Emmy Odunze (born Chukwuemeka Odunze) is a Houston-based Gospel recording singer, songwriter, author and composer marked out with anointing for praise and worship. He spoke to ConnectNigeria about his recently released album, ‘But God’.
CN: Tell us a bit about yourself
EO: I am a gospel artiste. I was born and raised in Enugu before I travelled to the States. I come from a family of seven and I am the last boy born to Dr. Donald Odunze. I have been singing pretty much all my life. From childhood, I was in the children’s choir then proceeded to join the youth choir. My dad was a music director at the Assemblies of God for around 27 years so I grew up around music. We had a family group growing up so everybody in my family sings. I decided to take my career a bit more seriously in the last five years. So I started writing songs more for myself and for other people. I wrote new soundtracks and I did a lot of backup vocals in studio productions and I started working on my album four years ago. It is titled ‘But God’.
CN: Why Gospel Music?
EO: Why not Gospel Music? Well, I believe in life, you should start from what you know to what you don’t know if you want to venture out. I have been around Gospel all my life. I am a born again Christian. It is what I do. It is what I find fulfillment in. Like I said, I do write other genres of music. I write for some RnB artistes but gospel is what I prefer. It is what I find joy and delight in and it is what gets my message out there.
CN: What mix of songs do you have in your album titled ‘But God’?
EO: I have all genres in this album. There is a little bit of everything for everybody. We have the normal praise and worship you’ll find in the church on a Sunday morning. We have some reggae songs there, some slow paced songs, some RnB songs, high praise, some worship songs, some Jazz fused with African beats can also be found in it too. Every song on the album, I wrote and they are all played live too by real talented musicians who spent quality time working and making it a finished product. I think that is why the album took us four years to get it done.
CN: What is your source of inspiration; what drives you?
EO: My life’s experiences drive me. I am young but I have been through a lot so I find inspiration in everything just like an artist – inspiration that may not jump out for a common person. I find inspiration in everything. Songs come to me when I am doing all sorts… I might be in the shower, in a car, I might be eating. I might hear kids singing. I have a song in the album where the chorus was from what my three year old daughter was yapping a tune and I was like “Wow! that sounds interesting.” I think I had a writer’s block and I could not just get the chorus of the song. Her yapping ended up being the chorus of the song. I will pay her for that someday!
CN: Did you encounter challenges while producing the album, ‘But God’?
EO: Anytime you are doing something in life that is bound to change lives and make a mark, you are going to face challenges and I had quite a lot. In the process of producing this album, my dad passed away and I remember that the song I was writing the day he died, took me over a year to finish because it became so heavy to do. Usually finance, especially if you are not signed up to a label when you want to do music excellently, is going to be a challenge unless you have the money and life throws all sorts of challenges at you. Of course, I had my share of challenges but we overcome everyday that is why I titled the album
‘But God’. It talks about those situations when you look back at now and we say “If it were not for God, I cannot even remember how I got through this but God…” Every one of us has a “But God” moment if we can just pause to think about it.
CN: Who are your mentors?
EO: My Dad was one; My Father-in-law. My mentor, musically in Nigeria is one person – Panam Percy Paul. I can remember the first time I was at a major concert of his. I was like eight in Enugu. After the concert, I walked up to him and told him, “Panam, I want to be like you” and he said something, “As long as you keep loving Jesus, you’re gonna be greater than me.” Now, I have a concert I do in Houston every year. I call it ‘Authentic Worship’ and I plan to feature him next year and then I’m gonna to tell him that story. He was a huge influence. Panam Percy Paul sort of started contemporary Gospel music doing stuff you’ll normally hear the Winans do. Another group that influenced me as a kid were the Winans brothers. The first concert I watched on BetaMax, (VHX had BetaMax and my parents travelled and came back with it) I think I was five or six then. I watched that concert and watched it until I memorized the song. The day I saw Marvin Winans, I did the rap for him but he could not remember it. I told him that I had memorized it since age five and still remember it at 25. They were a big influence and of course, the guys we have now – Kirk Franklin, Donnie McClurkin and the guys here too… We inspire each other.
CN: What do you hope to achieve with your songs at the end of the day?
EO: I don’t just sit down and start trying to write a song. My songs always have either a testimony, a trial, a victory is always attached to every song I write so if just one person can relate to the lyrics of the songs I write, then my job is done. What I write are real life experiences and when people hear these songs, they will relate to them. I write songs based on what my friends have gone or are going through or someone’s testimony may just inspire me. Somehow, another human being is going to connect to a song I have written or yet to write. I still have about 55 songs written that I have not even recorded. If I can just reach someone and tell them, don’t give up, whatever the situation is. Originally I wanted to title the song,
‘At the Top’ because I believe we can live at the top of whatever it is we may be going through because it is all in the mind and with faith, we can live on top of unpleasant situations but since I would not have the chance or time to explain all that to the world and do not want to risk being misunderstood, I gave it a title that as soon as they see it, they listen and they get it. If someone out there can find hope after listening to this album and not give up on a relationship or on a relative, then my job is done.
Emmy Odunze will be touring Nigeria this year. Below is a link to listen to one of his songs from the album,
‘But God’ –
‘Ibu Chukwu’.
