Music is a tool for social change – Precious Obeahon

Precious Obeahon is in the business of exploring the world of music to help mental health & wellness. In this interview, she talks about her craft and more.

Could you please tell us about yourself and your organisation?
Conscious Soul Records is a fast growing music company founded by Destiny Davis and Precious Obeahon. Conscious Soul Records makes music for mental health and wellness. We hope that we can use music and art to touch on vital issues on mental health, and help people to come to a state of awareness that triggers the desire for self improvement.

Music is a great tool for social change and it is beautiful to see you infuse it consciously. How has the journey been?
It has been an amazing journey so far, I agree with you that music is a great tool for social change. As such we are leveraging on the endless possibilities therein to bring to the fore,often sidelined topics/issues like shame, empathy, acceptance, duality and so on.

Why Mental health?
A huge part of our social interactions and decisions are powered by our mental state. And something as important as Mental health shouldn’t be as trivialised as it is in Africa. Hence our interest in creating awareness around mental health.

It would shock you how some people still think dementia/Alzhimers is witchcraft, or how some people still believe schizophrenia and demon possession is somehow related. Ignorance can contribute to trauma, so we want to join other stakeholders who are already doing an amazing work on creating awareness around these issues and hopefully with music, add some spice to it.

People die every day from trauma inflicted on them because of the ignorance of the people around them. We hope we can contribute to making a world where people don’t have to live in pain and internal torment that they now conclude that the only way to find peace is to take their own lives. We hope that we can also inspire other people to make music for mental health.

Can you tell us about your latest release?
We have in the past month released two songs, The first is “Attachment Styles”, a song that sort of summarises the Four styles of attachment as postulated by the Attachment theory- an understanding of attachment styles can help every individual build stronger, healthier relationships. The song features the super talented Vocalist- Nanya Ijeh and is available on all streaming platforms.

The second song, “Awake” is a song dedicated to Nigeria and Nigerians. A Lot of Nigerians have lost hope. We know there are obvious issues on ground, but all 6 geo-political zones have to unite to create the Nigeria we want. We all need to show each other empathy and start to understand why and how we got here. What can we do as individuals to ensure that Nigeria gets better? And can we hold each other accountable? The song is a wake up call to every Nigerian, to ignite the patriotic spirit, to awaken the sleeping giant within and play our part in making this Nation great again.

What type of Nigeria will you love to see?
We would love to see a Nigeria that feels like home, we hope that Nigerians can have some empathy for Nigeria as our home, we would love to see a Nigeria where we can hold ourselves accountable, a Nigeria where a Hausa man can call a Calabar man his brother and vice versa, a Nigeria where armed officials can understand how frightening it can be to be approached with a rifle, and a Nigeria where citizens can show empathy to armed men who have been under the sun, underpaid and stressed, as Nigerians, we are constantly getting triggered by past pains and traumas caused by a system that we all created. Didn’t we all create this? Personal accountability, Empathy, unity, kindness and love amongst Nigerians is the Nigeria we would love to see. As the saying goes, a Nation divided against itself cannot stand. Why fight everyone who fights us, and then fight ourselves even more?

What projects have you worked on as an organisation?
Positive Chants for Nigeria is a project we are very passionate about, a lot of Nigerians have lost hope. We know we cannot solve this particular problem but we can keep hope alive. Our will to survive is what will pull us out of this level of hopelessness amongst us. Can we ponder on the emotional damage, when you wake up every day, hit the streets, and everything you hear of Nigeria is bad news? Imagine waking up every day to curses and negative affirmations, we need to start speaking into Nigeria positively.

So we created two songs , “Awake” and “Salute” featuring Nanya Ijeh, Jordan Bangoji and Oge Kelvin Ifeanyi, we are hoping that we can use these songs as a medium to foster hope and encourage us to stay accountable even on a personal level, you cannot offer bribe and in same breath say that the system has failed you, do you confirm that your car papers are complete and vehicle has all the necessary safety gears as instructed by the authorities or do you drive out mindlessly and then get angry when an officer tries to book you? What role can we play in making sure that we aren’t the offenders? The best of us are leaving so if we must fix Nigeria then we need to pause and ask the right questions. “Salute” is specifically dedicated to all our heroes, everyone who has shown resilience, our teachers, and uniform men who lose sleep and bend over backwards to ensure we stay safe.
We also have an Album in the pipeline, a compilation of songs that highlight and raise awareness to select mental health topics.

Who did you feature on the song? Who produced it?
We have collaborated with prolific artists and songwriters Nanya Ijeh, Jordan Bangoji and Oge Kelvin Ifeanyi on the songs “Awake” and “Salute”. Both songs were produced by Amobi Chukwu banks Nweze

What’s your message to Nigerian youths?
We are all we have, and this is home. Nigeria is what we make of it. Also, you are not alone. If you feel overwhelmed by the issues around you, reach out and get help. There are bodies such as https://nigeriasuicideprevention.com and the Lagos state suicide helplines – 08058820777 and 09030000741, to name a few- where you can get counselling and useful materials. We will be great again!