The Pope blesses us all

Born Michael Egube in Benin City, Pope is the 1st child & only son of his parents with two beautiful sisters. Pope spent his early years at oil-rich Warri before moving to Lagos. Drawing inspiration from a diverse range of influences including Michael Jackson, Bob Marley, Lauryn Hill, Jay-Z and Fela; he started music at an early age, learning to play the keyboard while in primary school. He later added the drums and bass guitar to his repertoire in secondary school, as well as what would ultimately become his foremost skill: rap. By 2008, Pope had become a respected name on the underground hip-hop scene in Nigeria, where he cut his teeth on numerous underground mixtapes while honing his signature melody-driven rap sound, eventually getting the attention of Cackland Music, his current label home. With his two official debut singles just released ('Enjoy'-which he sampled Fela & fused it with jazzy hip-hop to make a classic & 'Baale Baale'-which he made a club hit from only drums) and his debut album slated for release later this year, Pope has effectively proven that he is set to take the entertainment industry in Africa by storm. He speaks with Kanyisola Doherty about his next plan. Edited by ada igboanugo
Why the choice of the stage name 'Pope'?
Well, 'Pope' originated from a Latin word 'Papa', which we all know means father. So the name 'Pope' as a stage name hereby signifies that I'm the father of the new school hip-hop and I'm set to give birth to a new revolution of hip-hop in Africa and the world as a whole.


What will you call your style of music?
well personally I call it 'legend-music' because what I'm doing is legendary....it's a fusion of different genres, with hip-hop & afro-music being more dominant.


What influences your music?
On one hand, it's the artistes I listen to...like Michael Jackson, Bob Marley, Fela, Kanye West...and on the other hand it's stuff I go through personally, or observe in my environment, and sometimes stuff that I see other people go through and I feel others out there can relate to.


Your singles 'Enjoy' and 'Baale Baale' are enjoying massive airplay on radio,should we expect any videos?
The Video for 'ENJOY' would premier in a couple days...Had so much fun during the shoot and it's a very amazing video that y'all should watch out for!


What do you think about the Nigerian Music Industry?
Personally, I would say the Music Industry in Nigeria has started to grow rapidly considering what it used to be and what it is now...but if we look at our foreign counterparts, we can tell that we still got a long way to go.


Your perfect everyday look will be?
Ans: Hmmmmm...A tee-shirt, nice pair of jeans and snickers...I like to keep it simple.

What's next for Pope?
A couple more hits, couple more collabos, a couple of awards, couple albums and what y'all have heard is just a tip of d iceberg...Currently working on a Mixtape with DJ Humility which should be out soon. Its gonna be different, legendary. Y'all should watch out....
The revolution has just begun!!!