Still trying to grapple with the effect of her father and mentor’s death who passed on to the great beyond in June last year and shortly followed by his beloved wife, Efe, daughter of the late Rub-a-Dub master, Ras Kimono, Oge has dropped two hot singles.
In this chat with newstimesafrica, she speaks on life after her father’s death, her plans to immortalise him as well as her career.
How has life been after the death of your father?
A lot has been happening. I’m trying to adjust to my current status as an orphan. Life has been very challenging I must say. If there is one thing I know, it is that God can never give you more than what you can bear. There are days I wake up and cry and I’m like God, why does this have to happen to me? Why does my father have to go and all of that. And there are days that I woke up and I’m so strong and I’m like ready to take on the world. In all, I am still grateful to the Most High.

What has changed since your father died?
Everything has changed. Death has a way of giving you a new task and challenges. My father left behind a 13-man band and this is now my responsibility. I am grateful for the opportunity to be the one to champion this course, to carry the legacy to the next level and at the same time it is challenging that I am a woman. There are a lot of things that would need a man’s touch in and it is not there. I will just do my best and leave the rest.

What was the first thing that came to your mind when Efe, your father’s wife suddenly died shortly after the burial of your father?
That was the heaviest blow. I had thought that by the time maybe about three to six months, we would be able to be putting things in place and to carry on with my father’s legacy but her sudden death was a big blow to me because I thought we could work out some things together and find a way to sustain this legacy.

What is happening to your music life after all of this?
Right now, I am channeling all my energy and focus on my music. Before my father passed on, I was actually working on my debut album, that hasn’t changed. Circumstances obviously have delayed the release of the album but the album is definitely coming out in a matter of weeks. I already dropped two singles from the album, ‘Good Ole Days and ‘24 Hours.’ Both of them are making the rounds but ‘Good Ole Days’ seems to be making more impact and reasons being that I have just shot a video for it. There is visual to it and people are more in-tuned with visuals as opposed to audios.

Has anything changed in your songs, still the same conscious songs?
It is the same conscious music. I cannot deviate from that. I don’t know anything less or better. That is the lineage I come from. That is how I have been raised. People will not play Fela’s music or my father’s music if there are no messages in them. Those kinds of music are evergreen music and that is why I intend to keep doing same.

What are your thoughts about the condition of this country as a conscious artiste?
My thoughts are deep. First and foremost, I will just say may Jah help us. A lot of things are wrong hence the reason why I wrote my two songs, ‘Good Ole Days’ and ‘24 Hours.’ ‘24 Hours’ is the song I wrote a few weeks before the elections started. It basically speaks to the minds of its listeners. In some parts of the lines, I had said; ‘what would you do if you were president for a day?’ ‘What would you do if you had power for a day?’ ‘What would you do if you were that young man that was locked up in the penitentiary for a crime that you never committed?’ ‘What would you do if you were the young man sitting under the bridge and you do not have food to eat?’ ‘You can’t even cry no more because you are so weak and frail?’ We are all citizens in this country right now and we know that things are not moving in the way it should be. There are major hurdles in this country apart from basic necessities which is the major issues like food, light, water, good roads and all of that. We still have economic challenges-it is tough. I call Nigeria the jungle. It is survival of the fittest out here.

What new stuff do you have in these new songs that would make people accept conscious songs?
It is just me speaking the truth. There is nothing extra or out of the ordinary. What makes it unique is the melody, the delivery and of course the message. When people can listen to your music and relate with it, I have delivered my message. That to me is what it is. Relatable messages and that is what I am bringing. I’m not trying to give you more party tracks without any message. I am particular about the message I dish out, be it a party or anywhere.

Any plan to immortalize the legacies of your father?
Definitely, that would be in the future but right now, I am focusing on my songs. It is not going to be a one or two years stuff, it is a lifetime thing. All of that would be put in place as time goes on. We are going to kick off with his remembrance like the way we do the Bob Marley Day. Kimono Day is something that is worth celebrating. He has fans all across the world not just Nigeria. We can have a Kimono Day in Lagos, a Kimono Day in Las Vegas, Germany etc. That is something I hope would come to stay as we keep at it.

Source: http://newstimesafrica.com/headlines/im-still-trying-to-adjust-to-my-new-status-as-an-orphan-late-kimonos-daughter-drops-two-singles/

Ras kimono death ehhh, he just be like film... R.I.P. Ras kimono. Be strong lady, may God give you the fortitude to bear the loss.