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GT Da Guitarman, one of Nigeria’s early Afro-soul voices, has witnessed the country’s music industry evolve from the era of physical albums and traditional gatekeepers to today’s digital, social media-driven landscape.
In this interview with Saturday Sun, the singer, songwriter, and guitarist reflects on his journey, fame, longevity, the changing music business, and the opportunities and challenges technology has created.
Enjoy!
In the early 2000s, when you were signed to Storm Records alongside Naeto C and Dare Art Alade, you were sensational. What inspired your music back then?
I was just a young musician, a young guy who genuinely loved music. I wasn’t necessarily thinking about the things today’s musicians are bothered about, such as positioning, algorithms and so on. I just wanted to make music—good music—and I wanted people to feel something when they listened.
My musical journey actually started much earlier. My elder sister, Opeyemi, would bring songs she learnt in the choir. She would sing the treble, while I would sing the tenor or alto. We were having fun. My dad also had a huge collection of Ebenezer Obey, Sunny Ade and others, so I was surrounded by music.
I joined several groups and performed at different events, and it was just fun. Music was everywhere around me. By the time I was signed to Storm Records, I had already developed a love for songwriting. Honestly, I was fascinated by the fact that you could tell a complete story with just your voice and six strings.
I really loved music, and songs like Dreamer, Dhey Magbomi and Truly came from real emotions, experiences and things happening around me. Sometimes, they were fictional. With Truly, for instance, I just wanted to write a love song in Yoruba with an English hook.
The Storm Records days were incredible because many amazing creatives were signed to the label, including General Pype, Sasha, Ikechukwu, Dare Art Alade, and Naeto C. These were amazing talents, and each brought something beautiful to the table.
We were all basically trying to find our voices at a time when modern Nigerian music was still defining itself. So, what inspired me back then were real emotions and real-life stories.
For a while, you were quiet in the music scene. What happened during those years when you stepped away?
I wouldn’t say I completely stepped away from music. I stepped away from visibility. I think those are two different things.
At a time when you weren’t seeing GT constantly in your faces, life was happening. I became independent, started Ember Entertainment, experienced relationships, family, business and personal growth. I think, as an artist, sometimes you question why you are doing what you are doing.
For me, I wanted to rediscover the joy of creating music without the constant validation that comes with being in people’s faces all the time. I had a great time experiencing all that, and I now put it into my music.
My EP, my latest body of work, which I released in 2024, Elody, is a testament to the fact that music never left. I was still recording and performing a few gigs here and there.
Today, I think I am at a point where I understand myself better. I am not trying to become the GT of 2007 or 2005. I want to show people who GT is today. The music is fresher, the music is better, and I can’t wait to share more with people.
You were once one of the most talked-about musicians in Nigeria. What are your thoughts on fame and remaining famous in the music industry?
Fame is actually a very interesting conversation because when you experience it for the first time as a young artist, you feel like it is the destination. But life has taught me that fame is very temporary.
One minute, everyone is talking about you, and the next, the conversation has moved to someone else. That is not necessarily a bad thing. I think that is how the music industry works.
What really matters to me is relevance. Have you created a body of work that still resonates with people 15 or 20 years from now? Are you part of someone’s childhood journey?
That matters more to me now than becoming the topic of the week every time. I am more interested in musicianship and the continued progression of creating a body of work that people can still relate to many years later.
If you look back, people still resonate with songs that were written in 1999. For me, that’s a big deal. That’s relevance.
Is fame something you would advise upcoming artists to pursue at all costs over longevity?
Absolutely not. But talent alone isn’t enough. An artist needs so much more—discipline, consistency and knowledge of music and the business.
A lot makes an artist, even though talent is the foundation. If you make fame the foundation, everybody knows your name and money starts coming in, but you may not even understand yourself yet.
I would say chase excellence, chase growth, and chase a sound and identity that belong to you. If fame comes as a result of all that, then it is amazing. Unfortunately, we see a lot of people chasing fame instead of doing the work that makes a great musician. I wouldn’t advise people to go down that route because it usually doesn’t end well.
A lot has changed about GT Da Guitarman from your early years to 2026. What has changed?
The younger GT was trying to prove to the industry and to people that he belonged in the music industry—as an artist and performer who could earn his space and the right to be called a musician. The GT you speak to now obviously knows that he is a musician because of my past and track record.
Between those two versions of me—the younger and the newer GT—there has been a lot of life. I have seen the music industry from the perspective of a signed artist and an independent artist. I have experienced love, disappointment and joy. I have experienced every kind of emotion—fatherhood, business,s and everything life throws at you.
All those experiences have changed how I see life and how I write. I think the new GT is a lot calmer. I don’t just respond spontaneously to certain things, and I am more intentional now. I am also less interested in impressing people.
I really don’t care what people think about me. I care about my fans, but I think the most important things have not changed. The man behind the guitar may have changed, but the guitar hasn’t.
I still love writing and music as much as I did back then, if not more. I still get excited when I hear an inspiration or a new melody. I still spend a lot of time in the studio. I have diversified into a lot of things over the years, but the music hasn’t changed.
