music that people are just gonna sing after one one one year at most and they forget it? No, you know, you're creating music that can last the test of time. So ownership is everything.
SPEAKER_02It's very important. So do you think that African creatives abroad undersell themselves?
SPEAKER_00That's a deep one. Honestly, I wouldn't say we undersell ourselves, I I would only say we don't know how much value. Some of some of us don't know how much value we carry, right? Some of us don't know that our authenticity, our originality is what makes us special. Some of us try to sound Western, some of us try to do it in a certain way because oh, this is how it's trending here to be accepted, to be accepted, but no, to be cool, but for you to be original, you have to do you, yeah. That's the way it works. You know, you have to do you. If you don't do you, you will be a second class every day.
SPEAKER_02That's right, I agree. Yeah, I agree. So there is this conversation about Africans not helping each other abroad. Did you have that kind of experience or no?
SPEAKER_00Well, honestly, one thing I can say for sure is I've seen a lot of Africans help Africans. As a matter of fact, the first week I landed here, I I think the first day, we were still in the Airbnb when I went to Shoppers Drug Maths. I met an African woman there who used all her PC points to pay for the things I bought. She didn't even know me from anywhere, right? There are a lot of help I've got to enjoy. I've seen people sharing hey, go to social store, you will see um pepper for $10. Yeah, you know, the pepper carton of pepper we buy for maybe $30. Oh, it's now $10. Go to social store, you will see it there, and things like that. One thing I would say is most of us Africans we have this entitlement mentality that hey, it's it's my right, somebody's supposed to do this for me. When you have an entitlement mentality, that's when you feel like nobody's helping, nobody's coming through for me. No, you don't have to be entitled. Yeah, exactly. If anybody wants to help you, it's it's their choice, too, right? Yeah, yeah. You you don't have to if they do good, if they don't, good and fine. You know, here everyone is busy, everyone is working, everyone is earning a dollar, everyone is pretty much layered out on the same frequency because at most somebody is earning $30, the other person is earning 21 or 25, but everybody is earning something, everybody's working, everybody's busy, everybody's tired.
SPEAKER_02That's right, because the thing is, I mean, some people will feel that oh, um, in Africa, back home in Africa, um, you know, we help each other, right? But once we come here, we want to we want to live like like the Westerners, right? Whereby um everybody's so individualistic, right? And the but what what you describe is that, and which is what I believe as well, right? The culture is different, right? Absolutely. Um, people have responsibilities. Oh, like if they don't, the kind of responsibilities that I mean, I'm not saying that we cannot help each other, though. Like, I am I am uh actually a proponent of um community, right? Community support, collaboration, helping each other and stuff like that, right? But you know, I understand that some people, you know, like take it too far, right? Um it depends, right? Like help, help can come in different forms, right? When somebody says, okay, um, can you help me? I'm moving, you know, today, uh, can you please give me a hand? You know, stuff like that is something maybe he could have, he could have some of them, some people can afford it to just hire movers, right? But because they feel like they have the you know, they're entitled to to you as their friend, right? They feel like they're going to inconvenience you in order to make that move happen, right? Again, it is it's all about understanding the balance, right? And the not having that too much expectation and not and also respecting the other.
