Azezzat Allen says singing runs in her family and that she started singing from childhood. She tells ADAEZE AMOS how she combines matrimony with showbiz With your weird looks and hairdo, definitely your childhood was also weird?

Well, childhood was very interesting though it wasn't weird. Honestly, I was a very quiet person then. I sometimes call myself Mickey Mouse and the people I grew with tend to be surprised seeing me on television (today). I was always keeping to myself but anything music thrilled me a lot.

How did you discover your singing talent?

Well, it's a long story. I know I discovered the talent for writing before I knew that I could sing. I think it was while exploring the talent for writing that I discovered that I was vocally talented. I think it was in my second year in secondary school. There was a lot of competitions and I was always winning and that was when I knew that okay I have something else in me apart from writing.

So, how did you develop the talent eventually?

What I started doing was that I was listening to a lot of American and European singers. I stored their songs and started learning the lyrics of their songs. I tried to sing and I tried to sing exactly the way they sounded. So, that one helped me to polish my voice because I was aspiring to sound like them. And also being in love with oral English helped me.

When you were doing that, did your mother tell you to read your books?

Like I said, I was a quiet kid so I think it took my mum a long time before she realised that that was what I was aiming at. I was already in the tertiary institution before my mum knew that I had anything to do with music.

When she discovered, what was her reaction?

She didn't frown at that because my mum had always been the one telling us that the shortest cut to success is by discovering and developing your talent. So, since she accepts such a thing and I think she discovered that it was my talent, she didn't have anything to do with it. All that she kept on underlining was the fact that I had to be decent in what I was doing.

Can you trace where this talent originated from; mum or dad?

Actually we are all vocally talented in my family – my dad, my mum and all my siblings. My mum sings during weddings and that means she gets to do performances in weddings. And she still does that; so I'm sure that somewhere along the line, I must have captured that talent.

Are you the first daughter?

Yes, I'm the first daughter of six siblings.

What did you study?

I'm a graduate of Mass Communication from the Moshod Abiola Polytechnic.

Why didn't you brush tertiary education aside, having discovered your singing talent early enough?

Well, some people do it; in fact; it used to be worse than this. A lot of people, who are aspiring to sing or act often drop out of school, but now I'm glad that most people are realising that they need to brush up. Education brushes a person up; it broadens your horizon; it is very important.

What is your love life like?

Well, I'm married and I have been married for over five years now.

How many children do you have?

None, I have none yet. They are still reviewing my application (laughs).

How has your marriage been and how is your husband seeing what your are doing?

He doesn't see anything wrong with what I'm doing because he is also my manager. He goes every where I go. Even before marriage, we used to go everywhere together. But he also understands the kind of person I am and he is even more serious about my career than I am. Even when I'm thinking about domestic things, he tells me that I'm risking my professional life.

Why is it that artistes have broken marriages?

Well, homes break everyday. When you go to customary courts, you see and hear cases of broken marriages and not a single one of them is an artiste. So, I think what happens is that because we are in the limelight, when one breaks, everybody expands it to one million.

Why do you think artistes wear clothes that are crazy, indecent and bare it all?

As an artiste, you have to stand out.

Is wearing clothes that are revealing a way of standing out?

Well, some people feel because there was an age when people were not revealing, so they feel that if they reveal a little, it would make them to stand out. Then the next person would be like, 'okay I would just reveal my arm' and maybe 'I would reveal my shoulder.' And you know, it goes on and on like that. So, as times goes on, everything goes shorter and shorter (laughs).

So, which one do you think you can reveal? And how does your husband feel seeing you in revealing clothes?

Actually, he is a very liberal person. He encourages me to wear scanty clothes and reveal whatever I want to reveal. This is because he knows that it has nothing to do with my mind, or my personality or my relationship. But even the one wey I dey reveal, I dey fear because I fear God o (laughs). So, the fear of God makes me to at least cover the ones I don't reveal.