Gold …not scripted, not edited

BY OYINDAMOLA LAWAL
AFTER making a mark in modeling and fashion — with his boot cut pants, thick collar shirt, and cropped jacket — Toba Olabode Gold entered the music industry two years ago with his special kind of music, which he tagged jazz and neo soul.
The 28-year-old artist, who has modeled for some of Nigeria’s telecommunication companies, financial institutions and fashion houses, among others, on April 12, will launch his new album, record label and a magazine, spicing it up with celebrities’ catwalk.
Titled Blunt fusion, the show will have celebrities from different sectors and organisation, including CEO of banks, advertising agencies, communication, governors and their wives, among others strutting the runway in JD7 and V-Gorgeous’ outfits.
Talking about his album, he says, “it’s a fusion of contemporary R and B, folk, jazz and soul.”
On his recent video, Jeje, Gold says, “it talks about real life; the reason why people just have to take it easy in their quest for money. It is something I created out of the urge to correct the menace of the society. Are we on the right track? Jeje is just an avenue, where people can be corrected and challenge people to change for the better. It talks to every facet of the society – the young, the old, the government and the citizens. Basically it’s about life.”
He adds, “ it’s something I composed having heard the real life story of my friend, years back in the university. It is also a song that is socially relevant to life. It is a true-life story of my friend, who was murdered, in his final year in school by cultists. It is a corrective measure to the youth and a message for everyone. It talks about patience. I wrote Jeje in 2007, and shot the video 2008 after Fe Mi. There is a track, Tribute, dedicated to mothers; it talks about the lives of mothers and the pains of child bearing. Tribute will make an impact on people because it’s about parenting.”

GOLD also talks about other tracks in the album such as Asiri, True Love and Wake up Africa. He says, “Asiri talks about the spiritual powers of the world — the physical and the spiritual. True Love is something that will touch people and the track was done with Yinka Davies while Wake Up Africa has a global message.”
Having consulted as Strategic Marketing and Advertising Executive for different company all over the world such as Durand Foods, Conestoga, U.S.A, Image Infinity, Chateux De Atlantic, Treasure Afric Magazine, Gold now runs Icon Media, a multidisciplinary Consortium of Franchise and Integrated Communications outfit based in Manchester, United Kingdom.
Gold’s passion for music started at 13, when he was a vocalist in the church choir. He added a feather to his cap when he released his first single, Fe Mi, which topped the chart for some time, becoming almost an anthem.
So, who is Toba Gold? “He is a model, and an artist. Blunt is raw, undiluted, filtered, not edited and not scripted.”