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“Shame on the men who put up shows and don’t realize you can have women in it” -Lami Phillips addresses a number of things going on in the music industry (video)
Lami Phillips revealed a lot about the Nigerian music industry, the peer pressure going on in the industry and why some people find it hard to make a headway.
The amiable Nigerian singer spoke about the peer pressure artists face to either change themselves or their sound in order to be accepted.
“Teenagers have peer pressure, it seems to me that we too have the same problems ’cause a lot of things that we are doing, it’s not because we want to do it, it’s because we want to please the next person,” She said. “And the truth of the matter is the next person doesn’t give a s*** about what you’re doing.
“You know, when you’re an artist or a public figure, people have opinions about what you should do, how you should look, what you should sing, what you should wear, and all of that stuff.”
She told of how someone suggested that she goes to a plastic surgeon in Lekki to undergo cosmetic surgery so she can have a body that’ll be more appealing to her fans.
The singer, who recently released a song titled Fix It, where she addressed societal standards of beauty and the pressure on women to modify their bodies in order to be considered perfect, also spoke about how fake people can be, especially on social media.
“Social media is a very fake place,” she said, adding that comments online can be deceptive.
She told of how people drop comments hailing artists, even when they create “crap” only to go offline to mock them.
The mother-of-two also spoke about the importance of a good attitude in the industry.
She said talent isn’t enough but humility and a great disposition is important to keep moving ahead.
She gave an example using Sound Sultan. She described him as a humble artist who always stands to greet people, no matter who they are or their position.
Conversely, she said there are a number of others with bad behaviours and warns that this can cost them their dreams.
She said: “If somebody gives you a platform and your character is shit, it ends there.”
She went on to praise Don Jazzy and pointed out how he works hard to promote every artist he works with.
“Don Jazzy is just a fantastic label owner because whoever he signs he pushes everything on him to make sure that that person is successful. To me, na man you be.”
She further addressed the rivalry between women in the industry and pointed out the unattractive attitude of trying to bring each other down.
“We women we’re perpetually putting each other down,” she lamented. “We don’t gas each other up when we’re doing the right thing. We see beauty the wrong way, meanwhile people are trying to look like us…”
She dispelled the notion that Nigeria is lacking talented female singers. She went on to name female Nigerian singers who she considers talented and said the problem isn’t with the singers but with the show promoters who do put female artists in their shows.
“Shame on the men who put up the shows and don’t realize you can have five women and one man. My point is that we have talent,” Lami said.
Watch the insightful interview below.
