It is enough worry to have one's son take to music while in the university, particularly when the brand of music is a mixture of hip-hop and R and B, which is foreign. And when withina family, two brothers decide to take to this line, it sure would cause many a parent serious worry.

That, in a way, could be said to be the plight of Mr and Mrs Fasasi, the parents of Baba Dee and Sound Sultan, alias Jagbajantis, two of Nigeria's prominent music stars.

But Baba Dee, the elder artiste, told Appetiser that their parents had no reason to worry over what some other parents might consider an “overkill.”

He said, “My parents did not worry themselves unnecessarily because while I was in the university, I was a campus celebrity, and I was not behaving badly. And when my brother took to music later, just like myself, they were not bothered. They were okay with us and I am sure that they feel very proud of what the two of us are doing with our lives. They are in full support.”

Baba Dee, whose real name is Dare Fasasi, initially called himself Daddy Dee. But he had to change it to Baba Dee “when we began to have so many daddies in the Nigerian music industry.”

After he was discovered at the annual music festival tagged Lekki Sunsplash in 1995, he was nearly wrecked, musically speaking. He was signed up by Premier Music and everything appeared set for his musical works to get on the music shelves. Unfortunately, however, that was the time the music outfit chose to pull out of Nigeria. Dare would have returned to square one, but he was rescued by Spider Records through which he relaunched himself into the consciousness of fans.

Even as a student of Theatre Arts at the University of Ibadan, Baba Dee was a campus celebrity. He stood tall among his fellow students. His parents did not have to lose sleep because their boy was not misbehaving.

Baba Dee did not mince words when he told Appetiser that any artiste who depends on drugs or any stimulant before performing on stage is just like an athlete who depends on steroids.

He said, “Such a person is not an artiste, he should be told to find another thing to do.”

Since it is typical of the average man to get jealous or feel threatened when another man, especially a blood brother, shares the limelight with him, Appetiser asked Baba Dee how he was taking the popularity of his younger brother on the music scene.

He answered, “I am very excited and proud of my brother and what he is doing. I am sure the whole family is equally happy for us. Our parents are very proud of us.”

One thing people may not know about Baba Dee is that as deeply as he is into music, he is also a movie-maker. It is not that he took a passing interest movies, he actually went to school to study movie directing.

He told Appetiser that for close to four years that he was away from the country, he was in Europe acquiring some knowledge. Today, he is the one in charge of the music videos of some of his fellow artistes like Jazzman Olofin and his younger brother, Sound Sultan.

To underscore his all-encompassing interest in movies, Baba Dee told Appetiser that he had just finished acting in an episode of the popular TV series, Super Story, which is yet to be aired.

You would expect Baba Dee to take up the role of a musician in the movies and soap operas, but he said he avoids that as much as possible; not for anything, but to prove that he is capable of doing more than music.

He says his musicial engagements could not take him away from theatre, because “I have been in it for the past 12 years.”