Omolade Oyetundun, the voice behind the popular Airtel 444 commercial, is a final year student at the University of Ilorin. Simply known as Lade, the upcoming singer is fast becoming the sweetheart of music lovers for her beautiful delivery of the Airtel commercial.
In this interview with PREMIUM TIMES, the Kwara State native and one-time winner of UNILORIN idol spoke about her love for music, her growth, and experience after the Airtel advert went viral.
PREMIUM TIMES: How did you discover you had the talent to sing?
Lade: Music is a special gift for me. When I discovered I could sing, there was no way I could do it because I was still very young and there was no one I could tell that I wanted to really sing. I realised when I was nine that I really loved singing. I used to sing in the bathroom, in church, and all of that.
Looking back on my journey, I’d advise that parents really pay lots of attention to their young children to help them discover their talents earlier and guide them through it. It is not everyone that will make it in the corporate world. Education is important but they should not kill talents because they want them to focus on school. Encouragement from family gives a special kind of joy.
PT: What would you say is an occurrence that further solidified your will to pursue music?
Lade: Not like there was really a drive. I was just enjoying what I was doing basically. After some co petitions I took part in, I saw the need to really continue because I found out that people wanted to listen to what I had. At any point, anywhere I go to and the people know that I can sing, they’ll be like ‘sing for us, we want to hear your voice.’ So, those things are part of the reasons to want to further in music and because it is my passion. I have a very very strong passion for what I was doing. Maybe not when I started because I was only doing it for fun then but after winning some competitions plus some kind of people I associated with in the university, they all changed my mentality about music. I had more knowledge that added up to my drive to pursue music.
PT: How did you feel when you won the Season 3 medal for UNILORIN idol?
Lade: I felt really great. I felt fulfilled because I took part in the competition in the second season but I did not win. I was really sad because I felt it was something I could have won but I actually lost my voice because of the weather and because I over-rehearsed and all of that. If not that something like that happened, I didn’t see the competition as a big challenge, I felt it was something I could have won. After that happened, I decided I was going back to get my crown, I am going back to do this again.
I was not surprised when I was called up as the winner because I knew I worked hard for it. I reached out to a lot of people to give me hints on how to pick my songs for competitions. I reached out to some people that have been on project fame a long time ago. I had full knowledge of what I was doing at that time, not like the winning came as luck. It was properly planned and properly prepared for.
PT: How did you get the opportunity to clinch the Airtel advert commercial?
Lade: During the lockdown, I didn’t want my Instagram page to just be there so I thought of a way to keep it running so I was doing covers for other songs. A particular cover I did, “Duduke” by Simi, got the attention of a lot of people after I got a repost from Simi. The CEO of Soltracka, that is the agency that I did the Airtel advert for, reached out to me and told me to come over to the studio and we build a working relationship from there. That was how we started and a particular day, he called me to come and try something out and we did it. He told me it was an Airtel advert and I was really excited about it. That was how it happened simply.
PT: What inspired your choice of lyrics?
Lade: The lyrics were already penned down. I liked it, I enjoyed it and I personalised it. I put myself into the lyrics because that was what would bring out the beauty of any work of art. As a musician, whether you wrote your lyrics or not, if you don’t put yourself into the lyrics, you may not get the best out of it. So, I did not write it but I put bits of myself into it and it came out while.
PT: How did you feel about the reception of the song? Were you expecting it to be that huge?
Lade: At all. I was not even expecting it to be that huge because I watch commercials and everybody will be like this commercial is nice. But the reception of this one is as though it was a single on its own, like a full song. I was like ‘wow, how can people accept a commercial like it was a big artiste that released a single?’. It was like a life-changing experience for me because it really put me out there, to be honest.
PT: Do you feel like you have become a superstar?
Lade: Well, I won’t say no because seeing your name everywhere on Twitter with people saying things like the person that did that Airtel advert deserves a Grammy, deserves this and that award, that there should be something like the best advert award and I see people tagging me to such posts, makes me feel good.
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