Iyanya: Don't Expect Song Alike From Me

Inyanya Mbuk

 Inyanya Mbuk considers himself to be a lucky person especially after winning the maiden edition of the MTN Project Fame Reality show in 2008. Since then, the Cross River state indigene has not looked back as he continues to carve a niche for himself.

 The kukere singer admits though that it wasn’t an easy climb to the top as things were quite difficult before now. According to him, “I had to work harder because at some point things were not moving well or fast for me. So it took me five years to study the industry in order to understand what they really wanted or expected of me.

I remember I would walk on the street and people would ask me what was going on, as regards my career, when in reality I was doing RnB music but people were not listening.”

His visit to his hometown of Calabar after being away since when he lost his father, would prove to be the turning point in his music career.

“During the visit, I discovered that a lot of people were dancing to Etighi – a traditional dance native to Akwa-Ibom and Cross-River states and it dawned on me to produce a song around that. But the truth is, I came up with Kukere to make money because Nigerians were not listening to RnB ,” he says.

Although Inyanya never imagined that the song would be a hit, he says just like his previous songs, he was very optimistic.

Since he released the single in December 2011, it has gone ahead to become a club banger and chart topper. For him, the highpoint is walking into a bank or restaurant and seeing total strangers singing and dancing along to the track.

He says, “I would be honest with you, my life has changed. I now go to places I used to visit and people jostle to take millions of photographs with me, when in fact I actually used to go to these same places in the past and people failed to notice me. When I look at myself, I see some guy that God has so blessed.”

Although a reserved artiste, Inyanya would not readily agree to the fact that he has indeed been smiling to the bank. However, after much probing, he admits that one of the dividends of the new found fame is that he has moved into his own home in upscale Lekki, Lagos, and also taken delivery of a brand new Range Rover Sport.

Source: InformationNigeria.org