SPEAKER_00For me, if if if you're moving, if I today, you're moving to a new home and you say, Hey, bro, I'm moving on Tuesday, and honestly, if I'm not working on Tuesday and I'm free, it's not an inconvenience to me. It's not. I mean, when I was moving, Oscar came, helped, move, lifted things for me. Right? I didn't feel a certain way to call him or call on him to help, right? If he needs help in any way, hey, I'm I'm going, I'm doing social thing, I'm having a shoot or something. Can you show up? Bro, yeah, that's that's community that's good. That's help. But my point is there are people who feel like it is their right. Yeah, exactly. Like you must do it. If you don't do it, then they feel like you, you are, you are not, you're not helping, you're not, you know, you're not, you're not a team player, you're not, you know, no. People are hustling, people are working, people are trying to make ends meet. Sometimes the time is not right. It's not right. Yeah, you know, if it's right and they don't they decide not to do it, well, it's up to them, you know. And the other thing I want to say is things are different here from how it is back home. Yeah, bro, I can I can decide back home to play around because I got the time and joke and do whatever and take certain risks that I will not take here. Because here, every month I have to pay a lot of bills, and if I don't meet up with those bills every month, myself, my family, everybody were gonna sleep on the street. Do you get that? Yeah, but back home, I can do I pay yearly, right? My home is yearly, uh, everything is fine, so you can pretty much take certain risk for two months, three months, five months, six months, you can expect something to materialize, and they will actually materialize, then you can pay ahead for another one year and still chill. But here it's not like that. So everybody is on a clock. So if anybody gives you their time, anybody gives you their whatever value it.
SPEAKER_02It means time is money. Value when they say time is money, money, right? Yeah, like it has more meaning to me here than in Nigeria because in Nigeria we don't we don't value time that much, right? And when people give you their time, you you don't have that, you don't see it as valuable as it's as valuable as it just see it as somebody's supposed to give you a help that they are supposed to give you, right? Yeah, okay. So do you feel more Nigerian here than when you are back home in Nigeria?
SPEAKER_00Oh yeah, you feel more Nigerian. Oh brotherly, I feel I feel Nigerian everywhere. Like yeah, the the way I feel Nigerian here is I I keep my my original self. I don't try to pretend, I don't try to turn into what I'm not.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, you're screwed.
SPEAKER_00I keep my original self. I try as much as possible. Anytime I can wear my native to wear, it's just that the weather will not allow me to wear my, you know. Oh my god. You know, so yeah, you are Nigerian, the Nigerian blood is there. You can't imagine you can't take it out of me.
SPEAKER_02Some people try though.
SPEAKER_01Some people as well.
SPEAKER_02Okay, you know, some people try to do that, some will try to, you know, like, oh, okay, now I'm in I'm now in this new environment, new culture. To actually fit in, I have to I have to change my accent, I have to change a whole lot of stuff. I have to like do I have to go outside aside of my identity to be accepted.
SPEAKER_00I see I see it both ways. I see it both ways. I think it's we can we can't we have to weigh it honestly. Um for instance, um I talked about a short film I'm doing. I said I'm starting the short film in Nigeria, so it's scene happening in Nigeria before it moves here. That scene happening in Nigeria, we're actually going to be speaking in Nigerian language, Igbo. Oh, we're we're not speaking English in Nigeria. This is the paranoia abandoned, yeah. The same paranoia movie, you know. We might be changing the title, by the way. So that movie, we're starting Nigeria and they are speaking Igbo there. Now, but when we come here, we start speaking English, right? Now, the thing is, English is the white man's language, as we call it, but it is the common language that everyone uses to communicate, even back home. Yeah, right? And there is nothing wrong with you being able to speak sound English. But where I have a problem with it is when people are trying so hard to form what they are not. Yeah, look, you don't have to sound a certain way for you to communicate your English. You can say your English the way you say it, and they will understand. Yeah, just you don't have to pronounce words properly, you don't have to change it and some stuff, you know, and there are people who who who do who you know that if you don't sound like that, they will not understand you. So it's more for me, I work with a lot of white people, and when I talk with them, they understand you, they understand. Some of them don't get it when I speak like this. So I actually have to go bring myself to their level and say, Hey, how are you doing? And they go, I'm good, okay. So, what what exactly do you want me to do today? And you talk yeah, that's the way to go, man. Like communicate with them on their frequency as long as you are able to do it. If you're not able to do it, don't kill yourself.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I feel like what's important is to pronounce words clearly, you know, so that people can understand you, right? Yeah, every other thing is secondary, right? You know, if if you use your even they have themselves have accents, exactly.
