By Tosin Ajirire and Stephanie Imah
Taiwo and Kehinde Falobi, fondly called FTK, are identical singing twins with a burning desire to become a household name in Nigerian music.
The Mass Communication students of Babcock University ventured into music in 2014 when they recorded their first single, Assassin. Since then, they have released six other singles and two videos including their latest, Gbe Soke.
A unique feature of the duo is their ability to sing and at the same time play musical instruments. In this interview, they talk about their music and love life.
What’s FTK?
We are Taiwo and Kehinde Falobi. We are R and B artists. Our stage name is FTK, the initials of Falobi, Taiwo and Kehinde. We are studying Mass Communication at Babcock University. We are in 300 levels going to 400.
Tell us about your new work?
We just released a song entitled, Gbe Soke (Lift it Up) featuring 9ice. It’s Gbe Soke remix. We have a video of the song shot by Director Q. The song was produced by Da Piano and was mixed by Indomix. The track is actually for the youths, it’s a club banger.
How many singles have you released?
We’ve released eight singles. We started with Assassin followed by I Don Craze, Shaky Bum-Bum, Shout Out, Ise Oluwa, and now Gbe Soke.
How did you come into music?
Professionally, we came into music in 2014. We shot our first video the same year entitled, Assassin. That same year, we went to music school to learn the rudiments of music like voice training and how to play the guitar.
How come that both of you have the same talent?
We just discovered that we have passion for music. Music is what we love.
How do you get inspiration for music?
PSquare inspired us because they are twins like us. We had a book filled with their lyrics. We might not have been very good at it when we started, that was why we went to music school for voice training and to learn how to play instruments.
What inspired Gbe Soke?
Like what we said earlier, our style is R and B, but we are also versatile. We needed something people could be able to dance to, so we decided to do the song, Gbe Soke.
Why collaboration with 9ice?
We chose 9ice because of his voice, music and maturity. 9ice is already known in the industry, so we featured 9ice because we wanted something matured, something that won’t sound like the everyday thing. When you hear his voice, you hear something different that you can move to.
Apart from 9ice,who else would you like to collaborate with?
We would like to collaborate with a lot of artists like Patoranking, Tuface, Olamide, Reekado Banks and PSquare. We would like PSquare to see us and want to collabo with us.
Do you think FTK can separate in future?
That kind of thing will never happen because, for us, music is a different thing entirely. When it comes to music, we will always be together, no matter what. We will get married at some point but then we are still going to be together, singing. Peter (of PSquare) has passion for dancing, while Paul has passion for singing. We both have same passion for music and dancing, so that brings us together.
So, no woman can come between the both of you?
Woman? Never! Do you know how many women that have tried? In the past, we’ve come across some girls that thought they could make one person move away from the other. But that’s not possible. We’ve been together right from childhood. Not even money can separate us.
How do you deal with your finances?
For now, our dad is the one sponsoring us. We maintain the same account and share our money equally.
Twins often dress alike, why are you not wearing the same style?
We are not trying to create that image of dressing alike. That we are twins is already showing in our looks, because we are identical. Sometimes we dress alike, no doubt, but immediately you look at us, you can tell we are twins. We don’t want people to say ‘they are twins’ or ‘are you guys brothers?’
In school, did you have a situation where one of you was punished for the other’s offence?
Yes, in secondary school, there was a time I bullied some people and they accused my brother (Taiwo) of doing such. My brother was just there looking like ‘what are they talking about?’ But I had to open up that I was the one that did it and not my brother. I could actually deny it and they won’t know.
How do your girlfriends identify you?
It’s easy because once she has fallen in love with any one of us; she will be able to identify which one. Even though we look alike, our attitude is different.
Has there been any time a lady mistook one for the other?
No, unless we decide to play pranks. We do play pranks a lot.
Taiwo hardly speaks, are you the shy type?
No I’m outspoken. One thing about us is that one speaks for the other. Our dad rarely recognises us, instead of being specific if it’s Taiwo or Kehinde he wants, he just calls out ‘TK’. He only recognises us when we get close to him.