A backup singer of late Nigerian Juju and Highlife musician Iyun Ajilore, popularly known as Saint Janet, has explained why the singer moved from gospel Juju to songs with sexually explicit themes.
The backup singer, Sunkanmi, popularly known as Suko, said Saint Janet made the change after discovering that the style attracted more audience engagement, bookings and money at social events.
Suko, who had known Saint Janet for over 25 years, disclosed this in an interview with Alejo TV on Tuesday.
He said he first met her when she was a backup singer for Nurse Kenge, while he worked as a freelance drummer.
“I have known Saint Janet before she started singing. She used to be a backup singer for Nurse Kenge. I was a drummer then, so I worked with different people. When she decided to stand alone and create her own band, I decided to follow her.
‘She started with gospel Juju,” he said.
Suko said Saint Janet initially mixed Juju with gospel music, with the band rehearsing at a Celestial Church.
“We used to do our rehearsal in a Celestial Church. She started as a Juju and gospel mixture. Our first studio recording was interesting, but people did not really listen to it. She spent money on that particular project and the cassette became dusty under her bed,” he said.
According to him, Saint Janet remained hardworking, performing at weddings, bars and beer parlours, but struggled to get the audience she wanted with gospel songs.
“She is someone who is hardworking a lot. Whether we were at a beer parlour performing or at a wedding, she was always working. When we went to bars, we did not really get the reception from the audience,” he said.
Suko said this pushed her to try a new style that used sexual themes and happenings at social events.
“So, she started and founded this explicit sexual style, like a pastor style, by using people at the event to preach in her song but romantically since it was a worldly setting,” he said.
He said Saint Janet used people and situations at events in her performances.
“Look at this woman, Aunty Adunni, and her husband, Mr Lagbaja, look at how they are kissing. She used happenings in her song to create a form of entertainment. When she experimented with it, we got more money on stage,” he said.
The new style soon brought more bookings from clubs and bars.
“Then she started getting bookings as a result of that from the clubs or bars, “he added.
However, Suko stressed that Saint Janet did not abandon gospel music.
“Still, she did not backslide from gospel music. She still got inspiration to sing gospel songs,” he said.
He recalled a wedding where Saint Janet was performing gospel songs before the bride’s family asked her to perform her newer style.
“We once got to a wedding where she was singing gospel, but the bride’s family insisted that she sing the newly founded sound that resonated with people,” he said.
Although the band complained that children were present, the family insisted there was no problem.
“When she started singing the song, people started spraying and we made more money than when she was singing gospel songs at the wedding,” he said.
Suko added that even some churches requested the explicit songs.
“We have gotten to some churches where they said we should sing those explicit-rated 18 songs,” Suko said.
He said he stayed with Saint Janet because their relationship had grown into a family bond.
“I could not leave her band because we are close. We are now family,” he said.
Suko also recalled Saint Janet’s final performance, saying she appeared to appreciate his years of support.
According to him, she turned to him during the performance and said: “Help me greet Suko, he has been with me for the longest, he has supported me.”
He said she also gave him her wristwatch and sprayed money on him.
“She so appreciated me, but not publicly on stage. Assuming I knew it was a goodbye, I would have just returned it and told her that it seemed you were going,” he said.
PUNCH Online had reported that Saint Janet’s children said she complained of chest pain and had difficulty breathing shortly before her death.
Her daughter, Omowunmi, said Saint Janet performed at a show in Sango, Ogun State, the previous night without showing any sign of illness.
“She performed the previous night. People even celebrated her with applause. We did not suspect anything. After the show, we came home and slept. The show was overnight,” she said.
Omowunmi said Saint Janet went to the market the following day and returned home around 6pm before preparing her own meal.
She later noticed her mother clutching her chest.
“After she finished cooking, she checked around the house to see if there was anything else for her to do. I later noticed she was holding her chest. She said she felt like something wanted to drop off her chest. Her breathing was no longer regular,” Omowunmi said.
Saint Janet was later taken to hospital, where she was admitted and given oxygen.
Her son, Orinayo, said medical personnel attended to her shortly after she arrived but later discovered that she had lost her pulse.
