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Watch: Naira Marley Talks About How He Started Making Music

By Akinwale Akinyoade

12 March 2020   |   11:50 am

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Hate him or love him but Azeez Fashola professionally known as Naira Marley is one Nigerian musician that is constantly in your face and hearing. The singer, who has been enmeshed in a number of controversies since hitting the spotlight, recently had a chat on "The Truth" with Olisa Adibua and he opened up about…

Naira Marley | Photo – Medium

Hate him or love him but Azeez Fashola professionally known as Naira Marley is one Nigerian musician that is constantly in your face and hearing.

The singer, who has been enmeshed in a number of controversies since hitting the spotlight, recently had a chat on “The Truth” with Olisa Adibua and he opened up about how he started making music.

Accompanied by three of the four artists, Zinoleesky, Mohbad and C-Blvck signed under his label Marlian Records, Naira Marley disclosed that he started making music after he made his first major money in the sum of £250,000 pounds in the UK.

Speaking during the interview that held yesterday, he said:

 “I had just made my first big money (in England), £250,000 pounds.”

Probed by Adibua on whether he made the money through legal or illegal means, Naira Marley said:

“I was just making money (laughs).”

He went on to reveal he had no plans to hit the studio himself as the people around him were so talented and he had thoughts of investing in them.

Naira Marley:

“I didn’t plan to, I didn’t even mean to go into the studio. My plan was people freestyling around me were so talented. My plan was to invest in them. So eventually, we went into the studio, we had so much time and they made lots of records, you know. But we had too much time on our hands, I made just one song.

“By the time we left the studio; imagine we had 10 songs, but it was my song that everybody was singing, so I was just baffled, you know. People kept forcing me to send them the song… Everyone around me already knew the lyrics. So, one day we were chilling when one of my friends with a camera told me to shoot a video (for the song) with the camera.

“We shot the video unplanned and it had like four million views in three weeks. Basically, that’s how I got into music and I can’t stop.”

On how he used to get into trouble in England, the “Soapy” hitmaker said:

“Trouble being in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

Naira Marley revealed he came back to Nigeria to shoot the music video to his song “Issa Goal” when his situation with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission happened. He said:

, “I came to shoot a video in Nigeria… ‘Issa Goal.’ I shot the video and I went back… The next time, I just came for like three weeks, but that was when that (EFCC) situation happened…”

Watch the full interview below;

Naira Marley was in 2019 arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in connection with internet fraud popularly called yahoo yahoo. His arrest came on the heels of his vocal support for internet fraudsters known as yahoo boys whom he had said are not criminal but need prayers as they make money circulate in the economy.

In a statement, the EFCC alleged they found a laptop on the singer that had incriminating evidence but Naira Marley denied knowledge of the laptop saying it belongs to a friend and not his.

Following his arrest, Naira Marley was arraigned in court where he pled not guilty to the 11 count charges in regards to cybercrime.