I say the truth in my praise songs – Sarauniya
Weekend Magazine: What motivated you to go into music? Aisha Abdullahi Bauchi: It started when I dreamt about my late mum and sang a song in her honour in Hausa. It was entitled ‘Uwa Tana Da Girma’ (mother is great). I later edited it, inserted English words and sent it to the Voice of America. […]
Weekend Magazine: What motivated you to go into music?
Aisha Abdullahi Bauchi: It started when I dreamt about my late mum and sang a song in her honour in Hausa. It was entitled ‘Uwa Tana Da Girma’ (mother is great). I later edited it, inserted English words and sent it to the Voice of America.
WM: Do you sing in English?
Bauchi: Yes, I do. Recently I sang a congratulatory song for the All Progressives Congress Chairman, Chief John Oyegun.
WM: What inspires the kind of songs you sing?
Bauchi: For example if I want to sing for a dignitary; senators or governors, I get information about their lives, what they do and what they have done and use such information to compose a song. Also, I write proposals on whether a music video needed to be made. A former vice president Atiku Abubakar, whom I gave the name ‘Mai Guduman Dukan Talaucin Najeriya,’ sponsored me to Saudi Arabia in 2007 and when his son married the former governor of Bauchi’s daughter, Ahmadu Muazu, I sang their wedding song. I also sang during the wedding dinner in Abuja.
WM: Why are you called Sarauniya?
Bauchi: I received an award because I sang Barack Obama’s congratulatory song back in 2008. I was the first person to sing a song for him. That was when I was named ‘the music queen of advocacy.’
WM: Do you try to convey any particular message in your songs?
Bauchi: If my subject is a public figure, I tell the world what he or she has done so that person will get due recognition for that achievement. If the individual is not doing well, I also say it in my music.
WM: Why do you choose to sing for important people?
Bauchi: I don’t choose. They usually invite me.
WM: Who did you sing for recently?
Bauchi: I sang for the senators in Maiduguri and as I mentioned earlier, the APC chairman, Chief John Oyegun.
WM: Why do you limit your music to advocacy?
Bauchi: Because I am a marketer, I do travel and don’t have the time to record albums.
WM: Is that what you do aside singing?
Bauchi: Yes. I sell clothes and cosmetics.
WM: Do you sing alone?
Bauchi: I have choristers. They don’t really work with me, but when there is a job I invite them to the studio.