The world needs Nelson Emokpae. “I am all about connecting people with good, with truth, with love, with positivity, with hope,” he says. “I’m all about connecting people one song at a time, one melody at a time.”
On February 1, he did just that at Chatham. “I had a fantastic time performing, and I also had a fantastic time meeting some great people there, too,” he says. Chatham was one of many stops on his Secrets to a Happy Life tour. Performing under Nelly’s Echo, Emokpae works with other musicians to create songs infused with relentless optimism. “I try to write from a perspective that whatever I write sheds light on the topic and brings hope to whatever the topic is I’m writing about,” he says. “So if it’s about hate, there has to be some kind of a light at the end of the tunnel.”
Emokpae’s own journey reflects a similar mindset. He grew up in Nigeria, a country he still has great feelings for. “I have a lot of my family there, a lot of my friends there…. I could speak for hours about it, but I’ll just say I love Nigeria.” Political unrest forced him to abandon his home. “My family and I came to America as political refugees. We had to come here because our lives were in danger at that point in 1996 in Nigeria.” The positivity reflected in Emokpae’s music is true to his nature; he turned a devastating situation into a powerful success. “America has been the land of opportunities and dreams, where dreams come true,” he says, “and here I am living my dream of being a touring, performing musician. So yeah, so far so great.”
Emokpae has serious history as a vocalist. “I’ve always been a singer,” he says. “I’ve always sung in choirs, in church choirs and school choirs.” After the move to America, Emokpae took his music a step further. “I didn’t pick up the guitar until the second year of grad school which was in 2005, and at that point it was more of a hobby and recreation versus a professional thing. I would say it became a professional thing, performing, in January of 2011 when I quit my full-time job…and then became a full-time musician.” Emokpae has been busy. “[In] the first month of 2011, I was able to put together a tour for the first time, and that was like…60 to 70 shows in the springtime. So at that point I figured, OK, this is it. Alright, it’s either now or never. And I’m still going, so thank God.”
Touring can be rough, but Emokpae takes so much away from it. “I love touring,” he says. “I love meeting different people. I love seeing different locations, trying out different cultures. Because even in America, the variety of cultures within one country is so vast, and being able to travel from California to Maine to Seattle to Florida and every [place] in between affords me that opportunity to meet a lot of people and amass a lot of great experiences.”
When this tour wraps, Emokpae won’t break for long. “I’m on tour right now, but when I get back to Baltimore, Maryland late this spring, early summer, I will be going back in the studio with my band to record the third album which should be titled Victoria’s Secret.” By the sound of it, this album will definitely resonate with Chatham women. “Initially I was going to write a song from the perspective of how a woman views society and vice-versa, but I realized I am not an expert in that subject,” he says. “So instead, I wrote a song called ‘Victoria’s Secret’ which is a song about in today’s day and age, they tell a female she has to look a certain way, she has to dress a certain way, she has to act a certain way to get to a certain place. And ‘Victoria’s Secret’ is everything she has done that she’s proud of, or maybe not so proud of, to get to where she is now in life.” Listeners can expect a number of songs on the album to explore the subject. “When the album is done, I really want, especially the females…to really, really look for that album because I think it’s going to be a good way for them to hear maybe a male’s perspective, but a positive perspective, on what they have to deal with in society.”
A passion for artistically making a difference drives Emokpae’s career, even through the rough spots. “There are ups and downs in everything you do, just like with your regular job, what you choose to do for your career. But because I love to play first, because I love to create first, it never feels like a job even when it’s very tedious for me.” Beautifully, Emokpae is not in the pursuit of fame. “I don’t want to be remembered as the guy who could sing very, very well and wow the crowd, even though that would be nice. I don’t want to be remembered as the guy who wrote…platinum albums and made a lot of money doing that. That would be nice, you know…that would be a nice cherry on the top of the cake. I don’t want to be remembered as anything superficial, because when it’s all said and done, I still have to sleep in bed with my own self and [with] my own thoughts.” Who he wants to be remembered as, “when it’s all said and done, is as someone that used music to heal. You know, used music to put a smile on a face. Used music to put food on the table. Used music to drive away hate. To educate.” Despite his success, Emokpae speaks with humility. “I feel like music is something that God has given me personally,” he says, “and the way I can show God’s face to the world is not only to write positive music, but to also be that positive influence [on] the one person I come in contact with or to the multitude I come in contact with.” As Emokpae emerges on the music scene, one thing is already powerfully clear: humanity is lucky to hear him.
To connect with Nelson Emokpae and Nelly’s Echo, visit his website, follow him on Twitter, like his Facebook page and subscribe to his YouTube channel.