Gabriel Oche-Amanyi, popularly known as Terry G who is known for his weird style has taken up a new character.
It
is normal for an artiste to rebrand at some point in his or her career.
For the once self acclaimed Gingah Master, Terry G, real name Oche
Amanyi, that time is now.
After serenading fans and flooding the
Nigerian music scene with his weird and wild persona, addictive
auto-tune laced hits like ‘Testing Microphone’ and ‘Free Madness’, the
singer, producer and music video director is carving out a new image for
himself.
Apart from the fact that
he now wishes to be referred to as Honourable Terry G,
the Chaante Chante singer now possesses a calmer mien, which is evident
in his response and disposition to questions posed to him by this
correspondent.
For the 27-year-old singer, who has a son from his
lover, Mimi Omoregbe, late last year, it is safe to say that becoming a
father for the first time has given him a different outlook of life.
“Having
a kid has a lot to do with it. Sometimes you see life in a different
way. You perceive it in another way another time. When I had a kid, I
saw so much value in my life and the future. I became humbled and
developed the mindset that anything that has to do with my future must
automatically involve my son as well. I started changing a lot of things
and it actually scared a lot of negative friends from me. It helped me
resolve and re-organise myself again.
“In the past, some
children appeared scared to come close to me, but all that has changed.
Fatherhood has been awesome, amazing and a miracle to me. My son is my
replica.”
Shutting critics who often accuse him of singing
‘meaningless songs that sell nonetheless’, the Benue-State born artiste
includes a love song titled ‘Love Affair’ in his recently released
fourth album, Book of Ginger .
In the album, the artiste explores
a variety of genres, which, he says, depicts the many sides there are
to him, musically and personally. Yet, despite the ‘bold’ move, he
reckons that the feedback isn’t too pleasant.
He explains,
“It
was quite challenging because some people did not actually believe that
it is Terry G. They were like: ‘Is this Terry G on the television?’ It
was quite a big shock to them and so I got both positive and negative
news , but with the negative topping the list.
“It was
really shocking to them that I went R ‘n’ B. The romantic side of me has
always been there despite the fact that I have been portraying a
particular image all the while. In fact, I used to sing love songs
before I discovered the Terry G image. I felt that at this point in my
career, I could risk doing something even though love songs are not
commercially viable.”
With the new image, Terry G says, he has been forced to adopt certain lifestyle changes.
“I
still party because of what I do; you know our job requires you to
party. But I prefer what I am now because I am more coordinated. I
strongly believe that it is better to go out for a reason than for
nothing,’’ he says excitedly.
During the course of this
chat, the singer attempts to clear the air with regards to his
controversial album titled ‘Terry Gzus’, which was released in 2011.
According
to the artiste who started out singing in his local church choir, the
title was only a play on words, with no religious undertone whatsoever.
“With
the title, Terry Gzus, I didn’t mean JESUS, I simply mean, GZUS.
Because I knew the pronunciation sounded like the Jesus, I already
foresaw that it was going to create a huge controversy but that was why I
named it that way in the first place. But it was intentional; it means
(Terry omo Jesu) and I chose not to say anything because I wanted the
buzz,” he explains.
He is also quick to add that while he
has gotten used to the controversies that usually trail him, an
‘erroneous’ story of hit-and-run involving him last year, nearly dented
his image.
Although he refuted the allegation at the time, he says the damage has already been done.
“When
I drive through certain neighborhoods, people still yell at me, saying,
‘Baba hit and run’. I had nothing to do with the accident because I was
in London when it happened.
“It was one of my boys that
hit somebody with my car and not me, as reported. He was driving a Black
Toyota Camry car when he hit the person and then ran away. Because eye
witnesses did not see who the driver of the car was, they assumed it was
me; perhaps this was due to my number plate. I had to part with nine
hundred thousand naira for the person’s treatment,” He recollects.
