Girls Brought Out Their Boobs and begged for My Autograph

Girls Brought Out Their Boobs and begged for My Autograph

 Fuji star, Muri Thunder, has opened up on the craziest thing a female fan ever did to him. In an exclusive chat with The Entertainer, Muri disclosed that a female fan begged him to sign autographs on her boobs. According to him, the weird incident took place after performing at the birthday of late fuji icon, Ayinde Barrister in London in 2008.
“I have had a lot of female fans do crazy things to me,” disclosed Muri, who has released over 20 albums since he kick-started his career in 1998 with his debut album, Optimism, “but the craziest yet was the day a female fan asked me to sign autograph on her boobs. It was in London after performing at the birthday celebration of late Ayinde Barrister in 2008.
“I was surprised and pretended I didn’t hear what she said but she brought out her boobs and begged me to endorse them in the presence of everybody. It almost blew me away! I quickly got a pen and did exactly what she requested. That was the craziest thing a female fan ever did to me. It happened in the hotel lobby where I was staying.”
Muri who is happily married and whose union is blessed with a daughter says that women are a part of his business as a musician and he cannot ignore them because they form a strategic part of his fan base, and he greatly appreciates them for being there for him in the past 14 years.
Isn’t his wife scared that she might lose him to younger and prettier girls?
“She knows the nature of my job. She knows that no matter what happens outside, when I am on tour, I will always come back home to her because I love her so much,” he says.
According to musician, the notion that artistes are morally bankrupt is wrong. Hear him: “I have suffered for love; I have been broken hearted in my life. I don’t know why people feel we are heart breakers.”

Once upon a dream
Today, Muri is a force to reckon with in the fuji genre both locally and internationally. But years ago, he was nobody who played free shows just to entertain family and friends.
“It’s been a long journey,” he recalls. “I started out at the age of five at Islamic school. My dad was an Imam so I was always going to the mosque. I was born in Ajegunle and it was very rough. There was a lot of crime going on around me but I refused to indulge in any. I remained focused and concentrated on my music. Ajegunle is a big ghetto where you have a lot of talent but it depends on what you want for yourself and what you want to be.
“It’s not every one of us that grew up there that ended up on the other side. Yes, I lost a lot of friends to crime and drugs while growing up but then it was also a matter of choice and the lifestyle they chose.”
Muri, who is the first son and second child of an Imam who doubled as a carpenter, disclosed that the strict upbringing he got from his father saved him from the crime on Ajegunle streets.
From a tender age he says his dad made sure that he attended Islamic school. The idea was for him to imbibe strict Islamic teachings which are love, peaceful co-existence and hard work.
However, growing up was not a tea party as his dad who was the breadwinner of the home was an artisan whose earnings barely took him home. Consequently, at that tender age, Muri knew he had to get cracking if he was to save his family from poverty.

Life as bus conductor
“I had to stop school at a point and become a bus conductor so that I could fend for my family. Yes, I was a conductor. My bus route was Amukoko and Boundary axis. My parents were not rich. I was in secondary school so I had to drop out and work to support my family.
“My father was a carpenter struggling to make ends meet. I have always been an ambitious kid so I asked myself, ‘what could I do to support my family?’ so I opted to be a bus conductor. Then my parents did not support my music. Despite the poverty my dad made sure he gave us a good upbringing and taught us to fear Allah. He made my siblings and I to realize that a good name is better than gold and silver.”

My whip-carrying uncle
Recounting the challenges he faced when he chose to go into music, Muri said: “My dad wanted me to have a strong Islamic school orientation. I couldn’t further my education because I dropped out of secondary school. My father got angry but was always advising me to remember my roots if I must do music.
“However, I had an uncle who always flogged me after I returned from entertaining neighbours or going to Abe Igi at National Theatre to entertain crowds with my small band. Then I was barely 10 years old. My uncle would flog the hell out of me but I remained determined.
“We went around Ajegunle playing music. My band and I were moving from one party to another and guests dashed us money. Our favourite spot every Sunday evening was the Abi Igi at National Theatre. I would be singing and my band would be drumming.”

Going professional
For Muri, his career started professionally in 1987 after he won a talent hunt for fuji artistes in Ajegunle, Lagos. He narrates: “It all started at a fuji competition for up-and-coming artistes organised by Alake Lakonko Promotions in Ajegunle and my band came first. They gave me a trophy and I became a local hero. My talent had been tested and I came through. I then wanted to pursue music professionally.
“It was after that that my family started giving me serious support for my music. They started supporting me. Even my uncle who used to flog and discourage me from singing became my first manager.”
And on the challenges, he said: “Finance was a big problem and it still is today for up-and-coming-artistes. But when you’re naturally talented a lot of people will not want to invest in you unless you’re a big name. The investors were scared but I believed in what I was doing.”

