By ‘Dayo Showemimo
With over 25 years of professional and personal collaboration in a career which has produced several hit songs and music awards, pop duo, Tunde and Wunmi Obe – aka T.W.O. have released their fifth studio album titled T.W.O. Plus.
Featuring collaborations with artistes such as 2face, 9ice, Dammy Krane, Teniim, Segun Obe, Floss and Brace amongst others, the 15-track album is a fresh addition to the artistic repertoire of T.W.O which has previously been recognised as one of the few Nigerian music acts from the 90s that have maintained their staying power with evergreen songs.
T.W.O. Plus employs a more urban production feel and mixes it with signature melodies and socially conscious messages.
The couple, Nigeria’s most prominent husband and wife music duo, came into public reckoning in the 90s and over the past two decades, their creative collaborations have resulted in successful albums such as T.W.O 4 Real, T.W.O. Legit, as well as popular anthems, such as 2005 smash hits – Mogbomoya and Adupe.
TWO Plus retains the feel-good factor from their previous albums while appealing to the nineties audience. In this interview with NET, the celebrated couple spoke about their new album, what has kept their union strong, their relationship with Charly Boy and other sundry issues.
Tell us about your new album, TWO Plus?
It took us over a year to record the album. The creative process is in-depth and we think people will appreciate it. We are at a stage where people identify with our kind of music.
On this album, we weren’t gunning for man and woman of the moment, we were more particular about our legacy and longevity. We were futuristic and universal in our thought process.
Well, this is an album of many firsts for us. It’s the first time the whole album will be recorded in our studio. It’s also the first time we collaborated with other acts, about seven of them; a lot of variety, pot pourii of genres which is why we titled the album TWO Plus. We also dared to bring in other languages, we sang in English, Ghanaian, Spanish, Igbo and other languages.
Have you ever thought of breaking up to pursue solo careers?
‘Most of the break-up tales often start as publicity stunts, then gets real at some point. Most of what other acts do are just for publicity. We come from a school of hard-knock, we believe in real talent, we don’t believe in using negativity to sell positivity. ‘We won’t break up, because we’ve set that standard, Nigeria doesn’t have a lot of role models; so, we need more of them.
We’ll always be together. We can’t even attempt it for publicity stunts because the devil is strong and can easily tap into what you prophesy with your mouth and it goes even deeper because we have teenage kids, what example would we be laying for them?’
So, what has kept you going over the years?
Our upbringing in music is our staying power. In the 80s, we started as a band that played all kinds of music, we worked with real musicians. If you were not a real musician you won’t stand the test of time!
‘Secondly, we never got caught up in the whole star and celebrity hype, we didn’t cut corners with the craft and art, we didn’t get carried away by the glamour of showbiz either and it has really helped us.
Thirdly, you need to be humble. Times are changing and you need to keep changing with the times.
Why haven’t you signed a deal with any brand yet?
That’s actually a question we’ve all been asking, so it’s good you asked the same question. We don’t understand as well. It’s giving the impression that having a good image is not working in Nigeria (laughs), we don’t really know why. It’s shocking too.
Talking about good image, you’ve managed to stay scandal-free so far, how?
We’ve just been ourselves, and I guess we are lucky as well, we have a very strong relationship, and we are genuine. We’ve been working with the same team for a long time. We are not confrontational as individuals and when we have issues, we talk over it like adults.
When you have issues, does it affect your recording process?
We’ve never really had that kind of issue, we are like friends. When we started singing together, we were friends, we were members of the same band before we got married and we’ve maintained that friendship. We are actually best friends and we communicate with a lot of respect.
Let’s talk about your fashion style, colours and combination. Whose idea was it from the beginning?
(Laughs! Wunmi points to Tunde). Well, when we started in the early days, we used to wear exactly the same clothes. Then, it got to a point that some outfits suited me and didn’t suit her and at times, it suited her and didn’t suit me. So, we decided on just wearing same colours.
Do you have stylists?
No, I think we are blessed in that area, we pick up our outfits ourselves. We always have an idea of what we want. Most times, stylists come and they are also confused, because when you have a certain body type, you’ll surely know what suites you better than anyone else.
You’ve been off TV for a while, will you be making a return?
We’ve promised that this year, we just want to get done with this album and return to TV. Trust me, it’s still going to be our usual style because we see people laugh at things that aren’t really funny on TV, so we are challenged and we’ll attempt TV again.
We stopped the Charly Boy Show around 2003, then we did Zoom Time and stopped around 2009, so it’s been a long time but we’ll make a return this year.
Which came first for you, music or TV?
Well, music came first, but we became popular first on TV. We started live band music in 1988, and began TV in 1992 but our first album didn’t come out until 1998. Along the line, we did a couple of movies as well.
Will you encourage your kids to do music?
Yeah, sure, as long as they complete their education. There’s always need to have a back-up plan, no one can be in music forever, so education is key. In case music doesn’t work out, they can get a regular job. Education puts you in a better position to manage your career.
What’s your take on the level of the music industry?
It’s really buzzing o. People are making good music, and once we can sort out this piracy issue, people will be making a lot more money. Then, I also feel recording artistes are missing in Nigeria. Everybody is a performing artiste and there’s a huge difference between both.
In an ideal industry, we should have both, so when I get to an age where I can no longer jump around on stage to perform, then I can become a recording act so we can continue to enjoy the likes of KSA, Ebenezer Obey and others. The only reason why they are no longer recording is because there’s nothing in it for them.
What’s your relationship with Charly Boy at the moment?
Well, I think that’s what happens when you’ve been working with somebody for 15-16 years and then it’s time to move on, even though there’s really no conflict or disagreement. If you ask him he’ll tell you we’re cool and if you ask me, I’ll say the same, but I think because we no longer work together, it just leaves that little gap where the relationship seems strained, but the respect will always be there because we brought a lot to the table and we achieved a lot.
