The interview with E! definitely must have taken place
before she broke up with her husband, Tunji Balogun aka TeeBillz. Aired twice
this week, the TV interview has done justice to Tiwa Savage as a global brand.
Talking about her birth and growing up in Surulere,
Lagos, Tiwa reminisced on her childhood—parents, three brothers and life in the
neighbourhood with other kids.
Then, educational background, her sojourn abroad, the
passion for music, her urge to leave the 9-5 job and go for music, how she met
TeeBillz, his interest in her career, how his managerial position helped the
Tiwa Savage brand grow and his grooming of her image.
She recalled: “I moved to America. I went to study
music at the Berkley College of music. Then I moved to Los Angeles. Now, when
you move to L.A., there are a lot of beautiful people there. Their skin is
glowing, their teeth is perfect, their hair is amazing and I’m like looking
around for someone who doesn’t wax, I have like a uni-brow.”
Meeting TJ, who later became her manager, Tiwa revealed how he created the Tiwa Savage brand.
Meeting TJ, who later became her manager, Tiwa revealed how he created the Tiwa Savage brand.
She said, “I needed to do something and I met my manager who is now my husband. He saw me and was like, ‘you could be really pretty if you put an effort into it’ and I was like ‘wait what do you mean?’ He was like, ‘you need to lose a little weight, wax your legs; that might be attractive. So he just literally put me through this whole programme and told me that ‘the music is great, the talent is there but 80 per cent of it is branding’. ‘So if you want to do the tom-boy thing, you have to take it to the extreme if you want to be hot and sexy you have to take it to the extreme. So, I started learning how to wear heels and he basically just groomed me into the image of Tiwa Savage that we see now.”Tiwa was sincere to have confessed that TJ left a thriving business in the USA to follow her to Nigeria. Then, they got married.
They have had their ‘‘fair share of marital ups and
downs,” she said. She would not forget in a jiffy the ‘little argument’ they
had at their wedding reception.
She said, “Everybody, who is married, knows that there are up and downs in marriages and we had our fair share.”
She further narrated how they had an argument on their wedding day.
“So we just had this little tiff outside and we are like arguing and everyone is like, ‘welcome the beautiful bride and the groom and we are dancing in and he’s just was grumbling and it’s on camera. So, everyone watching was like ‘Wait were you guys just arguing so it’s real but there are cute moments and real moments,” She told E!
Now a mother, the singing sensation described her son, Jamil,
as her ‘little man.’However, she expressed fear of the ‘cruelty in the
world.’ Due to this, she has vowed to put in more work to ensure a secure and
brighter future for Jamil.
Tiwa Savage explained how motherhood has had an impact on her brand.
“My brand is built on the young, sexy, fresh, sassy, female singer and now I got a few rules here and there. Stretch marks (laughs) but I have to embrace those scars because that’s what reminds me of the miracle that I had.”
“So I like to talk about it a lot especially to African women because we hide behind it and we don’t talk about the real issues that come with it—the pressure to lose weight. You had a baby, if you had to choose between getting your old body back and choosing that baby, I’m sure everybody would choose that baby. So, I will embrace my new body because I have a son,” she told E!
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