They have been tipped to become the next-rated gospel artistes in Nigeria. The Realiti Brodazz, a group made up of two brothers, Isudu and Emma from Edo State, already have released three singles and are currently working on their debut album.
Isudu plays the bass guitar while Emma's specialty is the lead guitar. This dynamic duo has collaborated with established musicians such as GT da Guitarman and Soul E among others. In this brief encounter, they explained to Entertainment Express how their music is a tool for turning people's dreams into reality.
How did you come about your band name?
We realized that a lot of people go through life chasing shadows, not knowing the reality. The name Realiti Brodazz came up as far back as 2009 when we were commissioned to present to this generation the reality of life.
What is your band's composition?
Realiti Brodazz is a gospel duo group of two brothers “Realitidude” and “Realitiwonder”. Music actually started for us back in the days when we joined a music group called “Me 'n' My Boiz” band in Kaduna State. By 2000, we moved to Jos in search of greener pastures. And in 2009, after graduating from the university, we decided to pursue our music dream. That was when we started the group “Realiti Brodazz”.
How long have you been together now?
We're brothers from the same mother. We grew up together.
What made you first realize you wanted to pursue a career in music?
We actually discovered our passion for music very early in life. But it wasn't until 2009 that we decided to start a career in music. That was when we formed the group “Realiti Brodazz”. We formed this group because we wanted everyone to get the message that reality can only be found in Christ.
How would you describe your music?
The genre of our music is Gospel Afro Pop.
What are your songs about?
Our recently released single is titled “Reality” and it featured the Baba himself “Soul E”. It was produced by the lord of the beat, Elmore Hodus. We live in a generation where nobody faces reality. We engage in lot of activities lacking the realistic angle, putting us through humiliation, degradation, intimidation and false allegations.
We want Nigerians and the world at large to know that the reality can only be found in Christ. That's the message embedded in the song. We did another peace joint with GT da Guitarman and G-circuit titled "Nigeria"
What was your first experience with music for the first time like as a group?
As up-and-coming artistes, it wasn't easy getting airplay for our songs and performing at shows, it didn't come to us on a platter of gold. We had to prove ourselves. Right now, our songs are gaining acceptance all over the country.
What type of music did you guys listen to back then?
We grew up listening to Hosanna music back in those days - Ron Kenoly, Don Moen, Alvin Slaughter; Kirk Franklin and others. We also listened to a lot of indigenous music like those of Sunny Okosun, Panam Percy Paul, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, and King Sunny Ade. All these people influenced us in one way or the other in our choice of music genre.
How does music back then differ from what you listen to now?
Right now, we listen to a lot of contemporary stuff. There may be some variance but the root is found in what we all listen to back in the days.
Tell us your first experience, the first song that you ever sang?
The very first song we recorded was “Obilu Jesu.” It was produced by Moses (Abuja) and mixed and mastered at Jah Device Studios. It was really fun working with Jah Device back then.
How did you become involved in the type of music you sing now?
First of all, we knew we had a message we wanted to pass across to everyone. The next thing was to choose the right kind of vehicle that will carry the message. And since we love Afro Pop and we were doing well singing that genre, we decided that it'll be our main medium of music.
What is your opinion about gospel music in Nigeria?
Generally, the music industry in Nigeria is one of the fastest growing industries in the country. But we don't see gospel music getting its due recognition in the industry. Gospel music has lots of talented guys; with a little more work, we'll get there.
What do you proffer as the way forward?
Gospel artistes should not limit their music to the churches only. Let's take our music to the streets. Let the media houses play our songs, let the clubs play our songs, let the newspapers talk about us - because our message is for everybody. Everyone needs to know that Jesus is Lord.
What has been the biggest challenge for the group?
It was getting everyone to accept our music because of the spiritual nature of our music. In those days, radio stations will only play our songs on Sunday or at special times within the day. But right now, our songs are in the charts and on DJ mix, everywhere.
How do you cope with the financial challenge that usually confronts new artistes in the music industry?
These days, music in Nigeria is no longer a small-scale business. As an up-and-coming act, you need to have the capital to produce your songs, promote the songs, shoot the videos, and so on - all these need good cash. So when you're starting out, you'll need some element of sponsorship and it is difficult if you are unsigned. Fortunately for us, we also have white collar jobs. Realitiwonder is a pharmacist while Realitidude is a marketer. So by God's grace, we've been able to sponsor ourselves this far.
If you had the opportunity to change something about the music industry what would it be?
Let more inspirational music be played from our media houses so that the kids can have good lyrical content to grow on. The society nowadays depends on us the musicians to educate, inform and entertain them. So we cannot afford to feed them trash.
What does your family think of your performance?
Our mum and dad are ministers. They've been supportive all the way. They preach the gospel; we sing the gospel.
How good is your live performance?
We have a live band called Reality Live Band consisting of our instrumentalists and our backups. Depending on the nature of the performance, we perform live in some shows.
What are your long-term career goals?
To own an entertainment company and to empower the younger ones who want to make it big in the industry.
On what label are you currently signed?
Right now, we're unsigned acts. But we're negotiating a distribution deal with a foreign agency.
What are your plans?
We recently released a new single titled “Reality” in which we featured Soul E. We previously released “Nigeria” featuring GT da Guitarman and G-Circuit.
You can download either of these songs online. Also, we are working on shooting the videos which will be released once there are ready. Our album will drop any time soon. We're also working on a staging a Peace Concert sometimes in October which will feature some big names in the industry.
Are these songs downloadable?
You can download
Follow us on twitter-@realitidude, @realitiwonder
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