Busayo Odutayo with Bussy Crown as stage name is an upcoming gospel musical artiste with two albums already to his credit and the third one billed to be launched on the 11th of December,2011 in Ondo State.In this interview with Jonathan Eze, the Medical Biochemistry graduate from the University of Benin, narrates the challenges he faced and condemns the deviation in purpose that characterises the gospel musicians. Excerpts: What is the concept behind your stage name'Bussy is an abbreviation of my original name Busayo and the Crown comes from the fact that I am from a royal family; the odutayo's family of Ijebu Ode precisely. So I merged the symbol of royalty which is the Crown to my name to get my stage name. What do you do apart from music'I am a graduate from the University of Benin and by the grace of God I have a communication centre in Akure but basically music is the main job.I read medical Bio ' Chemistry but music is the talent God has given to me and it all started in my father's church because my father happened to be a bishop, developing my talent from one stage to another from a band leader to a choir master through this, people got to know more about me and I was able to pass the message to them.How long have you been doing music'I started at a young age and I would say over twenty years. Like I said, my father had a church and I started as a drummer and sometimes composed songs for the then choir master who corrected and rehearsed it with the whole choir. By God's grace as time passed by, I was promoted to the position of overall choir master of all the nine branches. I started fully in 1998 after graduating from Christ Music School founded by Mr Gbenga Omolewa. Back then in the university, I ministered from one fellowship to another and from church to church. Immediately I graduated from the university in 2006, I released my first album and was launched in 2007. Very soon I will celebrate my 10 years on stage and God has been faithful.How will you describe the music industry today'The music industry has turned into another thing, especially the gospel aspect. They are not living up to expectations because gospel singers are meant to change the life of people through song, bless people, change their minds, motives and intentions. But because of money, Gospel singers have changed. I still thank God for some that have the mind of God and use the word of God to change the life of people for good.What do you intend contributing to the industry' I started from a local level by being the Vice ' Chairman of Gospel Musicians Association of Nigeria (GOMAN). We have been trying to organise seminars to change the orientate the people so that it will enable them to know what the word of God is all about.How many copies did you release in your last albums and how many did you sell'I have been able to sell two thousand copies of the five thousand released. The video recently entered the market and we hope to sell more.Your upcoming album what are expectation with regards to your music project'I pray by the time the album will be out it should be able to change people's life for good and I believe God will take it to a higher level.Do you think Nigerians appreciate gospel music compared to hip-hop and the rest of them'Well, before, people listen to gospel music; I mean the believers but because the way things are being done now hip-hop has taken over and it's corrupting the mind of the believers but I still believe the Christian not church goers still want to listen to gospel music.Apart from that, what are other challenges you are facing'The whole gospel singers are shouting because no marketers no one wants to market the gospel music. My two past albums released, were produced, promoted, and marketed by myself and this third one is not an exception..Don't you think if you have a good product you will get a marketer'That is not the problem, there are a lot of good jobs but marketers continually complain that there is no market. For instance, my second album that was given to a marketer got credits; he said it was a job well done but had no money and good market strategy to penetrate the market.What is your comment on the entertainment industry allegedly becoming a drug trafficking industry'Like I said earlier on, many of these people come into the industry without having a concrete vision in mind, even the so called gospel artists go after fame and in the process divert from their original message just to be accepted. One thing everyone must have is a Godly mind and not a money mind that would lead them into doing anything just for money. People are to first identify their gifting and then develop them. So if this is done, God will bless the labour of your and not you trying to help God. But because people are greedy and don't know what they are doing, they do everything, including drug trafficking to get rich.How sure are you that you wont deviate or Join the league of drug trafficking when you eventually break through'By God's grace I wont because I have a calling from God and a mandate to evangelize the world through music and that is the course I am dedicated to; afterall the word of God says that the gift of God will make a way for him.What message do you have for youths like you'They should be patient and wait for God's time. They should work hard to discover their God's given gifts and develop them; then will they flourish and not the other way round. They should avoid criminal acts like internet scam and work hard.Where do you aspire to be in the next two years'I hope to have released more songs and penetrate the gospel market. Also, I hope to perform in many gospel musical concerts home and away and of course smile to the bank, because money is the vehicle of the gospel.
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