‘I didn’t think that one day, rappers will be paid N1m for a show’ – Alabai

Alabai, Photo: File

From being at the forefront of Nigerian hiphop with the group, Def O’ Clan in the late 90s to early 2000s, to becoming an OAP on Brilla FM, Sylvester Ikot, better known as Alabai has had quite a ride. After years of hiatus, the veteran rapper is back with a new project on a new label, and he tells NET all about it.

Chronicling your journey through the music industry, how would you describe it so far?

I would say the journey has been more like an adventure. It actually started with a drama, from way back the 90’s when we formed the group called Def O’ Clan. It was myself, Rabbi, Azadus, Buzzman and others. The whole thing has just been moving up from one stage to the next. You know, we went from one single to two singles, two singles to an album which we actually released in 2000. Sometime in 2001, Azadus left the group then and he got a record deal with Kennis Music. At that moment, it was more like a distracting point for us. I felt it was a great thing for him to move up with his career.

Sadly, the group broke up in 2002. I was in school then at the University of Calabar. I came out in 2004 and I got back on radio with Brilla FM. Prior to my graduation, I had a few serious collaborations. One notable collaboration was the one I had with Blackface called ‘Hard Life’, a smashing single way back then. Sometime in 2006/2007, I think I had another collaboration with Paul Play titled ‘Forever’, big song, big single, you know it created a lot of buzz around the name Alabai. Then I had a series of other collaborations like the one I had with Sunny Neji. Then, I was also featured in the Plantashun Boisreunion album in 2007 and then another one with Lagbaja. At the end of the day, it turned out to be more like an evolutionary process for Alabai.

Then came my first single in 2008. It was a big song, quite a notable song and a lot of people enjoyed it. The concept of a man, you know discussing with God. It was quite different; I like to be different in everything I do. I like my music not to sound like everyone else’s. So, I always crave for that uniqueness.

With this record you had gotten a lot of buzz at the time, so why did you disappear off the scene?

The system in Nigeria was not designed to motivate or encourage. At that point, the single was really accepted but it wasn’t really vibrant enough for me. I had issues because I was virtually doing everything on my own. I had no record label, I had no management. I had to cope with the stress of distributing the CDs, managing my career, and going from one radio station to the next with my music. It was more like the whole world was on my shoulders. It was quite frustrating all the same. No matter how much money you might think you have, it’s really not easy when you don’t have a team of credible people to work with. It was so difficult and frustrating for me but after that period, I had to think about going back to the drawing board. I thought to myself, if I don’t get the right resources to work with, maybe I’ll just keep away until that is sorted out.

Do you think you now have the right team?

Yes, I’m quite sure. I now have the right team in Don Corleon Records. He’s a visionary. We actually met in a studio session. He heard me freestyle he just heard my work and he was like wow, this is someone I think I will like to work with and gave me his address. He heard my demo and he was definitely convinced. He was happy with what he heard and all that. At that point in time, I realized, okay, I think I obviously have the right person to work with. Since then it’s been good and he made me realise that apart from rap, I have a great singing talent. He made me see a different side of me.