Tell us about your family background. I was born to multi-talented parents in Oko-Ogbomosho, Oyo State. My father is a retired teacher, poet, songwriter, master of ceremonies, and radio broadcaster.
My mother is a trader and a gifted singer. Two of my siblings, Tayo and Sunday Ogunniran, are musicians, while Niyi Ogunniran is an ace broadcaster in Lagos State. I grew up seeing my parents and elder siblings singing, performing poetry, and engaging in other creative activities at home, in church, and at sociocultural events.
Not long after I got to secondary school, I started performing Yoruba poetry at different functions, ranging from burials and weddings to retirement programmes based on invitation. I began writing songs for my church choir quite early, having watched my father and elder brother, Tayo, do the same on many occasions. How did you combine your interest in music with education? I studied Philosophy at Obafemi Awolowo University, where I was offered the opportunity to explore many aspects of my talents, especially in what is known as Aroism or Aro.
In Aro, we turn the things around us into entertainment and joke about anything relatable to make people laugh. I was a prominent voice in this Aro performance at Awo Hall, and that offered me the popularity I did not bargain for, especially when a student I didn’t know filmed one of my performances tagged ‘Good Friday Sermon titled, ‘Jesu n Jeya, Iwo n Jewa — Jesus is suffering, You are eating beans’ in 2012.