Women Singers

"A lot of people misunderstood why I was doing what I was doing, or even what I was doing. Then other people were actually kind of pissed off about it. Or they were worried I was going to make a fool of myself that it was somehow undignified or just weird."

"If people call me a songwriter, I am honored to be called that. I’m keenly aware that I’m lucky to get to work with these writers."

"When I came round I felt very odd, It was like I had headphones on and I was listening to music. It didn’t go away. I wasn’t sleeping at night. It was as though my mind had become a musical tornado, and whatever came in front of me got whirled into it."

"I think it causes the business to probably take you a little more seriously and to believe in you more. That’s a meaningful thing to me. This is something I’ve now done for 45 years. I treasure every single day that I’m on a set. I think anyone who’s worked with me would agree that I’m not bored or jaded or any of those things. For me, it’s still an utter privilege to do this for a living. I never forget that for a second."

"“I try to do other things aside acting, … The money in the movie 'thing' is really not enough for us. I do buying and selling. When I travel, I come back with a whole lot of stuffs to sell …”"

"“I don’t see anyone as a threat in the industry because everybody has his own life to live and things to do for him/herself. Everybody has his style. So, nobody is a threat to me.”"

"“I’ll always prefer a loving romantic man over one with so much money to throw around but lacks respect for his partner. Because in life, what matters most is having a peace of mind … It’s not all about money or his pockets, she noted.”"

"I was very excited when I got the script of ‘Sandcastle’ from Sylvia because Nollywood producers like to stereotype people a lot. This movie will give people a chance to see the other side of me. I’m versatile but I have been stereotyped.”"

"At a point, sex became a condition for getting movie roles so I just took a walk … But the passion was so strong … I took time to look for professionals; people who would be interested in my talent and not taking me to bed.”"

"“I may not be a pastor but I am going to be a prophetess. I know that in the end, I am going to do the work of God. I would be a prophetess. Already I dream and it comes to pass...”"

"So for me, I want people to come out and see this movie because it lends a voice to the physically challenged."

"“We can’t survive with money made from acting alone … I try to do other things aside acting … The money in the movie ‘thing’ is really not enough for us. I do buying and selling. When I travel, I come back with a whole lot of stuffs to sell and all that""

"I want to be a brand that African parents can tell their kids to look up to by availing them access to lyrically healthy songs that will Mood their kids’ characters and inspire them to greatness while having fun with the music."

"A lot has changed about me in terms of my way of reasoning and communication skill. Anybody who knows when I started will wonder whether this is the same Mary he or she used to know. The industry has helped in grooming me to become what I am today."

"Everybody is saying that I have an innocent look. Do I really have an innocent look? I guess this is my person and nothing more. For me, to be a good actress I need to be original."

"Everybody’s heart has been broken once in a lifetime. I can’t really pick on anything that really broke my heart. But in as much as I have this innocent outlook, I am a very strong woman. Things don’t get at me the way people may think of me."

"I don’t think all women need to birth themselves"

"I try as a reader to put myself in places I’ve never been to, in the shoes of people I would never meet"

"I definitely feel the world lacks a sense of humour"

"It’s always the youth that are making the sacrifices. When I think about the Soweto riots in 1976 in South Africa, it wasn’t people that stopped working and said, we are going to fight against these policies, it was the school children"

"I write for myself and then I edit for the reader, to make things easier for them, to refine the ideas"

"Being liked is not nearly as great as being happy with the decisions I make. I'm not money, so I know not everyone likes me"

"Things that lurk in the shadows do not like the light. People get used to one tiny light and begin to seek out more of it in the world and in themselves – that’s how the light liberates us."

"It’s fantasy when white people write it. When black and brown people write it, it’s magic realism"

"It seems as if the whole country is falling apart, so why be a good person, why be good to yourself, when the country is not being good to you, it’s not giving you the opportunities you need"

"The city is like that: it loves new and shiny things; which also leads it to be a graveyard of previously beautiful relics."

"I do like this idea of time. For me there is no before or after. It’s all during. It’s just a bunch of “durings.” I don’t think of myself as someone in the past, I’m a person going through something. I do like to see how these “durings” influence the future."

"Koko and I somehow had the ability to walk alongside our hurt and disappointment; we never let it get ahead of us or lead us astray.’"

