Dare Art-Alade is a class act by all standards; he is a radio presenter a Master of Ceremony and a musician all rolled up in one. He is the son of the late music maestro Art Alade and in this interview with Ahmed Boulor, the father of one bares his mind on a range of issues which includes: his marriage, career and his current status as the co-host of MTN's Project Fame.

HOW does it feel being the host of MTN's Project Fame knowing fully well that you once participated in the maiden edition held in South Africa four years ago?

It feels really humbling and it also goes to show that what goes around comes around and we must at every point in time do our best in whatever activity that we are involved in because one never can tell who is watching. Four years after I feel privileged to be selected to host the show out of the very many talented ones who are potentially good for the job. So it is a feeling of pride and humility all in one.What is the experience of being the host of the show like?

So far so good, it is not something new.

I am used to hosting and presenting or things like that. But, it has its own challenges as well and the whole process has been exciting. You seem to be versatile being a musician, an Mc and a radio presenter.

Which of these are you more comfortable with?

All of them! I don't have a problem with any of them. It is just about being comfortable with creativity in any form that it comes. I wouldn't say I am the best painter or artiste, it is just my ability to apply my creativity to whatever I am involved in: music, dance, theatre and the media.

What is the reason behind shooting two different videos for your single entitled Carry dey go?

We actually did both versions on the same day. The first one that featured me and Tu face was very artistic. But the remix is more of a club mix; it is more of dancehall package and it features Naeto C. The major reason we had two videos for the song was simply because the original and the remix are different modes; the one that features Tu face is slow mellow while the that has Naeto C on it is more of a party blend.

Why did you leave Storm Records?

It is what you may term mutual understanding; two matured parties understanding that it is not working the way it ought to work and instead of making a fuss out of it, we decided to call it quits and part ways. But I am still a friend of the Storm family.

On what label will your forthcoming album be released?

I have my own Entertainment label called Soul Produktionz; so instead of calling ourselves a record label we are just doing independent shows and consultations for entertainment.

How far has worked gone on your forthcoming album?

It's looking good! I am recording more songs like the one I did with Tu face and the album will be out in January. I also have a song with 9ice and I have been recording with TY Mix, Cobhams and Don Jazzy. So it's coming on well and it will be an album specifically for matured audiences; people who are in relationships or who are in love. I also have one or two party songs that will prove to be club hits.

Has marriage in anyway softened you?

I have always been a mellow person for those who know me. When I try to be aggressive is when I put up the youthful exuberance cloak; but really I have come to realise that my strong point is in being mellow. That is why I sing slow and mid tempo songs and I discovered that anywhere I go in the world when I open my mouth and sing songs like that, I catch the audience.

How does it feel being a father?

I feel blessed having a son! It is a great feeling anybody out there that has one knows exactly how I feel. It shows how blessed and favoured you are in the sight of God. Now I have a responsibility that I have to take care of and unlike before money for shows is not for me alone as I now have mouths to feed.

Of all your fathers' children, you are the only one that followed in his footsteps and in the process you have gained considerable popularity. Does this not make your other siblings uncomfortable?

Not at all! I mean if there is any thing they are really supportive of me and they are happy that I am doing what I am doing and carrying on the legacies of our late father. I totally have their support and I don't have any problem regarding that.

Do you not feel any pressure of any sort being married to somebody older than you are?No pressures at all!

Every body at sometime finds what works for him or her. I am perfectly happy with my marriage to my wife and I absolutely have no problems or pressures of any sort.

Word has it that you have moved from Lagos to Abuja; do you not think that will affect you considering the fact that Lagos is the boiling point of entertainment in Nigeria?

Yeah! Lagos is the hub of entertainment; but Lagos is not where all the money is. Money doesn't stay in one place, there is money in America and there is money in South Africa. There is money in Lagos and Abuja if you want to broaden your horizon then you should not be restricted to a place. The money I can make in Lagos is very minimal but that is not the reason why I am in the capital city. Abuja is where my family is and it is a very cool place to raise a family. Lagos is chaos, it is a mad place and I have lived here for many years so I know how Lagos operates. I also have my businesses in Abuja and I basically shuttle between Lagos and Abuja. I am not somewhere just for fun; anywhere you see me there must be a reason for being there.

Is it true that you will be travelling to South Africa soon?

That's true! We are going to shoot more videos and see if we could fix other elements of the upcoming album. There will be photo shoots, interviews and what have you.

How soon will your album be released?

Hopefully and by the grace of God, it's going to be released in January. The album proper will be launched in February which means that you would have had the album before it is launched.Is that in anyway a strategy you are adopting to make the album make an impact in terms of popularity? You could call it a strategy but for me it is just common sense. When you sit down and carefully think of what people will like and how it will best work for them and you try it out. Sometimes you get it right and sometimes you get it wrong.

Having had first hand experience with Project Fame four years ago; how would you rate the talent of the contestants in this year's edition with your time?

There is a lot of talent in the house; again is about people coming out when an audition is called. Somebody out there might be a better singer but if you don't come out and show those who are conducting the audition what you can offer then your talent dies with you. What we have seen are one of the best of talents that we have at the academy. I am not saying that they are the there is but those that are better out there didn't come but of all the lot that were auditioned the best were selected.

