My Album Is The Highest Selling At Alaba - Oritsefemi

Many simply call him Oritsefemi, but his real name
is Oritsefemi Majemite Ekele. He is popularly
known by his first name Oritsefemi. He is the
singer-songwriter and performer who is best
known for his remake of Fela Kuti’s “Double
Wahala” song. His rendition of the song earned
him 2 nominations at the 2014 City People
Entertainment Awards, winning the award for Most
Popular Song of the Year. He also won the
Indigenous Artist of the Year award at the 2014
Nigeria Entertainment Awards. In 2014, he released
the remix for his version of the song featuring
D’banj.
Oritsefemi, the 3rd child of his mother, was born
and raised in a polygamous family of 25 in
Ajegunle. He hails from the Itsekiri tribe of North
Warri, Delta State. He briefly attended Mayday
Secondary School in Ikoyi and switched to Tolu
Primary School in Ajegunle due to his parents not
being able to maintain the high cost of schooling
in the affluent neighborhood of Ikoyi. He completed
his elementary education at Army Children School.
He attained his secondary school certificate from
Randle Secondary School and applied to study Law
at Delta State University in Abraka, but dropped out
to concentrate on his music career. He has cited
Fela Kuti, Daddy Showkey and Sizzla Kalonji as his
greatest influences and role models.
While in school, he developed himself musically
and performed at parties and social gatherings. His
first song ever recorded was titled “Boys dey
Binu” (meaning Boys are not Happy. He was also
an active part of the Ajegunle based Cherubim and
Seraphim choirs. He attended a music school in
Ajegunle owned by Johnny Napp, who often invites
Jamaican artists to nurture the growing talents in
the community. The music school also boast of
breeding future reggae sensations of the 90s like
Baba Fryo, Daddy Showkey and Daddy Fresh. He
explained that his experience in the school added
a reggae fusion into his early style of music. He
released two albums with his group-mate,
Chibudo. The title of the first album was also a hit
track in the compilation titled Boys Dey Binu. The
second album was titled Money Na Time and they
both had 8 tracks.
In 2006, Jingolist was mutually annihilated then he
started a solo career. He says his first solo single
was “Flop Politician”. According to him, he was
inspired to release the song due to the level of
corruption in Nigeria polity. He later released his
third album Elewon which translates to Chase
Them in English. He started singing about corrupt
political leaders and wanted to chase them out of
office. His second solo album, titled Unfadeables,
was about the wickedness in the world. According
to him, the hit track from the album “Mercy of the
Lord” was inspired by his personal experiences
with worldly things and how the prayers of his
mom was able to salvage him by awakening the
Spirit of God in him. He explained that he suffered
depression while derailing from the godly
upbringing, and considers himself a gospel hip-
hop artist. The 14 track album features the late Da
Grin, 2face Idibia and Pasuma Wonder.
Oritsefemi’s hottest single “Double Wahala” is a
remake of Fela Kuti’s song of the same name. In
an interview, he stated that the sufferings of the
common man in Nigeria inspired the song. He also
said his experience living close to a flooded area
in Ajegunle with water rushing into his home was
an experience he always remembered with the
song. His third album is titled Double Wahala. In
2014, he released “Sexy Ladies” featuring Davido.
Last week he spoke to City People about his
music.

What have you been up to?

I have been busy, have been shooting some
videos on my new album, it’s not been easy but
we thank GOD

The Success Story of Oritsefemi

Smile.. So many success stories, this is just the
beginning, I still have a lot success stories coming
up, we’ve been struggling for long but now we just
working, not struggling any longer, am thanking
GOD for what he has done in my life so far and
making me reach this level I am right now
How do you feel after releasing your 5th album?
I feel great, because my fifth album paved way for
me in the entertainment industry, right now as I
speak my album is the highest selling album in
Alaba Market, my marketers just got the
information across to me couple of days ago, that
alone gives me joy because am no more poor.