Why I disappeared from the music scene after Olomi –Tosin Martins

Inspirational singer, Tosin Martins, shot into the limelight with his 2006 hit song, ‘Olomi.’ The song was so famous that there was hardly any wedding that did not play the song. Surprisingly, while the ovation was still at its peak for the singer, he disappeared. In a chat with Saturday Beats, the singer revealed why it seemed as if he went AWOL shortly after his hit song became a national anthem.

“I went quiet after releasing ‘Olomi’ because other music evolved and it just stopped being about that kind of sound. There is a Naija pop sound that is dominant and radio gives them a priority. I am not that kind of artiste. I can collaborate with them and bring that kind of sound into my genre but the reality is that it is not my kind of sound. You have to be true to yourself. It is that whole process of being true to yourself and remaining relevant that caused my silence in the industry,” he said.

The singer who is seen as a gospel artiste was quick to state that he was not happy about the stereotype because he is more of an inspirational singer. Although he sings mostly gospel song, the singer is one of the few singers of that genre to feature secular artistes and he gave Saturday Beats his reasons. He said, “What I appreciate from secular artistes is friendship and relationship and not what they stand for. There are some subjects that are bigger than a particular faith. Love impacts everyone irrespective of their faith. You cannot say that Tiwa Savage is not capable of love, so I would feature her because she loves; she has had her own travails and challenges. It is the same thing with M.I and anyone else as far as I know that we click on the subject. If we have to sing for a cause like HIV/AIDS, for instance, I would definitely collaborate with the secular artistes. For instance, we just did a song for the awareness of drug abuse and I collaborated with secular artistes.”

Probably staging a comeback, the singer held a concert during Valentine’s Day and he shared a stage with his mother’s favourite singer, Ebenezer Obey. He said that his mother was elated to see her favourite singer perform right in front of her. “I staged the concert because I had not done one in about five years and concerts are part of what makes us artistes. After recording songs and making albums, artistes need concerts to enable the people to truly feel the vibe. Honestly, I cannot tell you why I have not staged a concert in five years but I have been quite busy with travelling and touring. It is also quite expensive to put concerts together. I could have done something bigger looking at my level but I put this together and made it quite small because I had not staged a concert in a long time.

“It was a special moment for me because Ebenezer Obey is my mother’s favourite artiste. She has been following him for years and I have always looked forward to this opportunity. He featured on a song in my album, so I had to invite him to perform today. My mother watched his performance and she felt elated that I was able to bring her favourite artiste on stage right in front of her. When I told her that he was coming, she could not believe it and it happened,” Martins said.

source: Punch