Stella Monye has come a long way on the Nigerian music scene. She recently repackaged herself and music with a new nomenclature, Samba.

TOPE OLUKOLE had this chat with her in Lagos recently.

What is Samba?
Samba is a kind of percussion played in the Caribbean Islands and in Brazil, in a high profile music setting.

Can you tell us the origin of the Samba concept?
Samba is basically of African origin because the people in the Caribbean are actually Africans taken from Africa to the Caribbean Islands and they took the African musical culture with them. Coming back home, from the African context, in the time past, people sit in local sheds in the villages like where I hail from, the Ikah in Delta State, taking palmwine, playing their traditional  musical instrument and that was where the Samba music originated from.

How did you become the Samba Queen?
Being a woman, and very African at heart, I adopted the Samba music, took it to another level from the village square setting to a more acceptable level with all its African content intact and I produced the Samba sound and since then, I have been playing the Samba sound and that was how I became the Samba Queen.

Where did Samba wears originate?
The Samba sound gave birth to Samba wears, which is my clothing line. Samba wears are basically wears of African materials such as Adire, Kampala, Kente etc, this clothing line was floated in 2008 and since then, it has been getting a lot of attention from the public.

Sometime ago, you were seen on stage wearing a costume made with goatskin. Is that from your clothing line?
It is all part of the Samba concept. The idea for my costumes, which is part of the Samba concept is still from the traditional setting because in those days, leather played a prominent role in their clothing and I’m yet to unveil more of those traditional materials we have overlooked over time. For instance, I wear a beaded shirt and feather costumes on stage, the whole concept is African.

Do you make these clothes yourselves or do you have someone, maybe a designer that makes them?
At every given point, I have an idea of what I want to wear and how I want it made. We have a history of clothes-making in my family. My mother made clothes for 30years. I have cousins and siblings, who make clothes as well, sometimes I might not have time to make them myself, but the original concept is usually mine.

Your brand of music is Afro-pop, how do you merge this with the Samba thing?
Samba music metamorphosed into Afro- pop because the Afro-pop title became the generally accepted name for this genre of music.

What is your take on the Nigerian music scene today?
It has gone from the professional thing that we are all used to, actually I will say it has gone to the dogs, we no longer have the professional standing that its supposed to be.