MI drops bombshell: Reasons I'm still single plus why I can't do without women

 Rap star and vice chairman of Chocolate City, MI Abaga, in this candid chat opened up on why he's confused of getting married at 32, why he can't do without women and many more. Enjoy the chat

Tell us about your involvement with the Lagos State energy project

It was the Lagos energy month and it was about energy. It was an important thing to talk about. I was telling the Energy crew that what they were doing with the energy project was really big in Nigeria. The Government is concerned about the environmental future of Lagos State. What we worked on was how to conserve energy and conserving energy saves money and as well as makes our environment better.

How long are you going to be the Energy ambassador?

I don’t really know.

How was it like hanging out with Governor Fashola?

It was very cool; if you’ve watched the Google hangout, you would notice that he is a very intelligent man.

What is happening with the Brymo/Chocolate City case?

I actually don’t know; Brymo just dropped a new album and I know that there has been an injunction which is completely fair to Chocolate City. I guess at the end of the day there is something called arbitration where the two parties will sit down and sort out their issues. I hope they are at that stage now. It is unfortunate this year that they have been so much division and that is why you see what is happening with Ice Prince now, it is worth celebrating for him to still be with Chocolate City and be releasing an album.

How much work did you put in the album?

Apart from my featuring in it, I didn’t do so much work on the album. Ice Prince’s debut album came through me; I did a lot of remixing and production on it, but on this second one, I didn’t do much on it. I was so busy and I only did my thing from the executive end for the album.  When the label gave me the album to listen to and assess, they were like, they were not really sure. They didn’t want to give me any false hope and needed my honest view on it.  I just took it to my car and was scared because Ice Prince on his own was also very busy, and I thought he didn’t have enough time to record. But after listening to the song, I took the song back to the label and was like, are you people mad? This is one of the best albums I have heard in my life.

Take us back to the beginning of your career. How did you start off as a rapper?

I came back from College in America and right before my final year, I had some visa issues and I had to stay back for a while. While I was doing that, a lot of my people in Jos started doing music. Jeremiah Gyang was about to put out his album and I was sort of like managing him. I was with him up until he got signed on to Chocolate City. When he got signed, he kept telling them about me. Another person I have to give credit to is Djinee. I met him in Enugu and he heard me rapping. He was impressed and invited me to Lagos to come and be part of his show and after that he gave me a place to stay, I was able to live with him until I took off on my own. I really appreciate him.

How did you finally get signed to Chocolate City

The people behind Chocolate City were very instrumental and that is Audu Maikori and Paul Okeugo. Paul was the first person that heard a song of mine and sent it to Audu. I also have to give credit to Jeremiah Gyang who was on Chocolate City at the time and who also encouraged them to sign me on.

Did your studying abroad play a role in you being a better rapper?

One thing it gave me that we didn’t have here at that time was access to music. When I went to the States, I bought like 2000 music CDs when I was there. I was listening to everything. I went into credit card debt on CDs. Now there is internet and some of the best rappers and musicians like Olamide, Vector never lived in the States.

What is your educational background?
I went to Baptist High School in Jos. After that, I went to Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University in Bauchi, and then I went to Calvin College in Michigan. I started off with Engineering at Calvin College but I later switched to Business Management.

When are you getting married?

Wow, the question just came from nowhere.  It is something I have really thought of, but I’m confused about it. Don’t really know how to go about it. Marriage is a delicate thing, so it is something I have to be very sure of.

Are you in love?

It is not something I would want to let out to the media because it might be detrimental.

You were rumoured to be engaged to a model, how true is that?

What happened was after Tuface got engaged, I tweeted and said, “Me sef I can’t carry last o, let me get a ring”. I would say that the person that wrote the article did a lot of research and used a lot of things that are real to write a story that is not real. The person wrote about things like the name of my church and other things that were very real, but the story itself is not real. When I read the story, I was impressed. The person really did his research. But if the person really knew me, he would know that the story is not true.

Do you know the model Erica Okundayemi and were you dating her?

Of course I know her, but I never dated her.

So what are your vices?

I think it’s women. But at the end of the day everybody has vices but at the end of the day the most important thing is not letting these vices to overpower you.

 Which American artiste will be featuring on your Chairman album?

Let me just say one of them will be a dream come through, while the other will be a wish come through. I don’t want to drop names because it might happen, it might not happen. A lot of people have been suggesting a name for me to collaborate with, so that is a wish come through, the other is a dream come through.

Do you miss Choc Boiz (MI, Ice Prince, Jesse Jagz and Brymo collaborations)?

Of course I do. I never dreamt of starting the year with Choc Boiz and ending the year without them. My relationship with Brymo is not where it should be and it is definitely not a good feeling. I wish everybody well. When his album came out I was listening to it and was shouting; he was that good.  

Of all the songs you have done, which do you love most?

I think it a song called “Lonely” from my Illegal Music 1 Mixtape. It just tells the story. When you are hustling, you are alone, I came to Lagos trying to find a way, my guys in Jos were calling me, and I felt alone. When I got to the top, I somehow forget about some of my guys, I still feel alone. 

By STEVE DEDE