sustaining the tempo after their reign has always
been difficult. But the story is different for Munachi
Abii, former Most beautiful girl in Nigeria.
*Muna
A combination of beauty, brains, and talent has kept
her in the limelight. In this interview, she reveals
how Banky W's Lagos Party remix helped her gain
recognition as a rapper and other interesting things.
Excerpts:
By Kehinde Ajose and Anu Tella
What prompted your decision to do music
professionally?
I have always wanted to do music professionally.
My mum used to sing but she didn't go too far with
it. I come from an artistic family. I didn't want to be
that person who didn't go anywhere with the music.
My brothers and sisters are all into some form of
arts. I just found myself there.
If you didn't win the MBGN, would you have been an
artiste?
Yes, I would have still been doing music. My ride to
music could have taken a different approach. MBGN
took me from level one to level five.
Most people start from level one and begin to climb.
In the Industry, there are a lot of ups and downs.
I had to collaborate with a lot of people so that
people would get to know me. When things become
slow some people can handle it while many others
can't. I couldn't handle it because first, there are
too many fake people in this show business that
don't know what they are doing.
Secondly, there are individuals who talk a lot and
don't have any action to back it up . Thirdly, we
don't have the right environment and stability, so
artistes usually don't have something to fall back
on.
This thing called music is like a gamble. So, after
the experiences I had, I really had to step back in
order to stage a comeback. It will always be music
for me .I am still climbing .That is how it has been
so far.
A lot of people didn't take you serious when you
opted for music . How were you able to grow the
thick skin to be able to withstand the pressure?
I had a thick skin when I came in. This is the
honest truth. If you are not surrounded by good
people insecurity starts to creep in. That is how
everybody here is. They are always looking at other
people instead of focusing on what they are out
there to accomplish .The people around me were
not helping me. I am not blaming them too as well
as myself.
When you say people around you, what do you
mean?
What I meant was that everybody thought their own
craft was more important than the other person's
craft. Singers would tell you, "Why are you rapping?
You should be singing" while rappers will tell
you :"Why are you trying to sing? You should stay
true to yourself. Be loyal to the rap game."
It's a constant struggle if one doesn't have people
that are confident and who believe in you even
when you don't believe in yourself. It's going to be
very hard for you. It's similar to what happened to
me.
The fact that people didn't take me serious when I
started they didn't know what I would be up to .I
didn't care about it because I knew what to do. The
story changed with Lagos Party remix .People didn't
really know who I was , but they liked me .They
would say, " That's Muna? Are you serious?" So
people started paying attention from there.
How did you get on Lagos Party?
Banky W saw me rap somewhere and he said,
"what are you doing?" That was my wake up
call .He said:"You should be doing this, there is so
much you can do" So that inspired me. Banky called
me up and told me he wanted me on his album .I
was actually just meant to do the skit. Lagos Party
was played and I was asked to do rap on it. The rest
is history.
How did it help you gain acceptance?
It helped a lot because it was like my show -off
period because people now saw that this girl could
rap. She is not just a pretty face. It's one thing to do
that, and it's another thing to follow up with other
stuffs. It's not been easy but I expect to grow from
there.
How where you able to go beyond the 'Pretty face'
stereotype?
At first I felt like discountenancing the pretty face
toga. I thought I needed to just show off the talent
and ignore the pretty face. At that time I didn't want
to be associated only with the fact that I have a
pretty face. If you asked me then, I would tell you
just call me Muna and don't attach the MBGN
prefix.
I just wanted people to know me and my music . I
later realized that when I did, it put me on the
defensive . This is something I had to learn along
the way. I realized that in order to break free from
anything, you have to accept the truth. The truth for
me is that I am a beautiful lady. I had to accept the
fact that I am beautiful, and use it to my advantage.
So what if I am beautiful? So what if I can rap?
I am a beautiful rapper, I am a beautiful musician.
People want to see that. The first thing they want to
see about me unfortunately is my look. They see
the look and they look into the content.
Would you say your beauty has been a blessing to
your career?
Yes, I will say so.
How has it been a blessing?
I won a pageant
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