Nigerian gospel reggae star, Buchi Atuonwu, popularly known as Buchi, has launched his ninth studio album. The ten track album was launched on Sunday, December 1st, 2024 in Lagos.
This is the latest collection coming from the Kaduna-born song writer, producer, poet and author. The album is titled; ‘Alive And Well’. According to the renowned gospel singer, ‘Alive and Well’ is inspired by his death rumour in September.
The album consists of nine tracks including, ‘Give Thanks’, ‘Be Strong’, ‘King Jesus ft. Olachi’, ‘Alive And Well ft. Xtacy’, ‘I Have A Right To Be Happy’, ‘Bambam (Dubadaidei)’, ‘Peace’, ‘Every Sound’, ‘Faithful God’. The album also has two bonus tracks, ‘Cease Fire’ and ‘Thank You Pastor’.
Buchi, speaking to the media about his new album on Sunday at the Kulture Yard, Adeniyi Jones, Ikeja, Lagos, took turns to debunk his death rumour that went viral on social media. He also highlighted why it took him long to release his ninth album.
He said; “‘Alive And Well’ was partly inspired by the rumours of my death that circulated on social media on September 13, 2023, it is unfortunate that desperation has driven many to all manner of mischief.”
“‘Alive And Well’ consists of nine amazing tracks including, Give Thanks, Be Strong, King Jesus ft. Olachi, Alive And Well ft. Xtacy, I Have A Right To Be Happy, Bambam (Dubadaidei), Peace, Every Sound, Faithful God, with two beautiful bonus tracks, Cease Fire and Thank You Pastor.”
Speaking on his stunning return to the music scene, he said; “This time around, we are going to carry everyone along and make sure that everybody knows that it’s a come back in a manner of speaking but it’s not such a come back because I never went away, I’ve been very busy and very active musically since 1999 when my first album dropped, until the day before now.”
“The album is titled “Alive And Well” because on Wednesday 13th of September, 2023, news broke that Buchi had passed, I don’t know if you saw it. I woke up in the morning on a Wednesday morning and I saw hundreds of missed calls, my messages and people were asking, is it you talking, is it really you talking and I found out that some people went to town with the news that Buchi had passed.”
“Anyways it was a false rumour, but the events following it were extraordinary. I don’t know if you have ever seen your own obituary. I mean you’re reading the newspaper and looking at yourself with Rest In Peace, and I jokingly said ‘it’s not only Rest In Peace, it’s Rice In Pepper sauce’.”
“I am not 60 yet, I am approaching my 60th birthday, I was 59 at that time. People were calling my wife, children, Kulture Yard for condolence. People were streaming into the yard because they came to find out what happened.”
“It took the intervention of the live interview I did with Channels TV, and the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) which was spread across their networks before the rumour began to die down, but I became more aware than ever before that life is fleeting.”
“What if it was true? What if those obituaries were real? And so I realized that the little time we have left here is like an extra time to give your best, sing that song that you have been saving, wear those clothes that you have been saving, and bring out the best dishes, they are not for the shelves, live every day like it’s your last and bless lives.”
“I grew up with a kind of certain knowledge in my mind that the day that Jesus would return, that music would be the centre stage, music would be ruling the world, I knew it and even before I realized that I was going to be a musician.”
“I knew I would have something to do with the music till the day of the Lord’s return. Anyway, the rest is history, I’ve become actively involved in music and so I choose to use the rest of my time, energy and everything I have to unleash what I believe to be the best of me musically and that’s the reason these ten new songs have come to live. “Alive And Well” that’s the reason for the title.”
On whether the Gen Z’s will be able to relate to his music, Buchi said; “What I hear is my father loves your music, some will even say my grandmother loves your music and that makes me realize that, Oh it has been a long time ago.”
However, speaking on his two years of absence from the music world, he said; “I have been busy, even musically, times have changed. Back in the days when my old songs were released, all I needed to do was just to be on AIT and the whole country would know that you dropped a song.”
“But in this time, in this dispensation, where there are many voices speaking and social media has become mainstream in the manner of speaking there is an increased need to stop winking in the dark.”
“And to do whatever I’m doing, to the knowledge and read the participation of the media, that is the reason I said for this album to be released, we are not going to go through the usual way of just uploading and walking away to the next consult stage.”
For those who don’t know, we can tell you for free that apart from music and writing, Buchi is also a tailor. He owns a fashion house in Bariga, Lagos called Buchi Couture. He equally owns a lounge in Ikeja, Lagos called the Kulture Yard. According to the musician, the Kulture Yard is a Christian lounge.