By OBIDIKE JERRY

KENECHUKWU Okafor aka Kene is a lawyer by profession and musician by passion and though the music disrupts her legal profession, she is holding on, synergizing and getting the best mix of both worlds.

“Being a lawyer has become part of me. The training always comes handy so I intend to combine law and music. The music in me is my passion. They inter­twine. They both express who I am,” Kene revealed in a chat with Entertainer..

Kene hit the music scene in 2010 with One Chance. It was the story of a young girl who fell in love and got her fingers burnt. The music, she says, was well received but her desire to go to law school to complete her legal education made her not to give it the neces­sary push. Now she’s back with a new single, still wait­ing, an afro pop rendition in English and Igbo.

“I took a break in 2012 and 2013 to practice law. I started as a musician in 2005 but I have been off and on in music industry. I really got into it professionally in 2010. Between 2005 and 2010 when I was a student. I just had a flair for it I was combining music and my studies. But in 2010 I released my first single titled One Chance, before I took a break to go to law school. After that I went into practice to garner some requisite experience in the profession,” Kene said.

Excerpts:

You released your first single, One Chance, in 2010. What inspired it?

It is a heartbreak song. It is kind of trying to say I fell in love with the wrong person. As a naïve young girl you just followed him without questioning. It was well received but we didn’t push it for I had to go to law school.. It is just a single, the album is still in the studio.

So what can you say about the music industry in Nigeria?

It is growing fast. If you go back in time you will find that the game has really changed. Now if you get into any club, you hardly hear foreign music but right now, Nigerian music is the sound to beat. The music industry has grown a lot.

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Are you not intimidated by the likes of Tiwa Savage, Yemi Alade and a host of other musicians slug­ging it out in the industry?

No (Laughter). I can’t be intimidated because I have my own name. As many as birds are, you don’t see them colliding with each other in air. Everybody has their space so I intend to keep mine.

The title of your latest single is Still Waiting. Are you talking about waiting for the right guy?

(Laughter) There is already a right guy. The song is trying to say I am waiting. I will be patient till you come to me. I love you. You are my everything and I will wait till you are ready.

What inspires you to play your kind of music?

Everything around me gives me inspiration including the things I see, people I relate with and most impor­tantly, Almighty God.

Growing up, when did the music bug get into you?

My family made jest of me. They told me that when a I was little I was singing out of tune. I was also in the choir and Girls Brigade. We had a band and so I have been singing since when I was a little girl.

How have you been funding your music?

Funding is always a challenge for any new brand. No matter how good a product is, if you don’t have that power to push it out to the public, it is not going to fly. I see myself as an aircraft. Before the plane takes off, it goes slowly. Once it hits the runway it gathers pressure to lift-off. That is the stage I am now. We are now on the runway trying to gather the momentum that power us to break through the law of gravity and be up there.