Real reason Remedies broke up –EEDRIS ABDUL KAREEM

Controversial hip hop act and ex-De Remedies star, Eedris
Abdul Kareem, is back on the block with a brand new single
entitled Naija Shine Ur Eyes. In this chat with TONY OGAGA
ERHARIEFE & IKECHUKWU IHEANACHO , the act opens up on
his support for President Goodluck Jonathan, his career, the
50 Cent saga and why De Remedies broke up among other
issues.
Excerpts:
We understand that you have thrown your weight behind
President Goodluck Jonathan’s campaign and even released a
new single, Naija Shine Ur Eyes to demonstrate your commit­
ment. Why are you supporting GEJ?
I am the co-ordinator of I Am Nigeria Project , a platform
dedicated to saving our dear country. Let us call a spade a
spade, GEJ truly loves this country and I believe in his dream.
I have not met with him but everyone that has common sense
will realise that the dude is actually trying to make use of our
funds to give us all that we need, the same things that we
asked his predecessors to give us and they never did.
Everybody has a choice and for me, it is Jonathan all the way.
For goodness sake, Buhari has ruled us in the past in different
capacities and now we want to move on.
What is Naija Shine Ur Eyes all about?
This song is borne out of the backdrop that foreign media and
political analysts predicted that Nigeria would disintegrate this
year 2015 but it is not going to happen. God loves Nigeria as
a nation. This is the time for the youths to stand and speak
up. All sentiments should be disregarded and politicians
should be judged by their achievements instead of propaganda
like the opposition is doing.
You sang Nigeria Jaga-jaga which talked about corruption in
Nigeria so why are you now supporting this government?
When I said Nigeria was Jaga-jaga , you should remember that
it was not Goodluck that was ruling Nigeria then; Goodluck is
not the one that made Nigeria Jaga-jaga . Jonathan is doing
all his best. The issue of corruption has been there for very
long and GEJ is doing his best to fix Nigeria. There is nothing
you can do to satisfy human beings.
Tell us about the new album you are working on?
Oh yeah! I have a new album entitled Spirit of Naira. It is all
about things that have been happening in our country. The
objective is to educate the youths on their roles in society.
Any collabors on this your new album?
I do have but I will not mention names. Some are my home
boys; some are new school while some are boys that trained
under me. Timaya and KC Presh are my boys. My record label,
La Kreem Entertainment, did so much for many artistes
including Timaya and KC Presh. They were under my label but
we didn’t sign any contract. We did what I will call ‘gentle
man deal’ whereby we consulted for the artistes and took
them to Baba Keke (Kenny Ogungbe). Baba is someone I will
always be loyal to. He made me who I am today. La Kreem
Records still does business with Kennis Music.
Tell us what you mean by Timaya and KC Presh being your
boys?
Timaya was under me and stayed with me for four good years.
I told him to go back to Bayelsa State and research on the
history of his people and do a song about them which he did.
You know, he has never told the media that he was my boy
and lived with me for four good years. I showed him the way
forward and he learnt many things from me. Those days I did
everything possible to push acts like Timaya among a host of
others up and comers. Timaya was my boy, he was brought
to me from the street and I showed him how to be successful
even though he praises himself in most of his songs now. He
is a graduate of La Kreem Records; it is not easy being a La
Kreem Records graduate.
You said KC Presh duo were also your boys, tell us about it?
They were with me too. I paid for the form they used to enter
Star Quest. They used to come to me for advice. I took then
to Baba Keke at Kennis Music and showed them how to be
successful in the industry. Kcee and Presh have appreciated
me for what I did for them through Kennis Music. Back then,
we didn’t ask anyone to pay us, we did whatever we did for
God; that is it.
Tell us about the De-Remedies, are you guys coming back
together again?
Of course, we are coming back again. Right now we are
working on a new album. Life is all about forgiving and
forgetting; you just move on and forget the past
What really separated you guys?
If you ask me what caused the separation I will say nothing.
We did 29 shows on the Rothmans Tour and when we were
about to share the money, someone was like ‘guy, what is
your contribution in this group?’ It was such a funny question.
And then the guy changed his ways maybe because one of
them wanted to go solo. I was not the one that brought the
idea of separation. If you remember, one of us dropped his
own single while we were still in the group. He even told me
that one will do better going solo because whether I like it or
not, one day, everybody will go solo. So I took up the
challenge and I did my best. I was so close to both of them
so basically we didn’t have any problem really.
Plantashun Boys came back and did an album yet they are
not still together. Don’t you think the same thing could
happen to Remedies?
Not at all. The reason why Plantashion Boyz could not make it
was because they were not prepared; there was no love
among them.
You are said to be one of the artistes that fought for Nigerian
music industry and made it what is it today…
(Cuts in) Look, the moment 50 Cent came to Nigeria and
asked me to stand up from that seat, I felt very bad. If I had
not done what I did I am not sure I couldn’t have lasted two
months before my death because the pain would kill me.
Imagine the insult! Someone coming into my country and
telling me ‘you gotta get up from that seat!’ Oh my God! You
know what it means? It has spiritual implication. But I thank
God for what happened because that has put food on the table
of the new acts you see today. I fought for all of them and
now they are chopping.
Do you have any regrets for what happened between you and
50 Cent?
No, not at all. I have never regretted it; I am so happy I have
been able to create employment for youths.