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For Mary Oluwakemi Idahosa, known professionally as Mary O. Idahosa, music has been a journey of learning, discipline and adaptation.
Her musical experience began at the age of eight when she joined a Baptist Church choir in Kwara State. At 12, she joined the Christ Apostolic Church choir in Ilorin, before becoming a member of the Voice of Hope Choir of Christ Faith Tabernacle International in Lagos at 17.
More than two decades later, she has pursued interests in gospel music, songwriting, voice coaching, music direction and entrepreneurship.
Her career has also extended into the hair and beauty business, while she has become involved in women’s skills development and mentorship.
A foundation in faith
The church choir provided Mary O. with her early musical foundation.
She learnt the importance of rehearsal, discipline, harmony and working with other performers. Those lessons, she says, have remained relevant throughout her career.
As she grew older, she began exploring opportunities outside the church choir, including music competitions and recording.
Her first release was Awesome, released in April 2006.
The album came at a time when the music industry operated very differently from today. Music was distributed mainly through cassette tapes and CDs, as online music platforms and streaming services were not yet part of the music landscape.
For Mary O., Awesome represented the beginning of her recorded-music journey. It was a period when artistes depended largely on physical copies of their music and traditional methods of distribution to reach listeners.
She has released several albums, including Awesome, Maranatha, Arugbo Ojo, Living God and With God.
The Maranatha chapter
One of the documented stages of Mary O.’s recording career came in 2018 with the release of Maranatha.
Contemporary reports on the album described it as an eight-track project. At the time, Mary O. also spoke about her interest in developing musical infrastructure that could provide opportunities for emerging gospel musicians.
The episode reflected an aspect of her career that has continued over the years: combining music with an interest in developing people and skills.
The Maranatha chapter also came at a different point in the music industry from the release of Awesome. By 2018, digital distribution and online music platforms were increasingly creating new opportunities for artistes to release their music and reach audiences beyond their immediate locations.
The contrast between the two releases reflects the changes Mary O. has experienced throughout her musical career — from the days of cassette tapes and CDs to the emergence of digital music platforms.
Learning through competition
Mary O. has participated in a number of music competitions, including Nigeria Idol, Destiny Child Gospel Music Talent Hunt , Bet Sunday best international gospel competition and the Liberal Music Competition.
She emerged winner of the Liberal Music Competition in 2019.
For her, competitions provided more than an opportunity to win prizes or gain recognition. They offered exposure to different performers and helped sharpen her approach to preparation and performance.
That same year, she performed at an event organised for members and supporters of the blind community at the MUSON Centre in Lagos.
Beyond music
While her music career developed, Mary O. was also building a career in the hair and beauty industry.
She says she has spent more than two decades in the business and established Style Me Ventures.
Her experience has included participation in hairstyling competitions and training people interested in developing skills in the profession.
The COVID-19 pandemic presented another challenge. Like many businesses in the personal-care sector, her operations were affected by restrictions and changes in consumer behaviour.
She responded by expanding home services and using online channels to maintain contact with clients.
The experience reinforced the importance of adapting to changing circumstances, she says.
Building skills and empowering women
Mary O.’s interest in skills development has also informed her work with women.
As coordinator of Women of Royal Destiny, she says she works with more than 100 women and organises skills-acquisition activities.
Her argument is that practical skills can help women contribute to their families and improve their economic opportunities.
For Mary O., the objective is not simply to provide training but to encourage women to use acquired skills to create sustainable opportunities for themselves and others.
Adapting to a digital music environment
The music industry has changed considerably since Mary O. began her career.
The growth of digital distribution has made it possible for artistes to release music without depending entirely on physical albums and traditional distribution channels.
Mary O. has also moved into the digital space, with her recordings available on music-streaming platforms.
She views the development as an opportunity for artistes to reach audiences beyond their immediate geographical locations.
Her musical journey therefore spans two very different eras: the physical era in which Awesome was released in April 2006 on a music market dominated by cassettes and CDs, and the digital era in which Maranatha and her later recordings could reach audiences through online platforms.
Gospel performance
Mary O. has continued to participate in gospel music programmes and live performances.
The COVID-19 pandemic affected live performances because of restrictions on movement and public gatherings. During the period of restrictions, she could not hold her usual live concert activities.
After the restrictions eased, however, she returned to live concerts.
Mary O. held live concerts in 2020, 2021 and 2022, continuing the following year with her Prophetic Praise Live Concert in September 2023.
The concerts provided opportunities for her to reconnect with audiences through live praise and worship and demonstrated her continued commitment to gospel music performance.
In 2023, she was also listed among performers at The Gospel Live with Ehiliz in Lagos.
The year 2023 therefore represented an important period in Mary O.’s live-performance journey, bringing together her work as a gospel artiste, songwriter and performer.
Measuring a career
Mary O.’s career illustrates the gradual evolution of an artiste working across several areas.
She began in the church choir, moved into competitions and recording, developed an entrepreneurial career and later expanded her activities into mentoring and women’s skills development.
Her musical journey has also spanned major changes in the way music is produced, distributed and consumed.
Her first release, Awesome, came in April 2006, when cassette tapes and CDs were the dominant means of distributing recorded music. More than a decade later, Maranatha emerged in an increasingly digital music environment.
Her journey has also required adaptation to changes in technology, business and the music industry.
The COVID-19 period presented another test, particularly for live performance. Restrictions on movement and public gatherings interrupted live concert activities, but Mary O. returned to the stage with live concerts in 2020, 2021 and 2022, followed by the Prophetic Praise Live Concert in September 2023.
Asked whether she considers the journey complete, her response is that there is still more to do.
There is more music to make, more people to mentor and more skills to develop, she says.
For Mary O., longevity has therefore been less about remaining in the public eye than about continuing to learn and finding new ways to apply her experience.
The journey that began in a church choir in Kwara State has evolved into a career spanning music, enterprise and community-oriented activities.
From her first release, Awesome, in April 2006, through the Maranatha chapter and the transition from cassette and CD distribution to digital music, to her return to live concerts and the Prophetic Praise Live Concert in September 2023, Mary O.’s story is one of growth, resilience and adaptation.
And for an artiste who says she has never stopped learning, the next chapter remains open.
