Princewill Nnaemeka Ede, a.k.a Will is a native of Ebonyi state, though born and bred in Warri, Delta state. A UniZik graduate of Food, Science and Technology, Will has been proving himself a thoroughbred in the music industry with certified street credibility as he keeps dropping hit single after hit single; the latest of which is Slay Queens which was released on October 1, 2017. However, it was the anthem, “Awka get Boys” that sold him to the hearts of the university community he lives in. In this exclusive interview with O’star Eze, Will traces his musical evolution and how the vision of his stardom has continued to intensify with every turn of fate.
How do you get the lyrics for your songs?
I cannot really say I get my words from any particular place. The way I do music is just expressing how I feel, within the context of the title of the song or the message I seek to pass. I just try to make it as interesting as possible, for myself and for others. The song would need to sound good to me and then of course to all those listening to it. So, I would not say I get my words from a particular place. It just comes to me.
Are you a wide reader, then?
No. I am not that kind of guy.
You are into movies?
Yeah.
What kind of movies do you like to watch?
I watch American epic movies, like The Game of Thrones, Vikings, to mention but a few. I also like black American movies. I really do not like the science fiction movies. Drama is normal. I like action movies too. For Nigerian movies; I like big screen Nigerian movies like The Wedding Party.
Would you remember when you started loving music?
It might sound just normal for everybody to say, but I have always loved music since when I was a kid. Since when I was a kid, I had always wanted to sync-lip songs that prick my interest. I remember back then, I used to sing such songs as I believe I can fly, by R-Kelly. Then, over time, I developed the love for seeing myself entertaining the crowd.
How did you discover the entertainer in you?
I think it started when I got into secondary school. There was something about being the Social prefect that appealed to me right from when I was in JSS 1. Being in charge of everything that would bring fun was just my thing. I always saw myself as that person doing that. Through my JSS2 to my SS1, I still was not seeing myself as an artiste even though I still took the front row in anything that concerned social activities in my school. I had a friend who was good at writing songs. He was good at singing and rapping. So, what he did that time was that he would write the songs and give me a verse and tell me what to sing. I was good at singing so I would just sing the verse he wrote for me. And we would just enjoy it within ourselves, without any plans of doing anything with it. We were just having fun. That was how it continued till my SS3. That was in 2010. A friend of ours had something to do with Terry G. Another friend of mine told him he could link someone up to do that thing with Terry G. We were all in the same dance group. I was called and the friend told me that he had a certain song idea he would like to work on with Terry and would like me to come up with a verse. I was like, “Ha!, I have never written a verse before o. How I wan take do this one?” It was scary. But after much pressure from my friends that day, they believed in what I could do. I, eventually, wrote my very first verse. That song was so good in the Terry G song. I was surprised at myself. It was around that time that MI came into the limelight. I had been a singer before then, but after writing that first verse, I fell in love with MI’s kind of rap. 2011,2012, I started coming up with rap songs and, with practice, I was getting better and better. Because I started with singing, I found out that I could combine the two and still be good.
Let me take you back a little bit. Back in secondary school, I eventually became that Social prefect where I had to come in front of the crowd to hold certain entertainment shows. I was the quiet type and my mates were not even in support of my post as the social prefect. So, I was out to prove myself as the social prefect. I went ahead to become a choir prefect, in charge of the choir. My school was a missionary school – Marist Comprehensive Academy, Uluru, Abia state. I was the chief conductor and so, that time, became a star of sorts. In a catholic mass where everybody is supposed to be quiet and calm, whenever I took my turn to conduct the choir, everybody would start clapping. I knew how to dance, so I was merging dancing with the conducting and people enjoyed it a lot. So, those were some of the experiences that helped intensify that vision I had of myself as an entertainer and a superstar.
When was the first time you recorded in the studio?
The first time I went to the studio to record my song was in 2012. That was in Warri, where I lived with my parents and the song was good. It gave me a kind of ‘street credibility’ within my neighbourhood. So, I kept getting better and better till date.
Tell us about your education. Why FST and why are you still in school?
I finished secondary school in 2010. My parents could not fund my tertiary education. I was a diploma student for a while, studying Industrial Physics at Nnamdi Azikiwe University. That was in 2015. I could not gain admission into the degree programme after two years of diploma so I had to start afresh again. In my 100-Level doing the diploma programme, I paused with anything music. I wanted to focus on my studies and get acclamatised with the environment. It was in my 200-Level that I went back to the studio. The song I did then was Leave am like that. It was a cover for Mama I made it by Cassper Nyovest, and it was wavy here in UNIZIK.
How do you market your music out there?
What I do basically is to put it online and try to share the link as far as I can.
How many songs have you made so far?
I did seven songs before Awka Get Boys that became very wavy. Thanks to my new management, General Street Services, GSS. The eighth one is Slay Queens just dropped on Independence Day, October 1, and it is getting a lot of good feedbacks so far.
What songs would you say influenced your style of music?
MI is my mentor anytime. I give it up to him as the person who made me go into rap. I grew up listening to the likes of Drake, Kanye West, J. Cole.
Do you think in the direction of the message your songs pass or you just entertain for entertaining sake?
Welcome to Nigeria where nobody cares about the message of the song but more of how good the song sounds. Personally, I try to make my songs real groovy but I still pass positive messages as subtly as I can. Slay Queens, for instance, going by the title, might connote lewdness, but the truth is that it is groovy while passing a positive message to the young ladies out there. But the reality is that Nigerians, in the majority, just was to hear nice beats. What you spit on it doesn’t matter that much to them.
Awka Get Boys; where did you get the inspiration from?
It was a collective idea. It was something that GSS family stumbled upon while tinkering with ideas of a song to do. We were playing beats and I was playing with it. That was when someone just started saying Awka Get Boys, get boys… It sounded nice and we decided to take it seriously and come up with something that would bring the city of Awka to limelight. Some of the names that were mentioned in the song did not originate from me, except for Chuky GSS, who is my friend and my boss. But I wrote the lyrics of the song.
What has been your experience with Awka Get Boys?
It is not easy to push your songs out there. I give all the credit to GSS. They have put in a lot of money and whatnot to get it on iTunes, caller tunes, top music sites, taking it to clubs and DJs. I’m grateful to all my friends who showed the song so much love and keep sharing with their friends.
Tell us about GSS.
GSS stands for General Street Services as well as General Site Solutions. It is a conglomerate with several subsidiaries. GSS music is one of them, which is where I fall under.
Have you done any music video yet?
Not yet. But we are working on one for Awka get Boys.
Where do you get your inspiration for your songs from? Do you smoke, drink?
I do not smoke anything. I hardly drink. I inspire myself by myself. I just allow the beat take over my heart and mind and the lyrics follow suit.
