Jaytee Sparkles … Eyeing the international music scene

Despite being a civil engineering student, dealing with diagrammes and designs, Emeka Ojiaku Amogu would not let his passion for music go off him. Instead, he has chosen to perform on different stages on pastime, thrilling fans and creating a niche for himself and his music.

Known as Jaytee Sparkles (Street Boy), in the entertainment sector, the Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, student and singer looks forward to showcasing his stagecraft on the big stage with international acts outside the country.

How did you come into music? “I started playing music since I was a kid,” he said, adding, “music is my passion and listening to different sounds and songs from different acts further grew my passion and made me go into it full time before coming to a university to pick a degree.” Continuing on his journey to realising his passion, he noted that starting off was initially not easy, as he had to face his parents strong opposition of him going into music aside striving to overcome other challenges, which included pursuing a university education.

On how he overcame his parent’s opposition, Jaytee Sparkles disclosed that he was persistent playing music and building spheres of influence around himself, which made his parents to believe in him.

“At a point in my life everything I was doing was just music; so, my parents knew there is no stopping me from pursuing what I love doing best. Coming to this point, they loosened up their stand on me to play music. It was after this, that I began to record my own songs and go to shows,” he said.

Among his numerous songs are: The Name Is Super Hero, Frankybaby and Street. These songs made cynics to begin to believe that Sparkles will one day dominate the Nigerian and African airwaves with his songs.

How do you get your songs? The Frankybaby crooner was quick to say: “I write my songs myself. I have a lot more songs that I have written, but have not recorded. The mood I find myself inspires the songs I write. If I am in a happy mood, I write songs that reflect my happy mood and if for any reason I am sad and heartbroken, I just see myself doing songs that have to do with depression, disappointment and others that go with moody situations. I express these moods through different genres of music like hip hop, rap and R’n’B,” he said.

Sparkles finds it difficult to dump these music genres, which have been like a tag to his passion right from his childhood days, when he watched the Irish Boys Band and Westlife play on telly apart from also listening to them on radio.

“I cannot tell what informed this choice for me, because right from my childhood, I played these genres of music, either by miming some of the songs these artistes play or coming up with new ones. They have been with me; they are inbuilt just like my skin and I cannot express myself otherwise,” he disclosed.

Leaving secondary school and going full time into music, Sparkles felt he has to trail the paths of his mentors in the industry, especially those producing hit songs. So, he patterned his beats and songs after the Irish Boys Band and Westlife, without forgetting M.I Abaga’s style for his rap songs.

“Growing up I listened to Westlife, Irish Boys Band and M.I Abaga; in fact, they are my mentors. I love their songs so much that I mimed them and going into music full time I have to follow their footsteps. These artistes have a very strong influence on the way I play and sing. They are a sort of inspiration for me and I would ever remain grateful to them,” he said.

Commending the Nigerian music industry for its creativity, especially with the way artistes of diverse music genres produce new songs and rejig old ones, the Frankybaby crooner noted that there is still work to be done in the sector. According to him, the sector should be able to bring all artistes together to join forces with other agencies to fight piracy and protect their works.

Sparkles, whose vision for the music industry and entertainment sector is to take it to the next level with his superlative performance, wants to be an inspiration to many people, especially upcoming acts.

“I want to be an inspiration, a model to many people; which is the reason I take my time to perfect whatever thing I do. I do not just write my songs, I research into what is happening around me, the things I see and what I hear people do or say. This is my selling point, which is why my songs are different from your regular songs because you can relate to them or have a message that tells your mood or situation,” he disclosed.

On where he would be in five years time, Sparkles said: “I will be operating at a higher level; a level that would inspired more artistes to be creative, impact on my fans and people that love good music across the globe. I also look forward to appearing on big shows outside the country, where I would perform with international acts and showcase the African vibes,” he said.