By Agatha Emeadi

Aibuedefe Osawese Ebenezer, who is popularly known as Eben keys, is a multi-talented artiste, an award-winning spoken word poet, musician, music-producer, song writer and actor from Edo State.   

With a passion for unlocking mental and psychological doors for self fulfillment with the use of all his multiple talents, Aibuedefe has creatively made use of spoken word poetry to work with brands and organizations like the Edo State Government, Betsy Obaseki Women Football Tournament, Lacasera Nigeria, Kada plaza, Kada cinemas and entertainment. Others include Rejuvenate media, Edo Jobs, Benin Film Academy, Benson Idahosa University amongst others. 

He emerged the winner of the Lyritrix Poetry competition (2016) which kicked off his poetry career, and was the first runner up at the CGMI got it talent competition (2018).

Over the years, he has grown to be a major force in the field of spoken word poetry, and has performed at various notable stages and platforms around the country. 

He is the convener of The Keys Concert  (a spoken word poetry and music concert) which has had two successful editions and has featured in Nollywood somer Nollywood movies.

 How did you rise to stardom?

 I started as a rapper and have a couple of basic rap songs and verses, but I wasn’t really aware of what spoken word poetry was until I attended an event and saw the Spoken Word Poetry veteran, Alex Osagie and Wuese-Ter Irene Dekera, doing a double performance at an open mic event in Benin City. I was captivated by what I saw even as I had an instant crush on the young lady. I summoned the courage and approached Mr Alex at the close of the event, and surprisingly, he was really nice to me and we exchanged contacts. He added me to his group of spoken word poets (663 academy), and sent me details about a forthcoming poetry slam competition (Lyritrix by Nimabox). I wrote my first set of spoken word pieces, went for this competition through the various stages and emerged the winner, which gave me a pointer that I was effortlessly good at this. Alex was proud of me, and mentored me the more. He began to take me along to different platforms where he belonged and started giving me the opportunity to speak, he was God-sent.The passion continuously built up as I embarked on this journey with him and gradually became a brand on my own.

 

Looking back, would you say the journey has been rewarding as a multi-talented artiste? 

 The journey has definitely been rewarding as a multi-talented artiste. Honestly, I can tell that I am jack of all trades and master of all. As I went on the journey of self-discovery, I kept realizing different parts of myself and seeing that I was effortlessly good at everything I did. It got me really confused because different people asked me to focus on just one item. While exploring every part of me may not have made sense at first, but it got me a priceless gift: “uniqueness”. With the help of God and the beautiful people around me, I realized all of my gifts were connected, pieces of a puzzle, and were all parts of what made me the best version of myself, ‘Eben Keys’.

 

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What are the challenges you had at the initial stage of your career? 

 There were a lot of challenges right from the start. But the strongest that affected me was getting to know who I was. I wasn’t sure of what I was meant to be doing because I could do almost everything, and it was mentally and physically exhausting, multi-tasking aimlessly just like that. A situation I termed as ‘self-disbelief’. I had a bad habit of constantly second-classing myself and not feeling like I was good enough. Again, I was not necessarily making money from my crafts, and most of my mates were doing so with their jobs. It was pressurizing at first for me as a young man with no fortune attached to his name.

 

Were your parents in support of your career from the onset?

I didn’t initially get the support of my parents, like every other parent, they wanted me to focus fully on my education. But with time after seeing my competence, all that changed over time anyway, they now believe in now especially that I can see clear pictures of where God is taking me to. I am already positively affecting lives, and will do more while moving forward as  I am already successful.

 

What opportunities have this brought to you? 

Poetry as a genre of art is not appreciated enough in this part of the world. But with time, I believe it will. A lot of great young poets like myself are still trying to break through by being deliberate. Well, icons, like Mr Lancelot Oduwa Imasuen, who have been around the world, and who know how priceless and powerful the art of spoken word poetry is are investing in the art and the artists, creating opportunities and platforms like the Benin Poetry Club, and nurturing them to break forth. The platform of the Benin Poetry Club, and the person of Mr Lancelot, has been a major push for my career and that of the other young poets. Giving us opportunities to be seen at stages of high relevance. With all these factors and even more manifesting out there, it’s just a matter of time before Spoken Word Poetry would become the next big thing.

 

Would you say venturing into the world of entertainment was accidentally? If it’s not, how did u venture into showbiz? 

Going into showbiz wasn’t accidental. I started off by being a Keyboardist and a vocalist in the choir. I picked up the hobby of writing rap songs just before I got into Edo State Polytechnic where I did my National Diploma. Fortunately, I was blessed with talented friends: Joshua, Jesse and Jimmy, and they influenced my way of thinking a lot. Joshua (Josh Blu) was more advanced than I was musically, and I learnt a whole lot from him. As I equally advanced musically, I also improved in my rap game. I figured a way to fuse my rap verses with popular worship songs, and I started performing around campus, majorly in the campus fellowship we belonged to (CFI). I started gaining recognition gradually and became quite popular in school. In summary, I gradually discovered my abilities as an artist moving forward, and the rest is history.

How is the society treating you being an artiste?

Life generally has taught me that it’s a broken world out there, full of broken people. Some have figured it out, but some spend their living their days staggering through the dark and getting even more lost. Being an artist has taught me that there are people out there that would find their way out of the dark, by just listening or watching you get creative. You can address people’s life challenges and point them to the right direction with that idea that randomly pops into your head. Or to say the least, put a smile on their faces and get them through their day. Being an artist is a serious business, basically like being a doctor for people’s emotions. And that is the essence of my entire craftsmanship: to continue unlocking mental and psychological doors to allow happiness, satisfaction, joy and self fulfillment flow through. To positively affect the world with these gifts I’ve been blessed with, one person at a time.