Are you making money off music?

I haven't started making money the kind of money that I should; considering the amount of resources one invests in the making of albums. But a lot of people do music without the love of it, if I didn't love what I am doing I would have been distracted and disillusioned with piracy and what have you. The more consistent you are, someday, that big breakthrough that you wished for would come. The music business is a business of hope and you must keep hoping for the best. Look at people like Majek Fashek and Onyeka Onwenu; if any of them ever stopped at any time in their careers they would have been forgotten. The most important thing is for people to remember you. You may not be rich but they know you are there and you are doing what you know how to do best.

Would it be okay to sum up that the kind of music you sing is determined by your kind of person?

Yes! Generally speaking or around the world, the kind of music you hear from an artiste to a certain extent can tell you the kind of person he or she is. You could tell by the lyrics he chooses to use and things like that. So I am an artiste that likes it blue and slow. I also like to dance, I know how to rock the show but I am more mellow.

The Anambra born leggy queen of beauty Chinenye Ivy Ochuba after finishing from Reagan Memorial Secondary School, she contested for the Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria beauty pageant and she won in 2000. Her reign was a scandal-free one unlike her predessessors whose reigns are full of scandals and slanders. The seventh child in a family of 10 children shortly after her reign left her University of Lagos’ Computer Science course for the University of Greenwich, London where she studied Accounting and Finance and just graduated last May. Miss Universe pageant in Puerto Rico and Miss World were the major international beuaty contests she would have gloriously won but due to one hiccups to another she missed the enviable crowns and was well favoured with second best. Having completed herdegree in Accounting and Financing at the University of Greenwich, London. She has returned back to Nigeria to soleminise her long-standing relationship with an international businessman called Adekunle Tajudeen Akinlade.

MICHAEL ALONGE of http://www.nigeriafilms.com knocked the doors of his mouth 40 hours to their white wedding and he opened up on himself and the leggy queen of beauty, Chinenye Ochuba.

Excerpts…Can we have an insight into your background?

My name is Adekunle Akinlade, I’m in my late 30s, I am from Agosasa in Ipokia area of Idiroko, Ogun State . First born in a family of nine. My mum is late, she died in 1997, my dad is a retired army officer, I read Political Science in LASU, did lot of courses in England, I did Financial Management, I have a six year-old from previous relationship, Temilade. I used to have a business here in Nigeria in the 90s but I left Nigeria for England in 2000, immediately I got there I set up my company, Cleveland, we into property, oil and gas and financial management. I was doing my business in England until 2007 when I relocated back to Nigeria . That’s about my life generally.How did you meet Chinenye Ochuba?I met her in Lagos actually, when I came into town in 2004 on Holiday, I went out with my cousin, Rasaq Adigun, we went out, you know, I can not remember the name of the bar but it was on the Island, I am not really an outgoing person, I just came on Holiday then and my cousin just took me out. While we were relaxing, four ladies walked in and we looked at them and said hi! Hi! One of them was so friendly and we started chatting, though, I walked up to them to introduce myself, I said my name is Kunle and I will like to know you people, I was targeting her but I didn’t go to her directly, I wanted to come in through the one that was so jovial amongst them. I gave them my numbers, local and international. They didn’t call me before I left for England but later when I got to England, a couple of days later, one of them called me and I was like what about that your friend now, she said which one and said the slim one among you and she said ok Ivy, I said yes, though, I didn’t know who she was, weather a beauty queen or anything. She gave me her number and I called her and we became friends. We started talking for about three, four months about ourselves. Then one day I asked her if she ever thought of making a career in modeling, at least, you are tall, young and beautiful and she said she’s done pageant. Oh Pageant which one and she said MBGN, and I asked what is MGBN, she responded that Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria and I said ok, I know about Ben Bruce’s stuff. I asked what year and she said she won 2000 and I was surprised and I asked her if she could send me her pictures because that time really I just saw her once so I could picture what I saw at that bar that day. She said I should just google her name and when I did, I saw her pictures and profile and I was like wow you are really pretty you know, I now promised to come to Nigeria to meet her and the rest is history.How did you meet her parents?Oh! Her parents are wonderful people, as a young girl, they’re concerned about her and very protective of her I spent four day in Nigeria and went back to England . When I got back, she was in UNILAG then and I was like why don’t you come over to the UK for your studies, it’s better here you know with all this strike everyday and talked to her dad as regards that too that her intelligence would be more aided if she could come over to England for her academics. The dad made all the necessary arrangement, they got the form for her and she moved to Greenwich University , England , where she read Accounting and Finance. While she was in England I was able to see her quite often so the relationship developed from there. She just finished last May 2008 and she came out with flying colours 2.1. She’s serving with Exxomobil on the Island now; she’s an embodiment of knowledge. She’s very brilliant. She’s been a blessing; she’s a wonderful gift to me by God.

What was the attraction like?

