The Oshadipe twins need no introduction. They have been around in the music industry for a while . In this interview, the twins who are graduates of English Language and Literature from the University of Lagos, open up on the interesting lifestyle they share together as twins.
What is the special thing in being a twin?
Kehinde: Sometimes, we fall in love with the same man. But we have a way of letting one person have the upper hand.
Strange isn’t it?
Yes it is. Because it’s not right in the kind of society we find ourselves in (two sister marrying same man), we have a way of allowing one person have the upper hand.
So what if it’s you that falls in love with the man. What will you do?
Nothing. If she wants the man, I’ll take my chances and let her have the man. And if her feelings and reason are more genuine for the guy than mine, I’ll understand. But if I really want the man, I think she’ll understand my feelings too and let go.
Have you ever fallen in love with a man your sister loves?
Taiwo; Yes. It has happened before.
Yes I wanted that man but not as much as she wanted her. So I let her have the man.
And what if you find yourself living with a guy you love, but she’s dating your twin?
I’d take him as a close friend. I won’t lose my head because the person involved is my sister. She’s just like me and if she wants anything, I should be able to give it to her. So I won’t feel bad about it. I’d just see the man as a friend. When it comes to people close to us, you won’t be able to tell who is dating who because we’re very close. The only time we have our privacy is during intimate moment.
So there’s no possibility of both of you marrying a man?
Kehinde; No, there is no possibility of that happening
But isn’t that supposed to be part of sharing?
*Oshadipe twins
Well, we’ve never considered marrying the same man at any point in time because of our religious background. We’ve never thought of it.
Are you sometimes jealous, when she is with a guy you also like?
Sometimes. I just look at her and wish I’m in her shoes. But I may also be with someone who makes me feel good so I may not really take it to heart. Because of her out going nature, the guys are always around her.
And if she’s not around, I feel funny, jealous and keep calling to know her where about. I must confess that I do get edgy sometimes because I’m alone and believe she should be there for me.
Would you say she is luckier in that sense?
I don’t think she is luckier than me. It’s just that sometimes, I can be into myself. Well, maybe you are right. I accept. She’s more outgoing and makes friends easily. And it’s not like I don’t have friends, but I’m more careful. I like to observe people and things before jumping into anything.
Why do you abandon you sister when you are supposed to be there for her?
Taiwo;(laughs). I believe we’re grown up and we should take responsibility for our lives. I have an independent spirit unlike her-she depends on me a lot. There was a particular day, she didn’t see me for like five hours- she burst into tears, crying and asking after me from everybody.
While she was crying I was somewhere enjoying myself. So most of the time, I like to be free. It’s not as if I don’t love or miss her but I have a free spirit.
What was growing up like for you?
Kehinde; Growing up was fun. Most of the time, we were always together and sometimes we’d go under the duvet and my dad would call out to our mum to come see what her daughters are up to.
I am sure my father used to wonder if we were lesbians.
We had fun growing up. But there were dangerous moments too.
There was this day we went to a neighbour’s house to play hide and seek with their little girl. They had this segmented wardrobe in their room And that’s where we chose to play our game.
So when it was our turn to hide, because we are twins and we do things together, we decided to go into the wardrobe together. We went inside and the small girl locked us up.
It got to a point, we both started sweating because of the heat. Confused, the little girl broke the key in the lock and that put us in trouble. We started hitting the wardrobe but she couldn’t get us out. The timely intervention of our brother who came looking for us saved the day.
But for him, we would have died on that day.
Was music part of the original agenda while growing?
Yes. We grew up listening to music. I remember that our father would play us Majek Fashek, Sunny Ade and Ebenezer Obey’s songs. Those were the kind of the songs we grew up listening to.
We started off first as dancers.
There was a time Sir Shina Peters came around and saw us dancing and wanted us to come dance with him professionally. But our dad rejected it, saying we were too young.
And anytime we competed in the area dance parties, we always came out winners. At a point we just lost interest in dancing and took up singing.
We sang in the Choir, parties, schools, fellowship, everywhere. And that’s how the late Evangelist Sonny Okosuns’ secretary saw us and took us to him.
The Evangelist wrote and produced our first album.
How much did he influence you?
I can’t begin to tell you all of that . But there were many times he would wake us in the middle of the night, play his guitar and ask us to sing. We were very young then and we would ask him what song to sing?
Then we thought he was punishing us especially when we were made to stay awake while other kids were busy sleeping. We often wondered why we should be up singing.
Today we know better. He was a very nice and emotional person. And he was also very generous to everyone- he could accommodate anyone in his house. Musically, we learned a lot from him. The fact that he succeeded as an artiste in the mainstream and even after he became a gospel act, was a big feat and we respected him for that.