SPEAKER_00That's an accent, yeah. Even they themselves have accents. There are some of them who cannot speak English. Yeah, yeah, yeah. There are lots of them, North Americans, who cannot speak English. So English, even it's not their language, they are learning English too.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, so that makes sense. What did Nigeria give you that Canada can never give you?
SPEAKER_00Oh man. That's a trick, you are there. Oh my god. Obama soup.
SPEAKER_02Oh, you can you can buy that in African stores. There are African stores everywhere now. You can buy that from African stuff.
SPEAKER_00Honestly, um, there is something I I feel like is missing here, and that's um the ability to actually um be yourself a hundred percent. Like there is a culture here, there's a way people behave here that you have to kind of you know learn.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, so you're always adjusting.
SPEAKER_00You know, you have to adjust. Like back home, you can meet a random person and start a conversation, yeah, and everything is fine. You can see somebody on the street and just say, Hey, how are you? Good afternoon, and everybody like afternoon, how you there now? Yeah, you don't know yourselves anywhere, but you try it here, they look at you like, What is wrong with this guy?
SPEAKER_01This guy okay.
SPEAKER_00That's a weirdo. That's a weirdo, yeah. You know, they just you know that it's just a cultural shock for some of us, and that's why a lot of African men come here and get into a lot of trouble. Yeah, a lot of African people come here, not just men, people come here and get into a lot of trouble. You know, they just come with that Nigerian energy, that that you know, ginger, initially honestly, when I came here, uh Oscar will call his name again, saved me from a lot of trouble. Yeah, so bro, we don't bro bro, we don't talk like that. You don't talk like that. Yeah, I'm like, okay, we miss it up, yeah. You know, so um most of those things are things I know I definitely miss that back home because back home you can 100% be yourself, you can you can flex, you can do certain kinds of things, you can go out and buy pure water on the street, buy gala, uh, you know, you can stand on the road and chew your gala, nobody will judge you. Yeah, you can depressed and you stand somewhere, bring out your something, and you know, shh, yeah.
SPEAKER_02You know, you know, that's another part, right? There's other parts about Nigeria that you personally admiss, right? For example, you just come back from work in the evening, you can um 6, 7 p.m. You took you out the shower. You can come out on the street and hang out with the boys. Oh, yeah. Like you don't need to go to downtown, you don't need to drive anywhere.
SPEAKER_00You know, there's fun everywhere, every every skill. It's just yeah, just you know, we we used to go and eat fish, you know, just chill out some night.
SPEAKER_02You know, I think that's one thing I personally miss, right?
SPEAKER_00That that evening groups are that community, that community culture is not so much here. It's not it's it's not like it's better now, it's not like it's not here, it's here, but it's it's not accessible as much as another thing is fun is almost free back home.
SPEAKER_01Like yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00A lot of things you can do for free. Here you have to pay, yeah, you have to take a trip. There's just so much, you know. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's what I said.
SPEAKER_02Um, so how does how does your culture show up in your music?
SPEAKER_01Hmm.
SPEAKER_00Culture show up in my music. Well, my culture is I actually think my I'm a product of my culture. Like culture is not something you can separate from me, right? My culture is me. So my culture is my music. I create music that is not just um in my language, my culture shows, in the way I write my song, my culture shows, in the beats that I use for my song, my culture should my soul. It's it's pretty much everywhere. Pretty much everywhere.
SPEAKER_02I know that when people look at you, they will they will see progress, they will see success. But to you, what does uh progress look like to you? Would you say that over these past three years now in Canada? Would you say that it's a progress for you?
SPEAKER_00Absolutely. Um for me, success is you know getting to your God given goal, you know, that um thing that God has created you for. Are you are you a step closer to it? If if you're not a step closer to the destination that God has, you know, made you for, then you are walking in the wrong direction. You're not making any progress. For me, I know what God has called me for, I know what I am created to do. A lot of people are still trying to find their path in life. For me, I think I've found my path, I know what I'm headed for, and as long as I take a step towards that path, I always know that I'm making progress. Sometimes, you know, of course, I'm human. Sometimes I feel like the weight of the world is on me. Like there's just so much that I am yet to achieve, you know. But one thing that I always remember is that just take a step towards the right direction every day, and one day you'll get to your destination.
