Everyone loves the good ol’ tale of the rejected stone becoming the chief cornerstone. That was the aura as 16 Mountains Records‘ front-line act; ConA’Stone. Born, Babalola Oriyomi, his music adventure bears great semblance to that ageless saying, even evidenced by his choice of stage name; ConA’Stone (a stylised version of Cornerstone.)
The code-mixing-code-switching emcee paints a fresco of his early struggles; overcoming mountains of criticism right from his sojourn in Jos all the way to Lagos in a faithful body of music work “Coming To Lagos”.
The 16 Mountains Records front-line act, ConA’Stone is an indigenous rapper with unmatched lyrical prowess. The depth of his lines and the strength of his bars have made him earn much fan love over the years.
“Coming To Lagos” is a 16-tracks album featuring the likes of Yonda, Oberz, Quinax, Shanze, Jmeed, Ilesanmi, Easy B, CJ to mention but few
Speaking with Rayo Kasali, The “Me Corner, Me Stone!” crooner talked about music, faith, travail, and triumph with vigour and the assuredness weaving through lows and highs and why ‘his’ rejected stone has now become the Chief Cornerstone.
How did music start for you?
For me, music started in University of Jos, at that particular time I was only focused on education, but was contemplating if I was going to do music or not, but back in 2008/2009 there was this social get together in school with the likes of Funny Bone and some other artistes, and I picked interest from there. In 2009 when there was a crisis in university of Jos and my parents called me back home to the south west, from there I went back to my hometown, from there I came to Lagos. Eventually I dropped my first single in 2010 and everything started from there.
Where are you from?
I am a Yoruba guy, I am from Oyo state, the reason why I always talk about Jos is that the interest of music started from Jos, and I have a particular song that I did for Jos but there was no attraction from people, each time you hear me talking about Plateau Jos, that is the particular project I am trying to share.
Who are the artistes you were listening to while growing up?
My hometown was very far from the city, so the only songs that we listened to were Fuji – Pasuma, Haruna Ishola and the rest. However, whenever I came to Lagos, we had avenue of watching DSTV see Tuface and the likes.
I started to listen to different rappers 2pac, MI, Olamide and I really picked interest in the way Dagrin, Lord of Ajasa, Olamide does it in Yoruba. When you speak your own dialect, you will express yourself more, these are the people I listened to that encouraged me that I can do it in my own mother tongue.
What does music mean to you?
Music means life to me.
At what point in your life did you decide to focus on music?
The first time I recorded a song in 2012 and someone gifted me money and a shoe, it showed that I could get something out of this and since then I have been determined to focus on music and block out distractions.
How did you come about the name ConA’stone?
I created the name in 2008/09; music has not come into the line then. It means the stone that the builder rejected will become chief cornerstone. When I came back to Lagos there was a DJ who asked me what name I wanted to use as my stage name and after a lot of contemplation I chose CornA’stone.
How will you define your kind of music?
I will say Afro-rap. The reason why I chose to rap is that when singing you might not be able to completely express yourself, but in rap you can actually do.
“When you speak your own dialect, you will express yourself more.”
Let’s talk about your album “Coming to Lagos”?
Coming to Lagos for me references the time I came to Lagos, how I didn’t find it easy, doing different jobs just to survive, some of my friends who we worked together left Lagos because they didn’t find it easy and this is what brought about the name of the album Coming To Lagos.
What informed the choice of artistes you worked with on your album?
I selected the artistes featured on the album based on what they can deliver on the songs. They were others which we contacted too but some took too long to respond so I had to work with the ones I had ready.
Which of the collaboration was your favourite?
My favourite collaboration from the album is Imported Religion because when you listen to it, especially if you understand Yoruba and the world, you will find that we have one God, there is only one sun, one moon, but there are different religions, Christianity and Islam for example. Where I come from, my hometown, there is a problem of discrimination, Christians don’t buy from Muslims.
What are you thoughts about Afrobeats?
Everything has changed, if we look at the difference from the last 5 years, a lot has changed. Afrobeats is a force to reckon with. Afrobeats is on a global stage now.
5 years from now, where do you see yourself?
It is the Lord’s doing, I want to be great and my prayer to God is that I should be great.
Watch full interview on YouTube:
Production Credit:
Interviewed by Rayo Kasali
Photographed by Rayo Kasali
Videography by Fisayo Ebiniyi
Creative Director: Rayo Kasali
Executive Producer: Adedamola Edun
