By Vivian Onyebukwa
New York-based- Nigerian Professor of Mathematics, Lawrence Udeigwe, has positioned his new single titled ‘Today’ for full blast entertainment and simultaneously raising a consciousness for people to make the best of each new day.
Expressing his great desire for his music career, he stated that In five years, he would love to be leading a successful internationally known group that does well both on big stages and small listening rooms, have enough materials to release an album each year for the next 10 years.
Speaking recently from his base in the US in a zoom meeting with some Nigerian Journalists, Lawrence Udeigwe, who goes by the creative name “Udeigwe’, described music as his natural first love.
He also talked about how much work he had put into developing his music career despite being a mathematician.
“I released my first album in 2006 and formed my first band in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania in 2007. So I’d say at least 16 years’ worth of slow but steady work. I am also a University Professor so I am not able to devote 100% of my time to music, but my grind has been steady. I used to release music under the pseudonym “Lorens Chuno”, but in the past few years, I started to see the need to have a more encompassing name that encapsulates my personal, academic, and artistic life”.
He explained that the new single, ‘Today’, has a rich flavour of Jazz’
The Manhattan College Professor also wants music lovers and his fans to enjoy the classic mix of afro-beats.
He also highlighted an important fact that his music takes on a wide range of issues that the contemporary African deals with.
He described the Nigerian music industry as flourishing and actually has a lot of growth since it started, The sound, too, he said is a little more diverse now.
While rating the Nigerian music industry in the global music space, Udeigwe said, ” In terms of danceable tunes, it occupies a good piece of space. I think there is still a huge unoccupied space that Nigerian music could be filling.
We’re still yet to tap into our potentials when it comes to listener-friendly music and purely instrumental music, even though we had traditionally had those kinds of music across all the ethnic groups of the country.”
He looks forward to collaborations with some established Nigerian musicians, as he expressed his thoughts saying, “I hear Ladipoe on a song I’m currently working on. I hear The Cavemen on another song I’m working on. Others include, Tiwa Savage, Flavour, and Niniola. But to be honest, I’d be honoured to work with any of the established folks”.
Udeigwe would be nurturing his music career by continuously working on his singing, piano playing, and song writing.
According to him, he would progress with everything to stay mentally and physically sound, and get a great management and PR team for steady and remarkable growth.
With a PhD in Mathematics, Udeigwe would simply remain with Mathematics if he were not doing music.
Though a native of Enugu State, Udeigwe and his six siblings were born and raised in Makurdi, Benue State. His father ran a provision store and a dry-cleaning business while his mother managed a successful tailoring business until retirement.
He attended St Theresa’s Primary School in Wurukum Makurdi, and St Gabriel’s Secondary School Makurdi, same high school that Nigerian music icon, 2Baba (Innocent Idibia), attended.
He left Nigeria for the United States in 2000 for his university education and has remained there since then.
His consciousness for the love of music started while he was in junior high school, when he joined the school choir. That love blossomed when he finally got to the United Sates, where he decided to pursue a career in music.
Commenting on the distinctive difference between ‘old school music’ and what obtains now, he said, “I think most old school musicians have a wider range of inspiration. At the same time, it may not be fair to compare the two eras since technology has changed so many things including music making tools.”
His love for music is the sanity that good music gives, besides the entertainment enjoyed.