Singer, songwriter, and music producer Alex Okoroigwe, widely known as Alex O, has said that his songs were promoted the same way as those of Juju star Shina Peters.
In a recent interview with QEDNG publisher Olumide Iyanda, Alex O shared how his passion for music began in primary school and grew stronger over time.
“By the time I finished secondary school, the urge to go into music was really strong. But I knew I needed to develop myself a bit more,” he recalled.
Despite submitting demo tapes to various companies in Lagos, Alex said he faced numerous rejections.
Realising that he needed more guidance, he decided to seek help from Steve Rhodes, whom he had seen perform on TV.
With the support of his friends, Alex managed to locate Steve and made his way to his office. “I said, ‘Sir, I want you to show me, teach me. I want to be a musician, a singer, but I don’t know where to start,'” Alex recounted.
Steve agreed to help, leading to a series of voice training sessions. After a year, he took Alex to a studio, marking the beginning of his journey as a performer. His first performance was at the memorial of Olu Aboderin, the founder of Punch Newspaper.
However, Alex wanted to do more than just perform. He was intrigued by a song from Lemmy Jackson and decided to seek him out.
“I was making a beat and singing on top of my brother’s cushion chairs, recording everything on tape,” he said. When he finally met Lemmy and played the tape, he was impressed.
“Lemmy listened to the tape and said, ‘You sing well. Where have you been singing?'” Alex shared.
After telling Lemmy about his year of voice training, he expressed his desire to join Twilight Records.
Instead, Lemmy offered to sign him to his own label, resulting in a three-year contract.
Under his mentorship, Alex honed his skills, even collaborating with other artistes like Funmi Adams.
Despite these experiences, Alex remained focused on his goal of releasing his own music.
He prayed for success with his next demo tape, hoping it would lead to a recording deal without having to search for one.
While working on the tape in a studio in Anthony Village, Lagos, a sound engineer from Sony Music (then CBS) overheard his work and expressed interest.
This led to a meeting at CBS, but despite their interest, no deal was reached.
Instead, Lemmy Jackson took Alex to Polygram, where he was immediately accepted.
Alex O credited his elder sister and her husband for helping him develop his English language skills, which played a crucial role in his songwriting.
Reflecting on his first album, Alex admitted it wasn’t as impactful as he had hoped.
“The first album was good, but it didn’t have that killer thing that would take you to the dance floor,” he said.
He wanted his music to be more danceable and DJ-friendly.
After the recording, Alex and his team took the album to premiere, and with the help of Dean Disi, they promoted the music across the south, west, and east, circulating the material widely.
Within two months, they had sold about 80,000 copies.
“Dean wanted to prove a point that he knew how to work magic,” Alex said, comparing his promotion to that of Shina Peters, who was marketed more like a pop artiste than a juju artiste.
Alex also mentioned that notable singers like the late Sammy Okposo, Yinka Davies, and Big Teddy were among his band members during that period.