For me really, I am not a party person, my life is all about business, as a financial manager, all I know how to do is to make and manage money so you can now imagine the first special outing with a cousin and four beautiful girls coming and you look at them and one at of those four people has a rare quality, something different from the normal Nigerian girl. You know, some Nigeria girls will have this hip, you know with some curves and all that but seeing something different, just like an average white woman in England, made my feel wow she might not be a Nigerian. But I got to know her well when we started talking that she’s a very careful and intelligent person. She’s got an aura that will just make you like her, she’s composed, very cultured person and in fact she’s everything. When I met her parents, they were not interested in the cars I drive or where I live, they were particular about me and what I do for a living. She’s from a very humble background and you know if someone is from a humble background, and someone gives you something, they know that the person might have given that something for something, you know, she’s not materialistic, she’s not extravagant, and I always ask her that for someone like you, what would you ask that a man would not give you and she’s like those things don’t matter.

Aside all this you mentioned above, what other quality would you say struck you when you met her?

You know when you first meet a girl, there are lots of things you won’t know about the person until you get close to the person. When I’ve got to know her parents, I have always believed that if you pluck a fruit from the tree, the fruit is fresh and good, look at the three; it must have had an effect on the fruit, that’s what I can say about that. The parents are people who are well disciplined and that act of discipline has been deposited into all their children. When I met her dad, he’s a retired Engineer, her mum is a teacher, and with the way they were talking to me, I know that definitely I am in the right place. So, there I discovered that the contentment nature of Ivy is inherited from her parent. She can live on a bottle of water for a whole day even if everybody around her is having coke and bugger. She’s got this inner value, you know, she’s not greedy and she’s very humble.

As a former beauty queen, are you not afraid of loosing her into some highly influential people who may want to sweep her away from you?

She goes around on her own and it has never bothered me if anyone that drives Ferrari or helicopter would take her from me, she has strong family values and that actually built that love and respect I have for her over the years.

Was there any reservation, objection or obstacle from her parents as a Yoruba man when you declared your intention about their daughter?

They are liberal people, they are from Anambra but they were born in Lagos , the dad speaks fluent Yoruba language, the mum too, you can imagine a teacher in a Yoruba State and all her friends are Yoruba people. The ethnic thing has never been an issue with the family, honestly. If I call dad now, you will be shocked that he would talk in Yoruba Ah Kunle Bawo ni? Se o wa okay…All their neigbours are Yoruba so to them I am just another Yoruba neigbour from the next door. If you ask Ivy all the people she went to school with from Primary to secondary they are all Yorubas. Her friends are Jumoke, Teni, Ireti… they are all Yorubas. If I had been a Hausa guy, it could have be language problem, you know, because none of them schooled in the North.

When did you propose to her?

I didn’t talk marriage the first day I met her, the marriage proposal started coming up late last year when she was about finishing her academics,. That was the condition then that before anything, you have to graduate from the university. And late last year I proposed to her and she called her parents and siblings and they all supported it and I gave her a ring. February this year, we came to Nigeria during the Val. And we had our introduction two days after Val and my people met with hers. Ever since, the relationship is blossom. Her dad and mine have become best of friends.

Would like to talk about your past relationship or was it marriage?

Just a relationship, we weren’t married. It’s like a relationship of every young man. I don’t want to talk about it because it’s personal. My wife, Chinenye Ivy knows about it. I think I am just lucky to have a chance like this that’s all.

How did Chinenye feel when you told her about Temilade, your child?

Well, she took it like every other woman will take it. Funny enough, I told her when we were still chatting on phone and they have since become friends. Honesty or sincerity matters most in a relationship.

Most celebrity’s marriages hardly work, what are the machinery in place to make this stand the test of time?

I confidently believe that it’s only God that makes a marriage work. There is nothing a man can do by himself without God’s support. You can be the poorest man on earth and still have a broken marriage but if a marriage is based on God’s foundation, I believe strongly that it’s going to work. What a couple should do to help their marriage is to fear God and be honest to one another. We always joke about it that we only have a 70 years contract and after 10 years we sit to review the marriage on how to spend the remaining 60. But I must confess that ours is a marriage made in heaven.

A BLACK MAN IN A WHITE HOUSE--OBAMA MADE HISTORY,FIRST AFRICAN-AMERICAN TO BE PRESIDENT ELECT IN USA

A man of change.A man of Dreams.A man who has realized Martin Luther King's dream forty-five years ago. "Forty-five years ago Martin Luther King had a dream of an America where men and women would be judged not on the color of their skin but on the content of their character. Today, what America has done is turn that dream into a reality,"

A man who has done the black race proud.A man who despite all odds stood and fought for his beliefs"YES WE CAN".He is man who never believed in IMPOSSIBILITIES but POSSIBILITIES.

A boy born on the 4th of August 1961 in Hawaii without a spoon(not to mention silver spoon)raised by his grandparents and his single mom not many knew him 10months ago but today he is known all over the world as a man who made history in our lifetime.

Obama displayed greatly the power of faith,self-motivation,self-confidence and positivity.He acted in faith calling the things that were not as if they were.Take a look at the planning of the election party at chicago even before the election results,the event was planned in preparation of the victory.He won the election by taking steps of faith even before the election results.What a change?

HISTORY IS MADE