The world is yet to get a taste of the new soothing, sensual sound of Nigerian soul singer, Dozie (pronounced Doh-zee-ay); his debut album Redemption, a title subject to change with the set of a record deal, is ready to hit stores late this summer.
He has been compared to Sade, Maxwell and even Seal. His melodious voice and distinctive style hold an appealing groove—one that leaves no doubt that this up-and-coming artist is ready to break through the industry with something missing for a while.
Dozie’s forthcoming project shows tremendous potential in today’s Hip-hop-driven market. After noticing just a few successful African artists both in the U.S. and U.K., he wanted to make a move to help balance this shortage. “Yeah you’ve got Sade, you’ve got Seal and a couple of other people but not a whole lot and I wanted to kind of help show that we’re capable of operating at this level. I’m trying to have my own style, have my own music”… “I just wanted to put Africa/Nigeria on the map a little bit and try to put some good music out,” he says of his inspiration for the album. “[I wanted to] try to create a great, meaningful, musical type of music that you don’t have to be 15 or 16 years old to go out to enjoy,” he adds.
As a new comer in the music scene being compared to legends like Seal and Sade, Dozie thinks: “It’s an honor. These are fantastic artists, they’ve done very well, great music, they’ve sold millions of records and for me to be put in that category is great! Hopefully I can have the same level of success one day that they’ve had.”
“But in terms of the quality of music, I’m very touched that people kind of see me in that way,” he adds.
Dozie’s album title Redemption denotes his long journey as a foreigner in the U.S. trying to get a break in the music business. “But I thought it as also kind of a way of expressing being an African and kind of going through all the struggle we go through as a continent and say hey, we’re able to participate at this level of human endeavor and succeed, so we’re kind of being redeemed in a way by putting out that material,” he elaborates.
This San Francisco-based singer launched his music career about three years ago when shopping for a record deal, and getting his music out to people became of paramount importance in his life. After a few unsuccessful attempts to partner with industry-savvy producers, Dozie finally gets to work with high-powered music executives like Joel Jaffe and Don Mizell, producer of Ray Charles’ last Grammy Award winning album.
Dozie’s track record with music dates back to when he was a young boy, but he began singing seriously while in secondary school in Nigeria. In the United States he joined a gospel choir and other spiritual musical groups in college, something he says encouraged him to continue singing and playing instruments. “Somebody came and said, ‘you can really sing man, you can actually play the instrument, you might make a career out of it,’ and for some reason that statement just stuck,” he says. After that compliment Dozie began to explore and cultivate his talents by learning to play the piano –he began to wake up as early as 3 a.m. to play in the basement of a local church. “I would do it everyday for hours and hours and then one thing led to another and before you know, I came into the music business,” he says of his career awakening.
Today he can confidently say that he is not an amateur to the keys of a piano or the strings of a guitar. Dozie played percussion instruments in secondary school while a member of a traditional Igbo dance group and even takes a stab at the base and drums in the studio from time to time. “But [piano and guitar] are the only things I would actually play on stage,” he laughs.
Because of his African upbringing, a lot of the perspective communicated through his music is based on the struggles of modern day Africans, though he says it extends to the rest of the world.
He speaks Igbo, English, and Pidgin, all of which are used liberally in his music. “I think it’s good to expose people to that a little bit,” he says. “Obviously I do what you consider to be popular music, soul music, but you know I grew up in Nigeria so I have to put a little bit of my culture in there,” he adds about his style.
Dozie was born in England, his mother’s homeland, but grew up in Nigeria – his father’s, where he lived until he left to attend college in the U.S. Though most of his childhood and adolescence were spent in Nigeria, he did visit England often.
At age 10 Dozie left home to attend seminary school, a path his father believed to be instrumental in providing him with the same discipline and moral standing that helped him become a successful professor. “I think he felt it would be good for my development regardless of whether I actually pursued it to be a priest or not,” he explains.
“I think it’s important in providing the right kind of perspective, the right kind of attitude to life and the kind of hunger and work ethic because of the way we’re raised,” he refers to Africans. “So it’s certainly something I think is very important for children to experience,” he says about seminary school.
His father believed taking that route would help Dozie to become successful in life and instill discipline in him—that seemed to have been effective. “I’m just a hard-working man that’s not afraid to chase his dream,” he describes himself. “It seems like a very simple thing to say but it takes a lot to be able to come up with a dream in your head and say ‘O.K., I’m gonna go chase it.’”
Music, one of his dreams, has become his way of having an impact on the world. “I want to touch people, I want to give inspiration to other kids in Africa that’s gonna look at me and say ‘you know what, this guy did it, I can do it too.’ Those kinds of things can really inspire people, it can really really touch people and change the world in your own little small way,” he expresses his passion.
On the subject of passion, soccer seems to have also stolen the heart of this soul singer like many other African men. “I just love the game, I’m very passionate about the game,” he says with fervor.
“My manager keeps telling me ‘you can’t keep doing this, you’re not going to be able to play music’ and I say ‘I don’t care, I gotta play,’ he laughs.
Dozie may be one of many musicians awaiting the perfect record deal, but he is certainly not one to be mistaken for an amateur –his record speaks for itself.