What are the challenges you face?
Taiwo;Whenever people see us wearing the same thing, they start by asking, if we are twins or not. It upsets my sister all the time because its obvious we are identical twins. Most times I try to calm her down.
As children we liked and shared everything. And because my mother didn’t have money, she would buy us second hand clothes and bags. And you know you can’t get identical things at second hand stores. So our mother would buy different bags for us and when she brings them home, we initially reject them.
We’d pick the best of them and anytime we were going to school, we’ll put our books inside only one of the bags and Kenny would carry it to school in the morning and on our way back, I’d carry it. In Yoruba tradition people believed that twins are used to beg for alms in the market. And so when we decided to go into entertainment, some people felt we were in it to beg for alms.
When was your first album released?
In 1999
You were in school then?
We were in secondary school.
How did the album do in the market?
It was a huge success. We didn’t believe it would be that big. It was produced by the Evangelist and marketed by EMI, now Ivory Music. It was just like a joke to us then. Most of the sessions.
we did at the studio were night sessions but at the end of the day when the album came out, it became a hit. It was a gospel album.
How did the success of the album affect you, being secondary school students?
It was massive because it was totally unexpected.
We attended a public secondary school and the press would come. We didn’t know what the press was at that time.
The day it hit us was when a lady came from the Comet Newspaper and wanted to interview us.
Our teacher told her we were in class and didn’t allow her to see us. This lady came around 10 am and waited till around 3pm.
We were shocked because what we took as a joke was no longer a joke. A lot of young men came to seek our hands in marriage, but my mother would shout at them to come back in twenty years time. We were too young. We became popular and started getting invitations to play at some major events.
How were you able to help your mum?
The first money we earned was N14 000 and we gave it to our mother. She went to buy a grinding machine and started using it to grind pepper. Whatever she made from there, we used it to eat on a daily basis, and then she’ll buy us shoes and clothes. She’s a very happy woman today and we feel proud of her.
So you turned around your parents lives?
We were happy to do so.There were times we paid our late brother’s school fees. He would come to meet us at Evangelist Okosuns’ house to collect his fees until he graduated.
So you lost him after he graduated?
Yes and it was painful because he was looking forward to start acting the big brother. We’ve not got over the pain. At the time he died, he was planning to get married.
After your stay with Okosuns’ you went back to school?
Yes. We studied English Language and Literature at the University of Lagos.
And what happened on your first day in the class room?
The lecturers complained. They didn’t want us because they learned we are artistes and felt we may not be serious with our studies.
They had a hard time telling us apart since we were in the same department.
We were allowed to receive lectures sitting together but they separated us during exams.
Somehow we managed to write almost the same answers and that often baffled the lecturers.
Do you both fall sick at the same time too?
Yes. When one person falls sick, the other person would also be treated. Our mum always told us that it’s been like that since we were young.
But these days, when one person is sick, we would tell the doctors to also treat the other person.
You’ve three albums to your name and you are still not a hit… Kehinde;
Let say our going back to school contributed to it. When we wanted to go back to school, Evangelist Okosuns advised that we continue with our career because we were big then. But we told him we wanted to go to school because people are of the opinion that artistes are dropouts.
He warned that by the time we went to school and returned, things wouldn’t be the same again.
We went to school and we’re back in the industry. As he predicted, things have changed. A lot of people don’t even recognize us.
Physically too, we’ve also changed. Now we are trying to start afresh.
What are your plans now?
Taiwo; We’re trying to promote our new work. It was released July last year.
How’s it doing in the market?
I wouldn’t say it’s doing very well because we have a problem with marketing the album. We started with Ivory music and didn’t have any issue with them. All we did then was go to the studio and every other thing was handled by them.
But now, Ivory music isn’t into marketing anymore. And most artistes go to Alaba. We’ve also been to Alaba but most of the things they tell us are not possible.
They told us ridiculous things like asking us to produce an album for them free of charge and they would distribute it for us.
We had to produce it and give it to major stores for people to buy. People who actually know our videos request for it on our face book. But this has been a problem because most people are used to buying albums on the streets. People are not used to going to stores.
How do men see you?
Kehinde; They see us as beautiful beings. But men of these days can be very funny. They say one thing and mean another. And I’ve just discovered that men don’t mean everything they say. And yet , we women believe them.
So who’s your ideal man?
He has to be God fearing. If he’s God fearing, all other qualities would fall in place. I’m not particular about a rich guy. I just believe in someone who has prospects in life. But I don’t see myself dating someone who’s not educated.
Kehinde’s ideal man
He has to be tall. But if he’s not but has the fear of God in him, its okay. I’m not particular about him being rich. I believe even if he’s poor, we call achieve a lot together.
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