Why I’m called ‘Queen of Soft Rock’ – Zainab Sule

Weekend Magazine: You are called the Queen of Soft Rock. How did you come to be nicknamed so? Zainab Sule: Some people think I named myself so. In fact, a good friend of mine used to say ‘self-acclaimed’. But I didn’t name myself. Some fellow, trying to christen me in his own way, coined it, […]

Weekend Magazine: You are called the Queen of Soft Rock. How did you come to be nicknamed so?
Zainab Sule: Some people think I named myself so. In fact, a good friend of mine used to say ‘self-acclaimed’. But I didn’t name myself. Some fellow, trying to christen me in his own way, coined it, and here we are today. In any case, I love rock music. When you listen to it, there’s something about the music that just makes your emotions richer.

WM: Can you remember your very first guitar?
Sule: I actually had two first guitars. I have an uncle who is a doctor and stays in the UK. When I was fifteen I would harangue him to buy me a guitar, and he would refuse. I then transferred the aggression to my mum. I would sit at home and watch Amy Grant playing the guitar and I’d tell her that this is what I am supposed to do. I was quite young then but I knew that was what I wanted to do. One morning, she woke me up and told me we could go and get the guitar.
After my mum bought the guitar, I didn’t know that my uncle had already bought me one as well in the UK. So I had two guitars, both of which were my first.

WM: You have a new track coming up in June called ‘Don’t Forget to Breathe’. What is it about?
Sule: When I write songs I try to think of what the next person is going through. I was just playing around on Instagram and I saw the words ‘don’t forget to breathe’. There were other words before that, but ‘don’t forget to breathe’ stood out. When I get something like that, I just get my guitar and play. I get the lyrics without struggling.

WM: You have a concert coming up this August in Lagos. What do you have planned?
Sule: I have never done a show in Lagos, so it’ll be my first. It’ll also be the first time I will be having a comedian on a show – Rubbertainer, who is very good.
My opening acts are mostly alternative musicians, who don’t get as much limelight as mainstream ones. But they are very good, if not better. Some of these people are amazing. Three of them came to my show last year in Abuja.

WM: Have you thought of doing something with more established, mainstream Nigerian artists?
Sule: Yes. There was a time when rapper Mode Nine’s management sent a tweet, but when my manager called, it didn’t materialize. I’m looking forward to an affiliation with rap and rock. I see something there.

WM: So who would you like to collaborate with the most?
Sule: Mode Nine. He’s just awesome.

WM: How far would you say you have come since you started your music career?
Sule: I have become more of a guitarist. I have been playing since 2001. I would say I’ve gone deeper into my art. Most of my songs have more guitar, and I make sure the sound comes out more. I’m also more particular about the sound, so that when you experience the kind of music I do, it leaves something with you.
I discover I spend more time with guitars and write more. I used to have the opinion that if I get to write a song, it is good. But now I can go back to the song I have written before and tweak and revise it. It is not about perfection, but holding oneself to a certain standard.

WM: Do you have plans to sing in any indigenous language?
Sule: No. I prefer to stick to English. I could mix it with other languages, but not so much. You communicate best in the language you speak best. If I could speak Edo, my dad’s language very well, I would’ve written songs in it. The first attempt I had with the language was with my track ‘Uyheme’. Translating it wasn’t easy.

WM: Last year, you embarked on a huge social media project where you were to post little videos. How did that go?
Sule: I’m still on it, and it’s coming up nicely. We had a time limit and we did the video for that year and invited some artists. I was doing that to make people more aware. As I said before, alternative artists don’t have much limelight like the mainstream artists. It was successful on YouTube, but I realized that Facebook had more opportunities. We got more views on Facebook.

WM: Are your videos straight-up concert-type, or do you experiment with more story-driven mini-movies?
Sule: I prefer the story-driven ones. I don’t think I have a single concert video, even.
Though I think most times directors don’t understand what’s in my head. The directors I have worked with are very good, actually, but what is in my head is different.

WM: Your patriotic side showed on your new track, ‘God Bless Nigeria’. What inspired it?
Sule: You know how you sometimes feel like you hate the whole country? But then you realize you can’t go anywhere and that no matter how bad the country is, you just have to pray for your country and love it unconditionally. That was the driving force behind that song.
Nigeria is a country that embodies a heart attack. It offends you. There are times you are on the queue and someone wants to slip through to the front and ends up bashing your car. It’s annoying. In a situation like that, you start wondering how much it costs to settle down elsewhere. But then I remember that the Bible says, ‘pray for the peace of the land’. So I pray for my country and hope it gets better. I’m not going anywhere. That is why I pray for Nigeria. If God sees your heart and you’re sincere, He will answer.