A part of the popular Afolayan family, Gabriel Afolayan is a versatile artistic individual with his impressive acting skills and delivery of soulful music,. Also known by stage name, G-Fresh, he speaks with Nigerian Tribune about his career and relationship with his brothers, among other things. Excerpts:
How was growing up?
It was a normal childhood like every other person’s. It was a very cordial father-son relationship and I loved most part of it. The experience is my antecedent, one cannot rule that out. It is a great influence in what I do today.
What childhood memories do you have?
Although we were young then, we were made to see what he did. We were not very actively involved, but we were there. He showed us a whole lot of stuffs and he made mention of the fact that if any of us was interested, we could pick it up from there.
The path I’m walking right now has always been my childhood dreams. I have always had passion for this. I didn’t deceive myself on anything else.
How did the foray into movies professionally begin for you?
I started as a child actor, so it’s been a long time coming for me. I grew up into the trade. I learnt the trade both formally and informally, so it is something I have always been doing. And it has been an awesome experience. Just like every other business, you have ups and downs; you have it good, bad and ugly. It’s never smooth sailing, but whatever comes good to you, there is always a journey to it.
What is your educational background?
I grew up in Ibadan basically and I did all my schooling in Ibadan. For my primary school education, I attended the United Native African Primary School, then I proceeded to Polytechnic High School, before I went to the University of Ibadan where I studied Theatre Arts.
You hardly feature in your brother, Kunle’s movies, why is this so?
The thing is the fact that I don’t have to be in his movie just because we are family members. It is not a criterion. We are professionals and we do things professionally. If there is no cause for me to be there, then there is no point. I am always behind the camera with him, I even learn a lot behind the camera than being in front of the camera. And I normally handle his research for any film he’s doing. We’ve worked together countless times.
People have the impression that things are not good between you and your brother, Aremu, as you didn’t attend his wedding…
I was working at the time, I was off town; I wasn’t in Lagos. I was in Port Harcourt and I was just tied up. There is nothing more to it than that. He is my brother and we are good.
What influenced your decision to go into music?
I’m into music because I have the passion for it as well. Music is a part of me from way back. I have always had this melody in my head that I don’t want to let go of. Music practice for me has been a long time coming, it is not something I just woke up one day to do. It has always been there.
I have been a back-up singer for a long time now. I was signed to a studio as a back-up singer ever since 1997, so music for me is not something new. It has always been a part of my trade. I am full of anything artistic; it is a total package, we produce, we direct, we write. I am coming from a round theatrical background where we don’t just act; we dance, we sing, we play instruments. So it’s a house of entertainment.
Your first single Kokoro Ife got massive recognition, what inspired it?
First, the notion of me wanting to do a simple music gave birth to that idea. I know in this country we work with what’s obtainable and there is no point in me getting into music and start making complications. I wanted to make a simple song. I have it in my head and I wanted to make a love song. So bringing borrowed experiences with my personal experience made a good music out of it. That was what just happened.
I didn’t even expect that much acceptance. I knew the song was refreshing because personally, I listened to it over and over again after recording the song. And when you see something good, you don’t have to stress it, it is good. So the motive of wanting to do something simple and reachable influenced the song.
Were you in love when you wrote the song?
Funny enough, I wasn’t even in a relationship when I wrote the song. Being a musician, you just have to be yourself, you know what you want and you know how you want it to happen and you’ve heard stories of people and you have your own personal inclinations as well, so bringing all these together would always work a very good magic.
It was alleged that you stole the song from someone, how would you react to that?
Anytime people hear anything good, they will always have something to say about it. There was a whole lot of talk about it, and I’ll just say that it is because the song is good. That song was real to me, it was original and I had to just express myself with it. It was just a rumour, there’s nothing to it.
Despite being really good, you hardly feature in day-to-day movies. So what makes a good script to you?
Basically, I look out for the story line, the plot, the arrangement of ideas, the theme and the sole text. If I’m impressed with these, then I could consider it. When I get a script, I try to read and understand it first, then I can now talk about the character and narrow it down to the character’s perspective. What is his quest? What is he fighting for? What does he say about himself? What do other characters in the movie say about him? When you check all these layers of your character’s intentions, then you can now align with the whole structure of the story.
The role you played in Madam Dearest more or less gave people a deep insight into how good you are as an actor. What did it take from you?
It required dedication. It was just wanting to do something nice. Dedicate yourself and get yourself properly in tune with the emotion of the character and if you are able to size up for it, you make it happen. That was what happened.
You are yet to produce a movie, why?
No, I haven’t. When I am ready, you will see it. It’s actually in the pipeline already. We will get there.
Besides your father’s legacy influencing your career positively, what responsibilities does it demand from you?
Yes, it carries with it a whole lot of responsibilities because people know your background, they know what your legacy is and they would always want you to give your best and even do more than your antecedents. It is always like that. They know where you are from and will always demand more and that is like a big challenge. It is like a blessing and a curse as well.
