TELL US ABOUT YOURSELF

I am Gerald Eze Mmaduabuchi, aka GEM, aka Ogbuoja-Eze. I am proudly Igbo and I represent my culture passionately as a folk music arranger, educational activist and very importantly, performer. I am from Umuchu, a town in Aguata local government area of Anambra State, Nigeria. I love to reimagine Igbo culture for the younger generation because Africa belongs to the future. As an educational activist, I founded Ichoku Academy, an integrated arts institution and academy of music where children learn Igbo folk songs and musical instruments. I am currently a Research Fellow in Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka. My career as a performer and educator has continued to evolve over the years, with the lectures I have delivered in an Ivy league college like Dartmouth College, USA, and musical concerts in prestigious galleries like David Zwirner Art Gallery, New York. In 2022, I was a resident musician at the Art Omi music residency, New York. I also performed with the Morehouse glee club during their tour of Nigeria, and the performance that featured my Oja music in the intro became the viral video that announced their visit to Nigeria. These are a few of the important things I have done. In a time when there is so much materiality above spirituality, I love to show a unique dimension to Oja music by utilizing it to eulogize people who have accomplished great things for themselves and the society like Chief. Pete Edochie, Prof. Sam Dede, Mike Ejeagha, etc.

HOW DID YOU DISCOVER YOUR CRAFT

As a kid one of my uncles who is a reverend father, Fr. Herbert Ezeji, always played traditional music for me in his car, and masquerade dance on the TV. This helped me develop interest in Igbo music, especially Oja. I later grew to discover that I actually come from a rich ancestry of music. My Great grandfather, Ezejibuaku played the Opi, an air-blown Igbo musical instruments that also engages in speech surrogacy and social commentaries like the Oja. His children all played one musical instrument or the other, one played Oja, while my own grandfather (Etisiobi Ezeji) played the village drum. So, I come from a family of griots; musicians and storytellers. Though my father and his generation did not continue the tradition, my dad was a seasoned school principal and retired as the director of Post-Primary School Education in Anambra State. So, you see where I picked the educational aspect from. My mum, Theresa Eze who retired as a primary school teacher is also a chorister and she took me to choir from when I was 5 this helped me develop music as well. My secondary school education at a school owned by the Catholic church, Tansi College, Awka, also played a role in giving me the field to begin my journey as a performer of Oja, since we had numerous cultural dance troupes in the school. I eventually studied music in the university.

TELL US ABOUT THE OJA

Oja is about the most prominent Igbo musical instrument. Trust me, if you want to know who is Igbo in any group, play Oja, the person will jump up and scream: “a na m anu!” that is, “I hear you!”. Yes, people dance to Oja when it calls and say “I hear you” because the Oja is a speech surrogate instrument that can be used to pass message, but only a few can decode the message. So, while the larger audience enjoy it, it communicates to the spirit manifests (masquerades), intellectuals and leaders in the traditional Igbo society. Oja talks to the spirit and elevates the mind to higher planes and truths. My own Oja music is a gift and a calling. I strongly believe that it is time for African cultural renaissance, and the traditional way for Africans to rise to action is to call on their spirits with the drums and flutes. We are a spiritual people, and I particularly see the GenZees as the African ancestors who have returned to take lead globally in tech, arts, fashion, music, medicine, etc. So, the entertaining sounds of my Oja coming to the schools, clubs, theaters, concert halls, is essentially a spiritual call to elevate Africans to build for the future.

ARE THERE OTHER INSTRUMENTS YOU ENJOY PLAYING

Oh yes, I am a multi-instrumentalist. I am a pianist, flutist, clarinetist, saxophonist, trumpeter, should I go one? Lol! Yeah, and I also play other 7 traditional Igbo musical instruments like Uboaka, Une, Ogene, Ngedelegwu, Ufie, etc.

WHAT INSPIRED YOUR INTEREST AS A GRIOT

Like I already mentioned, I come from a rich ancestry of music. In the traditional Igbo society, when some children are born, the parents go to Afa (an Igbo divination system) to decode the child’s mission. Because of my parent’s Christian background, they did not do this. However, I continued to manifest from childhood that I came to life for a sacred mission. I showed leadership and so much audacity. I was an entertainer as a child. So, I will say, that looking back at my childhood, I could see clearly that I had a mission. Later, during my Masters Degree, the signs continued to build up; I then asked my dad if anyone in my ancestry did traditional music. That was when he told me that my Great grandfather, Ezejibuaku was an art patron, mystic, healer, leader, and performer, and all his children (that is my grandfather’s generation) played one musical instrument or the other. This was the final sign, and I became more intentional about my career as an educator and entertainer; story teller, singer and multi-instrumentalist. I will say I looked within and got inspired to continue the griot traditions in my family. Additionally, musicians like Mike Ejeagha with his Akuko N’Egwu, Osuma Malaika with his Ogene genre, Pericoma Okoye with his Njima, and Theresa Onuora with her Egedege influenced me as a child. Their music inspired and helped me to master story telling and Oja music as well.

