I relocated to Kano to make music says 23-yr-old doctor

Dr. Imam Malik Muhammed who is also known as Mielly Mee is probably one of the youngest medical graduates the northern region has at the moment. He graduated at the age of 23 from Ukraine. The Katsina born medical graduate cum musician decided to pursuit his childhood dream of music on his return to Nigeria. […]

Dr. Imam Malik Muhammed who is also known as Mielly Mee is probably one of the youngest medical graduates the northern region has at the moment. He graduated at the age of 23 from Ukraine. The Katsina born medical graduate cum musician decided to pursuit his childhood dream of music on his return to Nigeria. In this interview with Kano Chronicle, the young artist talked about his passion for the music and many more. Excerpts

Tell us about yourself?

My name is Imam Malik Muhammed, I was born in Katsina state and I did my primary and secondary school in the state. I lost my father at the age of 8 and our mother had to raise the seven of us all by herself.
I went to Ukraine to study medicine at the age of 17 and I just returned to the country last year; though I have not started practicing because there are certain things that need to be done in terms of internship and some examinations.  Presently, I am into full time music and I have relocated to Kano in pursuance of my musical career.
Why music instead of the medical practice?
This is something that I cannot explain, because I have started music while I was in secondary school and I cannot tell you how I got interested into music and if I must answer the question I would rather say it is just inherent in me to do music. I was already a musician before being a medical student and I have never dropped music even while studying.
People always find it difficult to believe that I was doing music while studying in Ukraine, but that was achieved because I had scheduled myself to do both at a time without neglecting any.
How did you combine studying medicine and music at the same time?
The irony here is that people failed to understand that to me music is just like a hubby and I do not need to study it before practicing. Moreover, as I have stated earlier I was already into music before my studies in Ukraine.
Do you think you can continue with music now that you are through with your studies and back home?
Yes, I will definitely continue with it. Music has always been part of me and therefore it is going to be music for mewhile I still do what I was trained to do.
What kind of music do you make?
Basically, I was into Techno kind of music. However, on my return to Nigeria I found out that such brand of music doesn’t go down well with the audience and hence I am not doing music for myself I need to adopt what the audience want. If you check some of my videos done in Ukraine you will understand more of what I am talking about.
In Nigeria, I am into all kinds of music for now. I am collaborating with the home based artist to give out what the people want and for me to get acquainted with the trend.
People are asking about the possibility of mixing two things at a time and now you are saying you are going to do three. Is it possible?
It is possible, in practicing medicine you have enough time for yourself and I want to use the free time to try a lot of things as I have made mentioned. To me it is going to be very easy because I have schedule myself on what I wanted to do and I believe I can do it.
Your video ‘Almajiri’ seems to draw a lot of attention. What really made you shot that video?
Literally the world ‘Almajiri’ means a person on journey of a mission. When I was in Ukraine, I was also an ‘Almajiri’. The fact that I traveled to Ukraine in search of knowledge; virtually I was Almajiri who went to Ukraine to be trained as a medical doctor. I believe with the help of our communities our Almajiris who were seen as a menace could also be productive and useful to their communities. I really felt bad when I see how these innocent children were been castigated for no fault from their side.
I wanted to give them hope that the person they are seeing on the screen was also once Almajiri and they can be better than that person if they wanted to be.
Who writes your songs?
I wrote my lines but that was before coming back to Nigeria.
Presently, I am working with Mas’ud of the famous Kano riders group as one of my song writers because writing music in Hausa is a bit difficult for me.