Although I’m Igbo, I rap, sing in Hausa – Frank Barnabas

Weekend Magazine: Can you please introduce yourself?Frank Barnabas, aka Don Juana: My name is Frank Barnabas, I am from Isuikwuato local government area of Abia state. I was born in Jos, Plateau State and I grew up there also, so I see myself as a unique Nigerian. Although I am Igbo by tribe, I don’t […]

Weekend Magazine: Can you please introduce yourself?
Frank Barnabas, aka Don Juana: My name is Frank Barnabas, I am from Isuikwuato local government area of Abia state. I was born in Jos, Plateau State and I grew up there also, so I see myself as a unique Nigerian. Although I am Igbo by tribe, I don’t see myself as an Igbo man and I don’t see myself as a Hausa either because I grew up in the North. I see myself as a true Nigerian. So if we are to talk about oneness in this country and if we believe that this country is not divided then I am an example.
I grew up in Jos and we all know that Jos is the home of talents.Growing up as a child; I fell in love with music at a very tender age because we had a wonderful radio station called 90.5 FM stereo with good presenters whom I would say they knew how to do their job, we used to listen to good music and it influenced me. I grew up loving music.
Does that mean your love for music enticed you into the entertainment industry?
Talented musicians, good music, and a good radio station, and because I love music and I could sing, I started singing and miming in school and from there, being a literary student, I started writing poems and I was at the same time converting them to songs. The first song I wrote in my life was to a girl, it was a poem I wrote and then that Valentine Day, I dedicated it to her and she was so happy.
You said you grew up in the midst of talented musicians, do you remember some of the musicians in question?
We had people like Adudeme, Panam Percy Paul, and they were musicians who were popular in this country and this was like the late 1980s and let’s say early 90s, and at that time I was in the secondary school and that was when I started singing, I used to rap, when the teacher leaves the class, I would just take over and I would start to rap for the whole class and they will be hitting the tables for the songs to digest well.
How come you can rap in Hausa language?
In the early 1990s, there was this period when rapping was the main thing, if you didn’t know how to rap then you were not flowing well as a young chap.We had good rappers then and any show you went to, you find out that it was always the same thing that they were showcasing. So,on my own I tried something different. In my house alone one day, I tried to write and rap in Hausa using Western instruments on it.
At that time we had this driver at home called Sani Dagewa, there was this artiste called Ali Balaspa, the guy who sang ‘Chanchangi.’ Our driver Sani then loved to play his music so I actually fell in love with Balaspa’s style of music unlike the traditional hardcore rap.So I said to myself that I could actually work on this man’s style but instead of using the local beat, I will use the modern style so it will appeal to not just northerners; if you don’t know how to speak Hausa at least you will feel the rhythm of the song. So that was my personal experience and I tried it and it worked.
Your music used to make waves back then, why did it stop all of a sudden?
I was singing and at the same time studying, I read Law, and it is not an easy course to play with, unlike Theatre Arts, where you can play around. So it was challenging and I couldn’t give music hundred percent and apart from that my parents at the initial stage, didn’t buy the idea of me singing.They wanted me to become a lawyer, so I was just like on and off in music, I would go out there, sing and come back home and sleep, so it was tough. Also, coupled with the kind of course I was studying, I didn’t give music hundred percent of my time, unlike my friends whom we all grew up together, Peter and Paul, P-Square.
When Benson and Hedges came down to Jos for ‘Drop the Mic’ contest in 1998, I emerged first and I won the whole northern Nigeria. In 1999 I was first again, so in 2000, I came first again, I was supposed to represent northern Nigeria for the finals in Lagos, but I couldn’t go, and that was the show P-square won and blew out from there.
Which of your songs gave you your breakthrough and how did it happen?
I used to sing ragga music but like I said earlier, the Hausa thing was when I decided to do something different that even the sugarcane seller (Mai rake) out there would feel; and when you listen carefully to my lyrics, I fantasise and it is all about the youths. I did Balaspa that was in 2003 at T.M Rock studio in Jos and I became so popular that my song was in the MTN top 10 chart for about 26 weeks. I and Oso (Sensei) sang that song, it even became the first song that stayed for a long period of time from Nigeria, and some presenters came down from South Africa to interview me but I was away.