SPEAKER_02Let me ask you this question Do you feel that you could have been more successful than you are? What do you mean?
SPEAKER_00Like music-wise, um well, honestly, there is always a bigger side to every story, right? There's always a bigger side. I mean, I can definitely be more successful than I am. There's a lot more to cover. There is a lot more to cover. I haven't gotten to my destination yet. So the day I say I don't feel like I can be more successful is the day I stopped growing. Yeah, I definitely, in fact, I have not started yet.
SPEAKER_02This they also say that there's always room for improvement.
SPEAKER_00I haven't even started yet. Like, I haven't got into I've not done 20% of what I'm called here to do. So I know that there is a lot more room for me to improve. There's a lot more that I need to do.
SPEAKER_02That's good.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_02So what do you think people are getting wrong about your journey? What are people getting wrong?
SPEAKER_00Well, honestly, I don't care. Honestly, I don't care what people get wrong about my journey because my journey is my journey, and everyone should pretty much mind their journey. Because, like I said, if I'm going to ABA, I would have gotten to my destination. But because I'm going to a further journey, um, all I have to do is just focus and keep going. People can pretty much think whatever they want to think and judge as much as they want. The only scale that matters to me in my life is the scale that God uses has used to, you know, aha. God's scale for me might be that He wants me to create music that will affect a certain kind of people or create, do something that will be a blessing to just maybe one person in the entire world. God might create you to change the life of one person. And once you do that, you have lived. God, you have lived God's purpose for your life. So what any man is thinking does not count. The men's judgment, men's scale does not count. It does not count. What counts for me is the scale that God has used to measure my my journey. So if I get to my destination according to God's plan, I have made it in life.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, because I know that you know some people will wonder, oh, this guy at some point was doing uh secular music and then he switched to uh gospel, right? Because from what my own personal observations, I um I usually see the opposite direction, like I see the movements opposite direction, right? You see people who they started from the church, gospel music, and the suddenly they they they switch to secular stuff because they think that that's where yeah the money is uh the money is, but I think like you you have answered the question somehow because you said you it was more of a calling to you, right? Just following your dreams.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, so I did secular music for a while and I saw that I wasn't getting fulfilled there. Yeah, that's not what I'm called to do. I create, in fact, I created a lot of secular songs I never released. I shot a secular video in Port Hakort. I spent a lot of money that I didn't have. What does that video look like? Abobi. Abobi. The song was big, but I shot the video and I couldn't drop it. I couldn't release the video. Wow, because I knew this was not my identity, this was not me. I kept the video and I recorded a lot of secular songs too. I couldn't drop them, I couldn't release them. So why do I keep wasting my time and doing what I'm not called to do? Just focus on what I'm called to do and just go for it, right? So, yeah.
SPEAKER_02So the the question, the next question I have for you now is if everything you are doing works, what um impact do you want them to have? You know, what is the legacy and the impact that you want your work, like the totality of your work? You know, what kind of impact do you want them to have on people?
SPEAKER_00So I've I have this vision, it has always been clear in my head to bring about change to humanity, to bring about a certain kind of change to humanity. So um, my music um is to instill change.
SPEAKER_02The movies what does change look like?
SPEAKER_00What change looks like is transferring from one kingdom to another. A lot of people do not know Christ, a lot of people do not know Jesus. Okay, they are they are wallowing in sin. I I can preach here if you want me to. Go ahead, yeah. And spill it. I want to I want to be able to create music that will be able to play in the secular world, and when people are actually dancing to this music and singing it, they are able to actually say, Oh, if this is not church, or more church, sweet though. Yeah, yeah, that's good. I want to create songs that secular people can dance to, yeah, but it can actually lead them into church, like bring them into so that's why I create music that sounds secular, but they are not. It's intentional, it's it's the it's it's a it's a system that God kind of puts inside of me. I have never tempt God, bros, you better change. I was talking about a couple of things that happened, and the secular people loved the song even more than the Christian. Pekin, I want to drink the secular people loved. Not just that one, you know, a lot of songs that I have done that talks about that that that kind of corrects um the ills in the society. Societal ills, you know, or gar um where the walk. There are a lot of songs like that. Even the movies I'm creating now are movies that are still correcting the ills in the society.