WHAT’S ONE INTRIGUING FACT ABOUT HISTORY WE SHOULD KNOW

Well, I will tell you about the Igbo landing. A group of Igbo people were being taken into slavery from Africa to America in 1803. When they got to Dunbar Creek on St. Simons Island, Atlanta Georgia, they rebelled and revolted. A man named Eze led the revolution. They killed their enslavers and preferred to drown than be taken into America as slaves.  They held hands together singing this as they drowned: “water spirit brought us here, and water spirit will take us home”. You see how resilient and spiritual Africans are. Indeed, singing and playing musical instruments is a very spiritual experience for Africans. History has it that the slave masters never allowed the use of African musical instruments, therefore they seized all the instruments from the Africans they captured. This is because they knew and believed that the Africans communicate with the Igba (drums), Oja (flutes), Uboaka (harps), Opi (trumpets), etc. So, you see, the enslavers knew the power in the instruments to this extent, but it appears today that the Africans who are owners of the instruments do not see it clearly. And that is why I educate while entertaining people too. Afrobeats is good but from this story, one can see the power of the African instruments. So, I am convinced that the future of African music is the performance of the Indigenous musical instruments in new forms just like Kaycee Limpopo and Ojazy’s Oja Piano, and the continuation of the story telling, just like Mike Ejeagha’s Gwogwogwongwo. From this story, you can see why I play my instruments to the young generation, because indeed it is African time. The history I have just shared is Igbo Landing, and it tell you that the time now is “Igbo Rising”. It is time for Africa to rise.

WHAT WAS A MEMORABLE PERFORMANCE YOU HAD

I enjoyed my performance at the Headies in 2015. It was really interesting because at that time the young urban people in Lagos, Abuja, PH, etc., were not ready for this sound. So, when I walked into the stage with my Isiagu and red cap, the audience started laughing at me. That was fun! I knew I will change the game, I came prepared, and you know, only the brave can dare to be unique and innovate. So, I got closer to my mic, not minding them, and no eye shades too; for me, laugh while I get ready. I got to the mic, played the traditional Oja, then the Band at Headies did my intro, and I played Phyno’s Connect. By the time I looked up, almost every phone in that hall was recording my performance. Lol! I no dey send people when I know that I have something solid. They eventually enjoyed it, I enjoyed it, and I loved the entire experience. Later my friends were calling me saying that my performance was trending on social media. I said, ahaa. But I went underground and continued to build because I do not believe in one moment shine. I want success that endures. So that performance got me ready for the global strides I am having now. Thanks to Obi Asika and Sasha Pee who made it happen. I saw clearly that an Ogbuoja can be a global artist like Dbanj was with his harmonica, and Fela with his saxophone. So, my journey has continued since then and the mantra is: “From the Village Square to the Madison Square.

HOW DO YOU FEEL YOUR SOCIETY AFFECTS YOUR INDUSTRY

I see a society in need of quality entertainment. You see Africans like to dance, and it is not a bad thing. We love to dance is because we embody knowledge; we do not just think, beyond that, we embody knowledge and, in our performances, you find codes, knowledge, history, signs, etc! But many musicians focus on making the people dance alone, even to the detriment of the African spirituality. It takes a special kind of musicianship to be able to entertain people while elevating them to the level of consciousness that makes them prepared for the challenges of building a great legacy for the African race; that is communality and not individuality. Fela did that kind of music, but not many people are gifted enough to do it. So just like the injustice in Fela’s time inspired him to make music with lots of social commentaries, the lack of consciousness in my time challenges me to make conscious music. We are so rich but we do not see it, we are powerful but we do not see it, we are blessed together but we instead love foreigners and hate our brothers and sisters passionately. I want to make my people happy, and for them to see the road clearly; because I believe it is African Time. Now, I will say, check out my new song entitled “Enyi” and feel the full blend of African music; from the use of Oja, to the story telling, to the hot celebration vibes in the rhythm, to the singing, and the morals in the story, everything I believe the future of African music should be.

WHAT’S THE MOST REWARDING PART OF WHAT YOU DO

Oh, that part must be making people smile, leading them to trance, making them feel things they can’t describe, making them feel good about themselves, opening up their minds to great truths. Again, another part of my joy is inspiring children. Oh, I look at them and I smile because this my journey can never die. In future we will have medical doctors who can play traditional instruments and not just piano and western instruments, as has been the case. One of my students, Oluomachukwu Odimegwu is a very skilled performer of the Oja and Uboaka and she is in second year medicine. Zita Ezeno who I also taught Uboaka is almost rounding off from medical school. So, I am excited that African instruments will not be relegated to the village alone; it will be everywhere, home and abroad. You see doing foundational work is tasking, but it is rewarding since I am aware that this is what I came to life to do.

WHAT MESSAGE DO YOU WANT TO PROMOTE WITH THE OJA

Awareness. I want Africans to dance and wake up to their inner spirit. I want them to become aware of what is within them, and by so doing become aware of the powers in our land. I want us to see how rich our land is, how rich we are as we are as a connected people, not divided people. I want us to love motherland and stop running away from her. I want us to love ourselves and people all over the world and stop any form of hate, anger, bitterness which in turn burns us down. I want us to be aware that we are powerful already by being Africans, and to call us to join hands to elevate our race. So, it is awareness, awareness and awareness. My music calls Africans and people all over the world to this purpose: “man know thyself”!