I recorded that song the night before my last paper, in the studio and I was supposed to write Company Law as my last paper. There in the studio, I was studying overnight while recording at the same time and after that, the song came out and I became popular and started travelling for shows. That was when I met Eedris Abdulkareem and we both wrote his musical track ‘Nigeria Jaga-Jaga.’ I also wrote songs like ‘Galemu,’ ‘Garin Kano,’ for him. So, after that I went to Law School. After I finished from there, I recorded ‘Allah Kau Da Bala’i;’ it was a song that I never wrote, I just went to the studio and it started flowing. What inspired that song was that I was here in Abuja on my way to Gwagwalada and then it was at that Berger round-about where you have those 14-14 vehicles. So,I was inside this bus and an old Hausa beggar with an Igbo man who was selling soft drinks and they were partners, when the Hausa man starts to sing ‘Allah Kau Da Bala’i,’ the Igbo man would be marketing his drinks and also singing in Hausa saying, ‘Galemu,’ meaning buy minerals. So they were singing together and if you buy a bottle of coke, you will be forced to give the change to the beggar and they worked well and that really inspired me to do that track.
I was more interested in the musical content and I want to say that I have done another version of this song in the UK.
Why U.K?
I had a friend, an English guy, and he told me that he knew a music producer in North London who owned a studio and we could actually do something and make the song appealing to the Western world. I took the song to the producer and after listening to it he said, he didn’t understand what I was saying but he loved the rhythm and we recorded it. He is a popular producer over there who recorded songs for the Dynamite, Wine House etc.
Did your song ever get to mass production?
Unlike other musicians, they will sing and follow it up to the end, for me I will just record in the studio and it will escape from there; I never got signed up by anybody because I didn’t say I was going to pursue music as a career.
Did you get any royalty from your songs?
Unfortunately I didn’t, I only got money from shows and all the money I made was from shows. I gave the recorded song to a friend in Jos and I left for London. You know here in Nigeria, piracy is something you cannot control; so while I was out of the country, someone else was making money from my music.
Is entertainment something you are looking forward to resuming fully?
Sometimes when I watch TV, when I watch our daily channels, I feel sad because I see a lot of mediocrity. I also see myself as somebody who would have done better so I believe I still have a lot to offer and I am not exaggerating about it.Just last night, I was in my room singing while my little niece who is not yet two years old, was even dancing to my song, I didn’t know my mum was watching me, she didn’t say anything but I know she was amazed by my style.
Knowing that you have musical talent, why did you choose to study Law?
Like I said earlier, when you come from a family where your parents would decide what you should become in future, then you have no option that to make them happy. You know the way our society is now, but if they had allowed me, I would have studied Theatre Arts and even go into music fully because all the guys we all started singing together then in Jos have made it big in the entertainment industry. People like M.I.
Talking about other artistes, are you planning to do any collaboration with any of them? 
Yes, Audu Maikori is a good friend and his brother Yahaya is also a good friend, we have been talking, they are also lawyers like me. I have started recording now, I also have new songs on ground that I just wrote but I haven’t proposed that yet. I also did a song with a white girl, she did the chorus for me and I did the miming. So this time around I want to do it not for money but for self-actualisation.
Where do you think you are more talented, writing songs or singing?
Writing; because I express myself very well while doing that. I wrote ‘Mr. Lecturer’ Part II for Eedris Abdulkareem and other songs too. I also wrote ‘Ga Lemu’ for Funkiest Mallam; I have worked with Jersey Jags, and I have done something for P-Square.
Having been in the industry in the past and looking at it now, what major challenges do you think Nigerian artistes are facing?
Before now it was tough, if you go to Lagos, to try and break through, you must sing in Yoruba; today the major challenge is that the quality of our videos is poor, for you to make it; you either go to South Africa to shoot videos or to Europe, so the major challenge is finance.
What do you have to say to your fans?
I am so sorry my fans out there, I disappointed you people at first, you loved me so much that you wished you had more of me in the musical industry, but I disappeared. I am still alive I am not dead and I am going to do something new and nice, and I am coming out with the very best. Thank you all and remain blessed.