‘I begged to sell CDs in US salons to survive’- Banky W reveals

Empire Mates Entertainment (EME) boss, Olubankole Wellington popularly
known as Banky W, tells his story of grass to grace in an interview with
Josephine Igbinovia of Vanguard Newspapers.
Although many see the fame and fortune music has brought to Banky W , it
is hard to believe that the the R&B superstar who is responsible for
producing monster hits and artistes the likes of Wizkid, Niyola, Skales, once
did menial jobs including selling CDs in Salons while in the United States just
to eke out a living.
Read excerpts from his interview:
Starting small
His appearance bellies his personality and generally gives the illusion of a
young man with a history devoid of sweat. But no, Banky did not only pay
his due but also mastered certain principles which he wouldn’t forget in
haste.
“One of such is to think big but start small”, he said.
“Everybody knows me to be the Chief Executive Officer, CEO, of EME, but
what people do not know is that EME started when I was in my third year
in university in New York. You see, we all dream dreams, but it is
important to think very big and start where you are because God never
gives you everything but gives you enough to start. At that time, I knew I
wanted to do music, but of course I understood nobody starts by selling a
million CDs or the big screen!”, Banky stated.
Menial jobs
Indeed his tale solidifies his emphasis on little beginning because to
achieve his dream of becoming a music superstar, Banky had to take up to
three jobs while also in university!
He said: “I worked in fast foods outlets, clothing stores and as a knife
salesman, selling knives from door to door. That way, I gathered money to
pay for studio recording time. I was recording with a close friend at that
time.
Begging at saloons
“After making that music, we printed a thousand CDs though we didn’t
have any fan. I had one battered car that broke down virtually everywhere,
so, we would print black and white posters, stick them on the sides of the
car, sell from the car’s trunk and drive to salons to do marketing. We
would walk to the owners of the salons, greet politely, and ask them to let
us entertain their customers. Sometimes, some would kick us out and
sometimes some would say yes. If told yes, after singing for a minute or
two, we would sell our CDs to the customers! That was the beginning!
“A lot of people see you on stage and see the success but do not know
what you had to go through! I never had one really big break; it was
always two steps forward and a couple backwards. But I just decided that
I was going to make music work for me. That was why I moved on to a
new salon each time any salon rejected me! I just kept going because I
believe failure is when you give up. Albert Einstein said he tried a hundred
times to make the light bulb. When he was asked what kept him going
during the 99 times, he said: ‘I didn’t consider those 99 times as failure;
rather, I considered them 99 ways that it didn’t work!’ We went about
selling CDs and, on the days we couldn’t sell much, we would sit down
and be broke together. I remember my friend was a member of a church
that usually served food after service. So, on the days we didn’t sell CDs
and were too broke to buy food, we would attend service in that church so
we could pack rice and store in the fridge.
Work, school, music
“At a point, being a student of industrial engineering, I was working for an
engineering company and was recording as well. I would go to work from
7am till about 2pm and then go to school till about 8pm, and then drive
two and a half hours to New York City where the studio that would let us
record for less was, and record until about 2am. I would then drive two
and a half hours back home to be back at work at 7am the following day.
One day, I was driving home from work and was so tired that I fell asleep
while on a bridge. I would have driven off from the top of the bridge to God
knows where, if not for an on-going construction work. God really saved
me!”
After a while, Banky’s hard work began to pay off and, even while in
school, he began winning awards, beginning with the ‘Albany Idol’
competition. Other international awards soon followed.