Most likely
the name Sunday Ginikachukwu Nweke would not ring a bell but once Masterkraft
is mentioned, then most of Banky W, Flavour, and Phyno’s hit songs
would come
to mind.
No doubt,
the ever smiling music producer is one of the best on the continent especially
as he just concluded works with rave-of- the-moment American singer, Jason
Derulo, but life has not always been a bed of roses for the beat maker.
In a chat
with Saturday Beats, he hinted that he was born into abject poverty and life as
a child in Ajegunle was like sleeping in thorns.
“Growing up
in Ajegunle was an experience for me because I was raised in abject poverty.
The only thing that gave me joy was music especially because I was born in a
white garment church. Playing music in church gave me hope. At a point in my
life, I had to hawk; I sold ‘pure water’, tin tomato and also tissue paper,
that is just to mention a few. At a time, I had to work as a houseboy just to
survive and I did that for about two years. Then I complained to my father that
I did not like the job and that I wanted to come back home. When I got back
home, I began to play the piano. That’s when I began to produce music. My
childhood was very tough and challenging but I am grateful to God that none of
those things hindered my future,” the beat maker said.
Although he
was a brilliant kid who dreamt of becoming an accountant, his hopes were
unknowingly shattered by his parents even though he had a scholarship to attend
two schools. He said, “I was a very intelligent student as a child and I
remember that when I took my common entrance examination, I was the number one
student in Ajeromi Ifelodun Local Government and the government gave me
scholarship to two schools but my parents did not know the meaning of
scholarship. I tried to explain it to them but they preferred that I serve
under an ‘oga’ for about six years. They believed that as soon as I was done,
they would open a shop for me at Idumota and I would be selling jewellery. That
was how I was not able to go to school and I went to serve someone for two
years.”
Luck smiled
his way in the guise of MI and Banky W, who he said gave him a breakthrough in
his career. Masterkraft also acknowledged the role Kenny Ogungbe played in his
life via his Kennis Music record label.
“I taught
myself how to play the piano and I thought I would become a mogul by just
playing the piano till I met a friend that played instruments. He went for Star
Quest and won, so he wanted me to produce for their group. At the time, when
you won Star Quest, you would be signed under Kennis Music. When I did the
first two songs for them, Kenny Ogungbe liked it and that was how I became a
part of Kennis Music label. That was in 2009. The turning point for me was when
I produced a song and they needed a rap artiste on the song; so they called MI.
He came to the studio, listened to the sound and asked if the song was produced
in Nigeria. He later asked to see me. Instantly he called Banky W and told him
about me. Banky tried calling me but I did not know it was him, so I did not
pick his call, that was how he sent me a text message and I was so excited when
I got the text. The next day, Banky W came and he told me about a song he was
working on and in less than 30 minutes, I was done with the beat. He was so
amazed that he promised that my name would be everywhere and that was how I
made it to his album. I saw myself in the newspapers and it was Banky W that
paid for it. From there, I started working with EME and I was the vocal coach
for Wizkid and Skales,” Masterkraft said.
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