My dream is to win Nigeria’s first Grammy Award – Troy Omo Iya Ijo
Stephanie and bad boyfriend crooner, Shalom Oluwapelola Olaleye , an up and coming artiste whose style of music has become popular with students and some older generation in Nigeria disclosed why he wants to clinch the Grammy Award in the nearest future. Olaleye popularly known as Troy Omo iya Ijo spoke with DAYLIGHTNG.COM recently.
On tattoo fashion, Olaleye said , it is good for people who loves it but it’s a no no for him.
Said he: “My late paternal grandmother, Rev Mother Esther Olaleye had one on her left hand. She told me that she asked an artisan to write her name on her hand when she was much younger . I am not against it, if you like it , go for it”.
Baby mama’s current trend
My parents have always told me not to judge a book by its cover and that applies to people. I am not in their shoes, I don’t know what happened. I cannot be a judge over that . Do I want to have one? ( Long throaty laugh) Blood of Jesus! I reserve my comment.ķ
Why the stage name Troy Omo Iya Ijo?
Omo iya ijo came to be because my mother is the church matron of WEMC Cherubim and Seraphim A.K.A Land of Goshen parish.
Rape
My take on rape – as a human being is that it is totally wrong and perpetrators should be punished severely.
As a guy, if a lady tells you “no”, you can always have another. I believe the population of women is twice the population of men on earth so why should men rape when “women are rushing us”
Duro
My latest work is Duro. In Yoruba it means wait. It tries to educate the youth especially young girls to wait for love and not be materialistic. For me love is 100 and loyalty is 100 per cent and not 99.9. It came out late May and the video dropped in the first week of June. It was shot by IZY.
Family
I come from a christian home.My father is a deacon in a pentecostal church. We are six: three boys of which I am the second son, the eldest is a lady and of course my parents.
Education
I am currently a mass communication student of Moshood Abiola Polytechnic, Ogun State. I attended Motbram school , Ikotun, later, I went to Nobleland secondary school Ota, Ogun State and thereafter to Brainstar School, Okota.
Music
Music has always been a passion ever since I was a child . I loved listening to Westlife music when I was a child. I started my musical career officially in March, 2018. I have released six singles. The third is “Stephanie” which is on all platforms with 125,392 plays on Naijapals, Goosebumps which is the fourth has over 2000 plays on audiomack and Bad boyfriend which was initially a one minute freestyle audio has over 3000 plays on Audiomack.
Best song
I love all my songs and i tried to make it better in each production. I write my songs myself for now.
Inspiration
Music for me is love. So basically, love inspires me. My elder brother Seanjossy who doubles as my Manger also inspire me.
Mentor
I have just four mentors , my parents, Mr Tosin Ajirire and Mr Jahman Anikulapo.
Most embarrassing moment
I was invited to perform at an event. I was the first artiste to get there by 7:30 pm. I waited till 8pm before people started showing up. There were lots of artistes performing that night, we gave the DJ our CDs as instructed but it was not until 9pm that the show started fully. In spite of arriving very early, I didnt perform till after the 16th artiste. I knew the organizer of the event who is also an artiste and walked up to him that he should allow me perform immediately after the third artiste drop the microphone and he agreed to it because he knew I was the first person to arrive .After the artiste on stage was done, the organizer went ahead forgetting our agreement to squeeze someone else in to perform He did that in my presence telling me ‘ Guy no worry, you go perform’. This was about 11:30pm that night and being a trusting person, I trusted him and decided to wait knowing fully well that it would be hard for me to get commercial bikes around that time. It was 11:50 pm when the artiste on stage dropped the microphone and the organizer had to squeeze another person in again to perform despite his promise to me. It was then I realized he wasn’t going to let me perform that night. So, I had to start going home around 12am and find a commercial bike around which was one of the hardest thing that I have ever faced.
Collaboration
I will love to have collabo with Davido, Kiss Daniel, Burnaboy, Whizkid and o am also open to lrecord label contract
Mantra
To live, love and respect
In the next 5 years
By God’s grace , I hope the whole world would listen to my music five years from now.And make money along the way.
My wish
I pray to sing in the Oscar someday and possibly be nominated or even win an Award. That has been my dream since my junior seconday school days and I know that comes with a lot of hardwork.
The saddest day
My saddest day ( Long pause) , not even when I scored 219, 236 and 250 yearly in Joint Admission Matriculation Board,JAMB and never gained admission were sad days or years for me. Not at all. My saddest day was when I lost my grandmother in March 2019. She was a loving and caring woman before she died (May her soul rest in peace).
Relaxation
I relax through listening to all kind of music ranging from RnB, Blues, Afropop, hip hop music and rap music.
Social media handles
You can follow me on Instagram @ omo iya ijo Twitter @ Theplugged_Troy Facebook page @ TROY MUSIC