Listen to the song here on
Sharemobile:
Listen to the song on YouTube:
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This article was first published on 31st January 2014 and updated on February 5th, 2014 at 5:35 am
Comments (1)
CN: Tell us a bit about yourself
EO: I am a gospel artiste. I was born and raised in Enugu before I travelled to the States. I come from a family of seven and I am the last boy born to Dr. Donald Odunze. I have been singing pretty much all my life. From childhood, I was in the children’s choir then proceeded to join the youth choir. My dad was a music director at the Assemblies of God for around 27 years so I grew up around music. We had a family group growing up so everybody in my family sings. I decided to take my career a bit more seriously in the last five years. So I started writing songs more for myself and for other people. I wrote new soundtracks and I did a lot of backup vocals in studio productions and I started working on my album four years ago. It is titled ‘But God’.
CN: Why Gospel Music?
EO: Why not Gospel Music? Well, I believe in life, you should start from what you know to what you don’t know if you want to venture out. I have been around Gospel all my life. I am a born again Christian. It is what I do. It is what I find fulfillment in. Like I said, I do write other genres of music. I write for some RnB artistes but gospel is what I prefer. It is what I find joy and delight in and it is what gets my message out there.
CN: What mix of songs do you have in your album titled ‘But God’?
EO: I have all genres in this album. There is a little bit of everything for everybody. We have the normal praise and worship you’ll find in the church on a Sunday morning. We have some reggae songs there, some slow paced songs, some RnB songs, high praise, some worship songs, some Jazz fused with African beats can also be found in it too. Every song on the album, I wrote and they are all played live too by real talented musicians who spent quality time working and making it a finished product. I think that is why the album took us four years to get it done.
CN: What is your source of inspiration; what drives you?
EO: My life’s experiences drive me. I am young but I have been through a lot so I find inspiration in everything just like an artist – inspiration that may not jump out for a common person. I find inspiration in everything. Songs come to me when I am doing all sorts… I might be in the shower, in a car, I might be eating. I might hear kids singing. I have a song in the album where the chorus was from what my three year old daughter was yapping a tune and I was like “Wow! that sounds interesting.” I think I had a writer’s block and I could not just get the chorus of the song. Her yapping ended up being the chorus of the song. I will pay her for that someday!
CN: Did you encounter challenges while producing the album, ‘But God’?
EO: Anytime you are doing something in life that is bound to change lives and make a mark, you are going to face challenges and I had quite a lot. In the process of producing this album, my dad passed away and I remember that the song I was writing the day he died, took me over a year to finish because it became so heavy to do. Usually finance, especially if you are not signed up to a label when you want to do music excellently, is going to be a challenge unless you have the money and life throws all sorts of challenges at you. Of course, I had my share of challenges but we overcome everyday that is why I titled the album ‘But God’. It talks about those situations when you look back at now and we say “If it were not for God, I cannot even remember how I got through this but God…” Every one of us has a “But God” moment if we can just pause to think about it.
CN: Who are your mentors?
EO: My Dad was one; My Father-in-law. My mentor, musically in Nigeria is one person – Panam Percy Paul. I can remember the first time I was at a major concert of his. I was like eight in Enugu. After the concert, I walked up to him and told him, “Panam, I want to be like you” and he said something, “As long as you keep loving Jesus, you’re gonna be greater than me.” Now, I have a concert I do in Houston every year. I call it ‘Authentic Worship’ and I plan to feature him next year and then I’m gonna to tell him that story. He was a huge influence. Panam Percy Paul sort of started contemporary Gospel music doing stuff you’ll normally hear the Winans do. Another group that influenced me as a kid were the Winans brothers. The first concert I watched on BetaMax, (VHX had BetaMax and my parents travelled and came back with it) I think I was five or six then. I watched that concert and watched it until I memorized the song. The day I saw Marvin Winans, I did the rap for him but he could not remember it. I told him that I had memorized it since age five and still remember it at 25. They were a big influence and of course, the guys we have now – Kirk Franklin, Donnie McClurkin and the guys here too… We inspire each other.
CN: What do you hope to achieve with your songs at the end of the day?
EO: I don’t just sit down and start trying to write a song. My songs always have either a testimony, a trial, a victory is always attached to every song I write so if just one person can relate to the lyrics of the songs I write, then my job is done. What I write are real life experiences and when people hear these songs, they will relate to them. I write songs based on what my friends have gone or are going through or someone’s testimony may just inspire me. Somehow, another human being is going to connect to a song I have written or yet to write. I still have about 55 songs written that I have not even recorded. If I can just reach someone and tell them, don’t give up, whatever the situation is. Originally I wanted to title the song, ‘At the Top’ because I believe we can live at the top of whatever it is we may be going through because it is all in the mind and with faith, we can live on top of unpleasant situations but since I would not have the chance or time to explain all that to the world and do not want to risk being misunderstood, I gave it a title that as soon as they see it, they listen and they get it. If someone out there can find hope after listening to this album and not give up on a relationship or on a relative, then my job is done.
Emmy Odunze will be touring Nigeria this year. Below is a link to listen to one of his songs from the album, ‘But God’ – ‘Ibu Chukwu’.
Listen to the song here on Sharemobile:
Listen to the song on YouTube:
Odunze is an aabsolute inspiration