Chemistry graduate behind winning sound tracks

ADEGOKE

In Sanjo Adegoke, the sciences lose another guy to the Nigerian entertainment industry, reports AKEEM LASISI

Two quick ironies mark Sanjo Adegoke’s adventures in the Nigerian entertainment scene. Although his name is Sanjo – and not Soji – many of his colleagues and clients call him ‘Soj’. He says his friends and associates that found it convenient to address him so in the past just chose to do so, and the appellate got stuck.

The second twist is that he studied Chemistry at the University of Lagos. But since 2007 when he graduated, he has not mixed any elements to produce drugs. Rather, he has been mixing sounds, mixing music and manufacturing sound tracks for a good number of film makers.  Based on his capabilities in music composition, singing, music engineering and sound track production, the unassuming artiste is one that can be described as an all-rounder, as the old slang expression goes.

But where he remains a relatively unsung is in his contribution to the success of some of the Yoruba movies released recently. Many stakeholders have berated some  Nigerian films for the uninspiring sound tracks their works parade. One of the common complaints is that some producers opt for songs that too readily give out the message and climax of the movie, thus shattering the appetite of the viewer. This seems to be where Lagos-based Adegoke, a native of Gbongan, Osun State, is strong.

Listening to a majority of the sound tracks he produced for films such as  Mufu Olorisaoko, Ayekooto, Unforgivable and Married but Living Single, and Igba n ba Jo, one discovers that he is smart at creating abstract sounds that yet propel the messages of the movies.

Even when he feasts on a cultural song, as he does with Yoruba’s dirge, Yeepa mo ti r’ogun lo fo’so, in the Unforgivable, produced by Dayo Amusa,  he is still able to defamilarise it, giving it a fresh meaning. But his trick, in this regard, seems to work best in the sound track he produced for award-winning Married but Living Single, produced by Kalejaiye Paul. Although the sound is arresting, you can’t pin it to any language.

“It is a gibberish. Many people have contacted me, even on Facebook, to know in which language I rendered the song. Some even thought it is a North African language or something Arabic. But you cannot really place it,” he says.

He adds that some people have confessed to him that it was the sound tracks of some of the films he has worked on that made them fall in love with the works. But what kind of arrangement does he normally have with producers?

“As a sound track artiste, my work normally starts after the film maker has finished editing the movie. All he needs to do is to give me a copy, for me to watch, digest and produce an appropriate sound track. He does not need to give me any brief because you must trust the creativity of your sound track producer. If at the end of the day what the guy comes up with is not satisfactory enough, you sit down and discuss how to make it better,” Adegoke explains.

On how much he gets on a movie, the artiste, who got two nominations at the 2012 BON Awards, says his fee depends on a number of factors. His job, he notes, goes beyond composition of the song, as he is still the one to produce it. But he puts the earning per film at an average of N100,000.

Another plus for the sound track artiste is that each piece eventually belongs to him, a way of saying that he holds the copyright for the sound track – unless there is a special arrangement between him and the producer. That is why a Segun Akinlolu – Beautiful Nubia – would later release  Ikoko to fo, the sound track he produced for Mainframe Production’s Narrow Path.  The implication for Soj now is that he has a growing collection of sound tracks that he is planning to release.

Besides, he is working on his own independent songs, from which he hopes to release a track before the end of the year. He also edits music and films, while he equally handles camera.

Like many other Nigerian artistes, Adegoke’s adventure in music started in the church where he was a member of the choir. While his father was also involved in song writing, he was, again, part of a musical group his mother used to run. But he recalls that he also studied music at a music school in, Ibadan, which is, however, now defunct – as its proprietor has relocated abroad.