The top Nigerian who hated his own voice

Nigeria’s leading music figure and vocalist, Cobhams Asuquo, known for his singing and production said that starting his career, he did not like his own voice. Cobhams Asuquo, 41 has worked with Afro music stars like Asa, Simi, Falz throughout his career as a producer and singer.

Describing himself behind the scenes during the beginning of his career, Asuquo shared the discomfort with his voice showcasing to his fans, calling it the major reason for becoming a producer initially. For over 13 years of his career, Asuquo spent as a producer to one of the major stars in Africa.

However, for his own music, Asuquo is a mix of soul, with a tone serious and measured. While he talks of his love for music, he gets all lucid and eloquent, but when asked for his unease of the voice showcasing to his fans, he gets off track of his fluency and cannot explain it completely. He adds that there was something about his voice and expressing it to the public that did not sit well with him.

Besides being the serious voice he is blessed with, he has an uncanny ability to imitate the voice of others. Back from his school days, when Cobhams Asuquo would imitate his teachers and housemasters, remembering fondly, he said that his life was a party and enjoyed every bit of it.

With a soulful presence in his voice, Cobhams Asuquo owns a gregarious personality that strives to show his fans with the release of his new album, while mentioning that he gets stage fright all the time despite the music being high energy and full of dancing. However, he remembers that he has never gone to the stage without being scared a bit and even jokingly said he steels himself to face the crowd and sometimes swears to never face the audience and face the torture of being on stage.

When asked about faith and prayer, Cobhams Asuquo sounds real passionate and becomes cerebral, describing an almost trance-like state before commencing his performance. He also says that sometimes he goes into the zone and finds it hard to come off the stage.

He goes on to describe himself as a deeply spiritual person and mentions that he has conversations with God that played a prime and crucial role in his decision of dedicating his life and his work to music.

He also adds that despite his current fame in Africa, he did not always receive a warm welcome from the Nigerian music industry. He even faced discrimination considering he was born blind. Remembering one such incident of discrimination, he mentions that there was an A-list music artist in his prime of being a producer who did not want him to produce music for him.

However, Cobhams Asuquo claims he stays consistent and positive in his endeavours and is proud of the upbringing that taught him to stay connected to his roots and listen to his spiritual self.