Early in his career, veteran Nigerian singer Alexander Akande, often known as 9ice, claimed to sound like Wyclef Jean, a rapper from Haiti.
The ‘Photocopy’ crooner said he wasn’t the only Nigerian artist copying Wyclef’s sound back then but he was better than the rest.
In a recent interview with SPS, 9ice explained that he stopped copying Wyclef Jean after he discovered his own sound.
He emphasised that his brand of music is a fusion of his major inspirations like Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, Bob Marley, Ayinde Barrister, Kwan1 and Pasuma.
“My inspiration was Wyclef [Jean]. If anybody listened to me at the beginning, there was a time I was sounding like Wyclef 100 per cent. And there were other people that were sounding like him but they felt that I sounded better than them when it comes to sounding like Wyclef,” he said.
“And from sounding like Wyclef, I got to my own original sound. Bob Marley, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, Ayinde Barrister, Kwan1, Pasuma and Obesere are the people that I listened to while growing up and they formed my blend in music.”
Written By Sunny Green Itodo