SPEAKER_02That's great.
SPEAKER_00So it's about making a change. For me, um music, movies, show business is not just about exciting people and making them happy, but it's about creating a change. So if I create a movie and the movie has no message, I have failed. If I make a song and the song has no message, I see that. I believe you failed.
SPEAKER_02Because I see that you are trying to everything that you do, everything that you put out there, yeah, seems to be passing a message, right? You did I I watched one about what is going on in Nigeria, the the um terrorism going on in Nigeria, right? And you also made one one inspirational um song, you know. I think it was after COVID or during COVID that talked about how the churches are empty, nothing really matters anymore. Because, you know, those are the kind of stuff that that actually inspire people, yeah, you know, and help them to turn around from you, you know, um the wrong part, right? So that's that's very, very good. Um now I'm going to throw a few questions at you. Um Canada or Nigeria. Where did you find yourself? Nigeria. Okay, faith or fame, faith, talent or discipline? Discipline, community or independence, community. What's your morning routine? What's the first thing you do when you wake up in the morning? I'm gonna lie, I pray. Oh, wait a lie. Okay, the next one says, um, oh, one truth Africans in the diaspora don't like to admit that we are the minorities. Okay, I think everybody should know that the statistics are there, yeah.
SPEAKER_00But they always think that we're we're here to be like we're too much, we're taking over.
SPEAKER_02We're the minority. So, what advice would you give to young and upcoming artists in Nigeria?
SPEAKER_00In Nigeria, just keep grinding, and about and here as well, yeah. Keep grinding, keep doing it, keep showing up, don't stop, wake up, show up, and don't stop.
SPEAKER_02You make it sound easy though, but you know, like what if some someone drops a song and nothing happens?
SPEAKER_00Don't stop. If it the only time you fail is when you give up, and that is the truth. Because you never can tell the particular push that is going to change your life, change your career. I can tell you from experience, there is no day you create a song that you know that this is the hit song. Every song you create, before you put it out, you are excited, you know that you love the song, but you just push it, put it in the front of people, and hope for the best. You understand? So, the day you stop pushing, the day you stop trying, that is the day you fail.
SPEAKER_02That's great. Okay, um, that's the last question I have, but yeah, finally we made it. But before I let you go though, yeah, I want you to tell you know our community here and our community back home in Nigeria, like you know, Nigerians what you are doing, you know, what they should be looking out for from you. What's what's the next big thing, basically?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, sure. Um, so I'm working on a short film. Um, I'm not gonna tell you the story of the short film, but it's a black man's story, is a black man's nightmare. Yeah, it's a black man's nightmare, and um we're telling the story from our perspective and trying to create narratives so that um people all over the world will actually know that there is a lot of evil going on, things happening that people are not aware of, people are oblivious to. So that is one thing I'm working on. The other thing I'm working on is to also um create like um a platform here in Calgary where people can actually come, you know, do contents and all that. I want to call it like house of contents or whatever, but I want I just want to create a place where people can come do contents, but it's still like what kind of content, yeah, bro. Contents like anything is yeah, um green screen, studio, um, just a content house. You can come there, yeah, shoot a movie, whatever. Like we want to put together like gears and all that. It's in the is in the works. Um, there's just a lot a lot of things I want to do, but hey, the the the pressing one right now is the short film that I'm working on, and of course I'll keep releasing music on stop. Great, yeah.
SPEAKER_02We'll be looking forward to it, and uh that's the end of our interview today. Thank you very much. Yeah.