Meeting Ayinde Barrister
One experience Muri will not forget in a hurry was the day he met fuji music legend, Ayinde Barrister, whom he says crowned him as the Aremo of Fuji in 1999. “Barrister was like a father figure to me. He was the one that gave me the title Aremo of Fuji after I met him in 1999. He is no longer with us but he was a prophet. I met him for the first time in 1999, after he heard my works, he was impressed and felt I could replace him so he gave me the title of Aremo. I was humbled when I heard that the legend wanted to see me. That was after I dropped my third album, Still Alive. I was overwhelmed; it was a dream come true.”
On how he felt when he heard that Barrister was dead, Muri said thus: “I was shocked. He was a fountain of inspiration not just for me but also for a lot of young people out there. He sold fuji as a brand to the world and put Nigeria on the world music map.”

Sate of fuji music
However, to Muri Thunder, it is sad that fuji music is under-priced and under valued. He lamented: “It is sad that a fuji artiste will bring all his instruments and band members to entertain and the highest he would be paid is a mere N1.2 million.  But look at how much younger elements like Davido and Wizkid are earning per show and compare that to what the big fuji artistes are earning, you will realize that we are grossly under-priced; there is a serious problem and we in fuji music need to address it. Are they saying that hip-hop artistes are more talented than we are? These are the issues I am trying to address with my music and whether we like it or not, fuji is more original than hip hop.”

On Tuface
A while ago, Muri featured Tuface on both the audio and video of his hit single, Kasa Kasa. He says the reason why he did so was because he wanted to prove to critics that he could do it.
“I just wanted people to know that I can also do it (hip hop). We had been working on the project for quite a while now. My management, Papa Sly Entertainment and I looked around and asked, ‘which artiste really matches my talent?’ and Tuface naturally came to mind.
“We were looking for that artiste with international appeal and Tuface fitted the bill. There were no rehearsals, we just met in the studio and knocked Kasa Kasa out as we were feeling the beat. I did not believe it would be a great that it has become. It was a match made in heaven. The video is still trending on you tube.”
The fuji artiste described Tuface as a talented artiste and the light of his generation. “Working with him was such a humbling experience for me. He has a disarming humility and you just love him, and I believe that’s the reason why he has been so successful in his music to this day,” he remarks.

Burden of stardom
With stardom come problems. To this, Muri is not an exception: “I have given up on my private life. I don’t have a life anymore. I can’t take a ride on okada like I used to any more. I can’t eat at mama put anymore. If I go shopping, they always over charge me because I am Muri Thunder. Every agbero wants to collect money from me but abroad the reverse is the case, as people want to get my autograph. I don’t blame them because it is the level of poverty. That’s why I have always addressed social issues in my songs.”
Muri is happily married with a daughter. Commenting on how he met his wife, he said: “I had many girls around me but in the course of my job I met my wife. She loves good music and had heard about me. She used to be a fan of Wasiu (K1 de Ultimate). When we met, she was surprised that I was so young. I just sang and she fell for me
“We courted for two years before we got married. She is a lawyer with over 10 years experience; it was a union made in heaven. I had met a lot of women but she was different. We lost a set of twins at birth a while ago but now I am praying for triplets.”

Giving back
With the success and blessings he has received from society, Muri is already giving back. In Ajegunle, he has set up the Muri Thunder Football Club, which is geared towards empowering youths who have a talent for the round leather game and he has also wrapped up plans to kick-start a home for the aged in Ajegunle.
“We came out with the idea of Muri Thunder Football Club and right now I am putting structures on ground. What is worth doing at all is worth doing well. We want to take kids off the streets.
“We also have a Muri Thunder Home for aged people. We are working in collaboration with the Lagos State Ministry of Health. We are trying to give back, I believe so much in Ajegunle.”
When he looks back, Muri says that he never believed that he would be where he is today. “Yes, I knew that great things lay ahead of me but I never believed that it would be this big,” confesses Muri, who is wrapping up plans for his five-nation European tour. “I thank my father for sending me to Islamic school where I had my first brush with music at the age of five.”

Most memorable experience
Another experience Muri will not forget in a hurry happened in 2004 after he got N5 million from two promoters in Lagos for his yet-to-be-released album. He recalls: “That was a lot of money. I was so excited I ran home and gave N2 million out of it to my dad to keep for me. However, a couple of months later, I had invested the N3 million and was broke so I ran back to my dad for the remaining N2 million.
“To my surprise, he told everybody except me to leave the parlour and went behind his old black and white TV and brought out the money. When I counted it, it was N2 million! It was all in tact. I was so surprised because anybody could have stumbled on the money but it was intact. Everybody sat in that palour to watch TV every day but nobody had an idea that he had that kind of money there.”

Dreams
On his ambition, Muri says: “I want to be the first fuji artiste to win a Grammy.”
But if not a musician what would he be doing for a living? Muri laughs as he responds: “I would have been an Alfa (Islamic teacher).”