Sir Shina Peters,(SSP), born Oluwashina Akanbi Peters, the music maestro invented Afro-juju brand in the late 1980s after years of tutelage and false starts. The immensely popular… 1989 release ‘Ace’ shot him into the limelight and placed him in the pantheon of music greats
‘Shina Peters prides himself as the creator of the Juju hybrid, ‘Afro juju music’, a fact which has since made him unique among his peers. Though he is popular today with his four major albums, Ace, Shinamania, Experience and Dancing Time, many from this generation do not know that Shina Peters was a known musician in the mid- 70′s.
Then, he was in a duo called Shina Adewale. He formed the band with a friend and popular vocalist, Segun Adewale. Together, they formed a larger band called, ‘The Superstars International’. Shina Peter then was more into instrumentals while Segun was the vocalist. However, SSP revealed that he had his input in all the music composed by the duo. ‘We both sang then. Though I am into instrumentals, we both wrote the songs and composed them together,’ he said.
Talking on how he started music, SSP explained that as a child he had been a lover of the guitar. Though his parents were not really in support, he put his destiny into his own hands by taking on music as a profession
His life however got a turn-around when he met the Miliki exponent, Ebenezer Obey. At first, he was a ‘house boy’ to the music legend. ‘It was before I started going to the hotel that I met Ebenezer Obey. I had gone to him and told him I wanted to play music but he said I should go and bring my parents, so they could stand as sureties. I was always going to his place to take charge of his clothes and shoes. When he was not at home, I always discreetly played his guitar.’
SSP also met a popular musician in the 60s, Prince Adekunle. ‘He decided that I should be called Prince Adekunle’s son as a publicity stunt. That was how I became Shina Omo Adekunle. It was just a gimmick. So, people started calling me his son and it worked.’
On how Afrojuju started, SSP said: ‘After my first solo attempt I was not given attention. Then Fuji music started gaining ground. I was almost considering singing Fuji. I just sat down to think about what was in Fuji music that was almost relegating Juju music to the background. I discovered it was the percussion. I listened to disco music; I saw it was the fast tempo. I then mixed them together, and that was how Afro-Juju was born. I wanted to satisfy everybody. So, I mixed the combination of Afrobeat with disco and added some percussion.
And thank God, the late Fela Anikulapo-Kuti advised me never to sing in English but in pidgin English-and that is what I’m enjoying till today. I go outside the South West to play, before I even say ‘make una dance o’, they would have echoed it. So, it was all God’s plan.
Though Sir Shina Peters refused to talk about his marital life and family, he admits that he had had many women in his life, as women are those who make a musician successful.
‘I’m not trying to compare myself with Jesus Christ our Saviour. In showbiz, there is no way you are going to be successful without the backing of women. I felt that to make people see me as a sex symbol, I should get married and show that I’m loyal to my wife but at the end of the day, I found out that it was that particular aspect that people used against me. That because I was married to someone does not mean I should not talk to any other person. All other artistes go scot-free on this, but when it is Shina Peters, it becomes a problem.
SSP says that his happiest moment was when he gave birth to his first son, Clinton. ‘It took us almost 20 years to have a kid. Because of the many stories that flew around then, people even said I was impotent. The trauma nearly killed me. For me, seeing my wife pregnant, taking her out of the country and being there when Clinton was being delivered, I would say this has been the happiest moment in my life.
When Shina Peters was in his prime musically, there were insinuations that he was been disrespectful to other Juju musicians especially to icons like King Sunny Ade and Ebenezer Obey, which he flatly denied. ‘I have already talked about Evangelist (Dr) Ebenezer Obey. What can you, a house boy, say where your boss is Obey? He is my boss. It’s just unfortunate that Dr. Obey left the stage for me and King Sunny Ade. I don’t see any comparison between King Sunny Ade and me. He is a living legend. All the respect in the world I give to him. So, anytime, any day, they will forever be living legends and my idols’.
‘Please, don’t go into music because you want to be rich or because you want fame. Music is something that you should have a flair for. Many of these boys today go into the studio expecting to come out rich. It does not work that way. The passion has to be there first.
Culled.
