From their days in popular Mile 2, a neighbourhood in Lagos metropolis, the duo of Oluyole Oluwaseun and Tumi Oluyole, better known by their professional monikers — Sean Dampte and Don Crucifixto, have consistently held on to their life dreams of becoming successful entrepreneurs and notable forces to reckon with in the entertainment scene.
Little wonder they have done well for themselves in the show business. The two brothers moved abroad many years ago in pursuit of their goals, and have continued to excite the world with their level of achievements in their different hustles.
For the UK-based Sean Dampte, an Afro-Pop singer and songwriter, there are many hit songs and beautiful visuals to his credit, while Don Crucifixto, also known as Tumcruz, has vowed to continue to showcase talents to the world via his record label, Don Crucifixto Entertainment.
The brothers are on the verge of delighting their fans all over the world with a new joint project entitled Essence, an Extended Play consisting of five tracks.
Speaking on the idea behind the EP, its title and other interesting components that make it the anticipated embodiment of classic music, Dampte said: “The EP strives to bring people closer to who they are as individuals and also as a family.
“As brothers, we have always loved to push each other. Aside that, we felt it necessary at this stage to introduce the brand Don Crucifixto alongside its major brands.”
On his part Tumcruz said: “The project, just like its title, Essence, was designed to encourage everyone not to give up on their pursuit of happiness. It draws from different genres, from Afrobeat to AfroTrap. The songs were jointly written and from the same view, hence, people call the brothers twins because they have the same mindset.”
On the production imprints, Dampte explained: “The EP was produced by the renowned Nigerian-born international producer, JayOcean, a long time production partner of Sean Dampte and the Savage Music Brand.
“The creative process and uniqueness of the EP make it a closed project that has no featuring. It is always better to tell your story yourself.”
Reminiscing on how far they have come from their days in Mile 2, Tumcruz stated: “The journey is a process and we have always trusted the process to encourage others even as we try to become the focal point.
“So, thinking of how to give back to people, we felt it was essential to first and foremost tell people our story, because what makes you tick will be essential.
“We had an idea of the sounds we wanted and the message we wanted to craft. So we reached out to JayOcean. It was a daily conversation. The pandemic, which is still on, made it impossible for everyone to be together in one place.”
Asked if the EP is targeted at a specific age or group, Dampte said: “It would speak more to audiences from age 13 as we feel the message should be better understood at that level, although we cannot rule out everyone under 14 falling in love with the track titled Alhaji. We may need to wait and see.”
He further stated that fans would have a lot to take away from the project. “We expect everyone to appreciate that everything may not be easy but the focus should remain the same. The drive and passion to succeed must always be greater than the fear of failure.”