"How could he possibly describe anything when the world around him had lost its colour"

"I birthed myself; it was bloody and painful but now I’m standing on the roof of a city as something new."

"Hear to Stay’ is more than just an album, it is my life in music."

"I want my fans to listen and truly understand why music is my forever passion."

"You know when I see how you love me I can do anything. Just to prove you that love is there."

"Away would you go away with me away, All time I hide this things now I don’t know why?"

"Better hold me hard, I will never ever go."

"Baby when I look at you right there, you make me warm enough and I feel like home."

"I wanted to kill two birds with one stone. The phrase ‘Hear to Stay’ has two meanings: first, that music lovers should listen and stay connected and second, that the love from fans is what keeps us in music."

"Speechless, Darlin I am short of words, believe me, believe me Nobody's gonna take your place."

"The Move Afrika experience was very different; I gained valuable insights, connected with influential individuals, and found inspiration in the dedicated team who organized the event."

"“My mum was the one who when I was in college would write, ‘remember your music.’ She knew that I had followed the family tradition by going to school, she encouraged me to not forget the artistic side of it. There was a rule in my house that when you had done your Masters, and only after that, get your education first.”"

"“When people ask me, ‘what is it that you have,’ I tell them it is contentment. My spirit as a Christian fills me in with contentment. We are here for a purpose. Find that purpose and work towards realizing it. The challenges will come. I mean you can’t run away from them. In life there must be issues. It is only when you’re six feet deep that you don’t get them anymore. If you can put all that together and put your faith and trust in God who sent you here, you’re fulfilled.”"

"“The example of her life was a teaching tool because she showed that she could stand as a woman on her own…be a contributing member of the community.”"

"“Mistakes make you human. But the point is, how do you look at your mistakes? What are they there for? Nobody is infallible. You are going to forge ahead based on what you have learnt from them. When you fall down, you have to get up. Learn your lessons, get up and keep going even stronger.”"

"“These young artists of today will evolve. They will evolve. I am hoping that they will evolve. They cannot remain at the nonsensical level of shaking their bum-bum and exposing body parts. No. That’s not what your art is all about. You can express yourself that way, but please, to a certain extent, do not make music a pornographic thing,”"

"“I wonder why government is not doing anything to protect the copyright of artistes. These are the things that affect our economy. The music industry is a large section of the economy of this country. Why is government not paying attention, not caring? These are frustrations. Your intellectual property is your wealth and somebody is sitting on it. People are making money off someone’s work.”"

"“Small minds, narrow minds can’t comprehend a great spirit when they see it. When they insist in stereotyping you, even when the evidence is there, look at them carefully, they are lacking some sort of professionalism.”"

"I am just an ordinary human being, a woman trying to live her life in the best way possible; dealing with the issues of life, making contributions to the society and to leave this place better than I met it. Hopefully, I can achieve that even at a personal level, because if you look at the country as a whole, the country has deteriorated. So I probably will not leave it better than I met it, unfortunately."

"“My personal memory of Dr Alvan Ikoku covers the period of the Biafra war when he made every effort to ferry my sister Ijeoma, my first cousin Ifeoma Ejindu and myself to Gabon, to save us from the war. Eventually, Ijeoma and Ifeoma were cleared to leave but I was not. I remember vividly how we all visited with the old man and knelt down to thank him for his efforts in saving us from the war. Dr Alvan was particularly touched by my show of gratitude, even though he did not succeed in getting me on the approved list and he said so. As fate would have it, the war ended just two weeks before my sister and cousin were to leave Biafra.”"

"I have great admiration for market women. The incredible thing that we don’t know is that they are holding up a large sector of the economy of this country. These women that sell tomatoes, pepper, onions; that is how they raise their children. That is how they train their children up to university level. That is how they hold their families together."

"“I cried my eyes out, with the realization that as difficult as my life was, it could not be compared with what Winnie Mandela was going through. I was no Winnie Mandela for sure, but I could identify with her loneliness and some of her pain. That night, I could not sleep. I had to put my pain to a song. I needed to give something back to Winnie for the sacrifice of her life to the Apartheid struggle, in which every decent human being had a stake. I saw her sacrifice as a global one, made by an African Woman, brave and courageous beyond words, for her man and her country.”"