Hi everyone. I hope you all had a good start to your week. January is almost gone, 2010 isn’t wasting any time at all. Anyways, here is the second Soul Muzik artist I would like to introduce to you. He goes by the name ‘Password’ and i can assure you he has the password to many female fans’ hearts with his Soul Reggae fusion style. Some of his influences are Bob Marley, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Lauryn Hill and Fela Anikulapo Kuti.
Born Patrick Ekanenze Mathias Ajinya, the artist now known as Password was born in a lower class ghetto in the rough city of Lagos to a Police officer Father and a Caterer Mother. Patrick, or PM as he was called growing up had an extremely rough childhood. The average Police officer in Nigeria earns as little as $150 a month and even though Password’s Father was a CID (Inspector), he struggled to provide the basic necessities for his wife and six Children.
Originally from a small village called Yala in the culturally rich city of Calabar in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria, the Ajinya Family lived in a cramped flat in a Police Barracks in the bustling city of Lagos.
Some of the most joyous moments for the infant Patrick involved him being completely entranced whilst listening to the sounds of Reggae, Gospel and 1980’s pop tunes that emanated from the families tiny apartment on weekends. These “joyous moments” will soon come to an abrupt end when his Father passed in a ghastly car accident when Password was only six years old. From that point, things became very unstable for the closely knit family.
Without his Father, young Password found a new form of escape in his Church. At age 11 he chose to join the youth Choir and quickly became one of the Choir’s leaders. By the time he was 13 years of age, he had learned how to read and notate music, as well as play the piano, violin, trumpet and recorder despite the fact that he did not own a single musical instrument.
But Password was determined at all cost to pursue his destiny. After Secondary school, he decided to defy his Family’s wishes and delved into music full time. Password, under the stage name “PM” started a gospel group called “five + 1″ with some friends from Church that shared similar love for Music.
After three years of performing with Five + 1, the young men eventually parted ways as many of the young members moved on, some gaining admission to University, while others went to pursue other ventures. Password was especially crushed as he took the group serious and even thought they could go on to record albums. Without a medium to channel his angst, and with continuing pressure from his family who regarded him a nuisance for opting not to go to College, Password decided to move out of the house and find his own way.
He eventually found love in the streets, and hung out with various gangs around Lagos occasionally dabbling in marijuana and other street vices. Password always looked for where the Music was, and ended up making friends with a rap posse in Lagos that was called “Premium Crew.” They all shacked together in a tiny apartment in a project on the outskirts of Lagos. Though they rolled with some very nefarious street characters, “Premium Crew” evaded trouble by indulging in hip-hop music. While some of their other friends and contemporaries peddled drugs on a small scale and even dabbled in the notorious 419 scam hustle, Password and his crew “kept it real” by making music. Premium Crew actually became a staple in the Lagos underground Hip-Hop scene, even scoring a track on the mixtape of legendary Nigerian Hip-Hop DJ and Mogul, DJ Jimmy Jatt.
By producing and lending his unique vocals to tracks for several struggling Hip-Hop artists that passed through the den of the “Premium Crew,” Password began gaining recognition within the underground music scene in Lagos. Password eventually branched out, moving out of the apartment he shared with his crew and literally lived from studio to studio, making a living making beats and writing songs for upcoming artists in Lagos. To record his demo, the ever resourceful Password would actually engineer and produce for certain studios in exchange for studio time to work on his own songs. Though he barely could feed himself, he somehow survived and most importantly gained a lot of experience, accumulating thousands of hours of hands on studio experience. Password had the opportunity to work with a little known Nigerian Afro-Pop artist called Bigiano, producing 70 percent of his debut album, “Shayo Master.” Bigiano would eventually release his album to critical acclaim, selling loads of albums and wining several awards and was even nominated for the prestigious 2009 MTV Africa Music Awards.
With a lot of underground recognition under his belt, Password eventually caught the attention of local independent A & R and artist manager AY who actually inspired the name Password and also had a lot to do with him infusing reggae into his Soulful production style. Shortly after their fateful meeting, AY passed Password’s demo to Solomon Sonaiya, COO of new emerging Record Company Soul Muzik, and the rest as they say has been “history.”
Password was immediately signed as a Producer/songwriter in the company’s in-house production unit Soulmatez, and also as a recording artist. With a lucrative deal in place, Password immediately went to work, producing and writing with Soul Muzik recording artist and Africa’s premier Soul/R N’ B sensation Darey for his first international album. While working on Darey’s project he collaborated on tracks with American Grammy award nominated and Oscar winning producer Kurt Clayton, as well as renowned Nigerian super producer, Cobhams Asuquo.
As a recording artist, Password has commenced production on his yet untitled debut album, which will feature his own special concoction of what he calls “Soul Pop Reggae,” accented by his strong, yet smooth falsetto infused vocals. The album will be released in the second quarter of 2010.
Read more about him and listen to his music here.