What has been your biggest challenge since you became a music star?
There are a lot of challenges, but the biggest one, as you said, would be remaining true to myself while everything else around me keeps, changing. The sound has changed, promotional tactics have changed, and even the definition of what people call a “star” has changed. So, the temptation is either not to change at all or to change so much that you lose yourself and that thing people connected with or liked about you in the first place.
Creating that balance is obviously challenging—trying to change and conform to the requirements of the marketplace without losing yourself in the process. I think that’s the most challenging part.
Understanding that your customers are the most important part of your craft matters, too. You cannot just live in your own bubble and keep thinking, “This is how I want to serve.”
Finding the right balance is key because you cannot go too far right or too far left. I think that’s what makes being an artist incredible because, at the end of the, day, when you finally crack it, that’s when people say, “Oh, he came out with a new sound,” without knowing that it took hours and hours of strategic deliberations about what to put out there that would probably get people’s attention.
Do you still have fans from way back who connect with you and call you for gigs?
Absolutely. A lot of my fans still connect with me regularly, and that’s the interesting part of longevity.
Someone who listened to Truly, Dreamer and all those amazing songs we released back then, when they were in university, now runs major businesses or occupies senior positions at major companies. When they see me, they turn into that 21-year-old again. I think music has that power to transport people back in time, and it’s beautiful in itself. I do not take it for granted. There are songs that, when I perform, people still request because they take them back to a particular point in their lives when they were younger or going through certain things.
That’s the power of music, and I feel blessed for that. I do not take it for granted.
You frequently advocate mental health support for young creatives. Is there a personal experience that led you to become an advocate?
There are too many examples around us. For someone who has spent a significant amount of time in the creative space, you definitely know how mentally taxing it can be.
One minute, you are celebrated by everyone, and the next, you are alone in your room thinking about what comes next. There is financial uncertainty, societal expectations, family pressure, public criticism and a whole lot that creatives go through.
Unfortunately, in this part of the world, we are told to be strong instead of being encouraged to create a safe space where people can speak out and ask for help. I have lived enough life and watched many people go through all sorts of things, and I know that creatives carry a lot inside them. Sometimes, they are just silent. Let’s make these conversations normal, especially for young creatives, and encourage them to speak out and ask for help when they need it.
As a society, we must also be ready to provide that help because most people don’t speak up because they believe nobody wants to help.
Even older musicians sometimes keep up a façade of success when nothing is going well. I think it’s important to normalise conversations about mental health.
When we hear about mental health, we often connect it to drug abuse. What would you say is the main reason young people keep falling into drug abuse?
First of all, we must be very careful not to automatically connect mental health to drug abuse because, honestly speaking, they are not the same.
There can be a relationship between them, especially when someone is using substances as a form of escape, but the reality is that many people dealing with mental health challenges have never abused drugs.
People go into substance abuse for many reasons—sometimes depression, anxiety, peer pressure, loneliness or simply to escape reality temporarily.
For creatives, there is also this notion in the music space that, “If you smoke this thing, it will help you become more creative.” Sometimes, people do it because they want to be part of a certain lifestyle. Others do it because someone told them, “If you are not smoking igbo, you are not part of that culture.” I think what we, as a society, should be asking is: “What is this person trying to escape from?”
If we are only talking about the substances and not addressing the underlying issues, then we will never be able to address the main problem.
We need more education when it comes to mental health, safe spaces where young people can genuinely ask for help and less stigma around mental health.
For me, I always say that when a mind leaves the present and is busy thinking about the future or the past, I think that is the basis of mental health.
A lot of people are not even conscious of the present. They are busy thinking about what has not happened yet. A lot of people are being traumatised by things that happened many years ago, and those experiences keep ringing in their heads. They are not even aware that now is all we have.
I think we need more education. I’m not a mental health professional, so I leave it to professionals to speak more on these issues. But the truth is, we need more safe spaces where people can express themselves.
What is the big difference between Nigerian music before 2000 and Nigerian music today?
The big difference between music back then and music now is that we prioritised live music, rehearsals and band arrangements. Today, everything is much faster and more digital.
Because the world is connected, producers are influenced by sounds from different parts of the world, and production tools have also evolved. You don’t need an enormous studio to make a hit record. A producer can simply download one of those popular DAWs and produce incredible music.
Comparing eras can be limiting because people created great music back then; forgettable ones. The same applies to this era. People have created amazing songs, and there is also forgettable music that people simply discard.
The tools might have changed, but music has remained the same, depending on how dedicated the musician is to the craft. Music will speak for you.
What are your thoughts on how far Nigerian music has gone globally?
It’s incredible. It’s amazing, to say the least.
There was a time when we were hoping our music would be taken seriously, even in Africa. I remember Music Africa, Soundcity and when MTV Base came into the scene. I remember when we were just being heard among Africans.
Today, our musicians are headlining major festivals and shutting down major arenas around the world. Our slang is being learned through Afrobeats and our music. I think that’s awesome. Afrobeats is a major cultural export for Nigeria. I’m very proud of that, and I’m very proud to have been part of that journey.
