Nigerian vocalist, Ikuforiji Olaitan Abdulrahman, who is better known as Oxlade, has shared his past experience of spending nights beneath a bridge after leaving home to pursue his music aspirations.
He revealed that due to his father’s disapproval of his choice to pursue a career in music, he took the decision to flee his home. In order to sustain himself, he engaged in various odd jobs and even sold BRT bus tickets. He recounted sleeping at the Ojuelegba barrack bridge on some occasions.
Oxlade openly discussed these challenges during an appearance on the Afrobeats podcast hosted by Adesope Olajide.
He recounted, “Back then, I used to sleep at Ojuelegba barrack bridge sometimes. I did several menial jobs to survive. I was selling BRT tickets.”
The artist also expressed his preference for creating classical music over focusing solely on producing hit songs.
Oxlade stated, “If you don’t take your time to create some songs or create anything, it’s gonna sound rushed. If you rushed in, you rushed out.”
“I am not looking for hits, I am looking for classics. I mean, ‘Away’ is four or three years old, but it’s still banging. ‘Ku Lo Sa’ is a year old, it still bangs. ‘O2’ from nowhere, it just blew up last year. These songs are old, but they still have value right now.”
“I don’t want to mention names but I know of a lot of artists that dropped songs last year that blew up but they are gone now. I’m not trying to impress, I’m trying to leave a long lasting image in your head.” Oxlade emphasized.