You’ve been able to make a mark in the movie industry, but the music industry is highly competitive. How are you finding it?
Well, it is competitive. I am a man and I’m ready for the fight. Like I said earlier on, I am not ready to run anybody’s race. I am just in music to be on my own and do my kind of music and I know people are going to like it.
You auditioned for a role in Shuga, you didn’t get a call back?
I don’t know what happened because I got a call-back and I went for measurement. So I don’t know what happened afterwards. I believe it was a personal thing because it was not even MTV that did the roll out then. So I think it was someone who is trying to get at me.
It was more of a personal thing than a professional thing because I went for the audition when I got the audition notice. I was supposed to go for a closed-door audition but I couldn’t make it; I was in Abuja working and as soon as I got back to Lagos, I went for the audition. Unfortunately it was an open audition and if I had felt that too big for an open audition, I wouldn’t even have waited that day. I waited for my turn to show you how keen I was and how humble I was to get auditioned and they were impressed with the performance and I got a call-back. I went there about twice after the main audition, I went for measurement. And all of a sudden, I just saw the write-up. So right there, I knew it was more of a personal thing than a professional thing. It is one of those things actually.
Who is your favourite Nigerian movie producer?
That would be my brother, Kunle Afolayan, because he is the one who is always thinking outside the box to make things happen. He takes up any challenge and to him, nothing is impossible. So I like that zeal; I like that energy and I like that connectivity between us. Knowing that we are coming from a very strong legacy and that even we ourselves are not giving up or feeling too relaxed about that means we are working extra hard to get to where we are today.
So it is not just all about the legacy, it is about our own personal hustle as well. So I like his inclinations as a producer. If he says we are going to make it happen, this is what we want to do, we may not know how to really go about it, but we have this strong belief that it would happen and it always happens.
Back to your music career, how would you describe your kind of music?
I love soul music and I think that has been a great influence on what I am doing now. I didn’t come out with a party track with my first single like every other person does, although I eventually dropped it. Normally, everybody is doing afro-pop, but there is always a strong point that you have as a musician and that needs to come to play because people want to know the real you and what you really have.
Everybody is running the race of a dance track. The belief is if you don’t have a dance track, you won’t get popular. But if you come out being yourself, it is a lot better, because when they know who you truly are and then you do other genres, people would appreciate you as a versatile person, though they know what your strength lies. I’ll call my kind of song Afro n B, it is an African Soul then RnB and when you now merge the two, you get Afro n B. So I do RnB soul music, basically.
When do you intend to drop a music album?
The album is still in view. We are working profus on that, but we need to make the awareness much stronger than this, so we are trying to promote the singles, so that people would demand for an album, and that is when we will drop it.
We just don’t want to drop an album that will be on the shelf. Everyone needs to know that my album is coming out; the awareness needs to be strong. One thing about Nigeria is that you need to sensitise people about what you want to do; Nigerians don’t like surprises. You need to let them know you are coming and they will prepare for you, or else you will be so shocked about the response you would get if you decide to surprise Nigerians. You can’t just produce an album unless they are carried along. Then they will anticipate the album and the album will be accepted.
What should people look forward to hearing from you?
They should look forward to hearing beautiful music. I don’t compromise my music. Even if it is a commercial song, we need to do it properly, we need to lace it well, make the beat strong and all that.
Is G-Fresh single?
Yes, I am.
So who is your ideal woman?
I believe a woman who understands life, who knows what to do and what not to do. A very mature person I’d say.
There is this impression that you womanise. What is your take on that?
It is inherent in every guy, but I am not so into that kind of life. But I am saying it is inherent in every guy generally to womanise. Why is a woman created? Is it not for guys to chase after her? I am being real with you. We are made for each other, so people should not deny it. We are made for each other, so being around each other is just ideal and normal. But for me, I am not like that.
But when do you intend to settle down?
Settling down has nothing to do with you scheming it. You don’t scheme it because it is a lifetime thing, you need to get the realness of it, rather than scheme to have it. Let nature, let the universe, let God deposit whatever He wants to deposit; it has nothing to do with time.
It is better you get it right than feel you are running out of time and you get it wrong. Though you’ll be on the lookout, you put yourself in a place where if it comes, it meets you. But it is not something you should scheme for. It is a very sensitive zone. You need to be careful. We have seen people break up a week after their wedding and those terrible news and all, so you need to be careful and if you are a public figure, you should watch how you roll.
How do you relax?
I am not much of a here and there person. I am a straight-forward person. To impress me, you don’t need to do much. I am not this type that if it is not this way, I am an easygoing kind of person and I relax mostly listening to beautiful music. If I can go swimming, then I will, but I am always in a very chilling zone. I eat and have a fun-filled day in my zone.