How I Met Mighty Mouse – Mr Remie

Nigeria musician Remigius Okafor, Aka. Mr. Remie known for his popular album titled Folashade has revealed how he encountered John Oboh popularly known as Mighty Mouse before the recording of the popular hit album “Folashade” back in the 1990s.

Remigius Okafor, aka Mr. Remie, is a renowned recording artiste and technocrat in the Nigerian music industry, with several decades of experience. Remie also revealed that the story of his musical journey thus far can not be complete without the mention of the man on whose partnership and camaraderie a good deal of it had been embarked on.

He made this revelation, in a chat with news correspondents in Lagos.

My paths with John Oboh first crossed sometime in 1989 while on the musical campaign tours of Daniel Wilson’s 999 album, on which I was a backup vocalist and John (as I knew him then) did some special toasting. As kindred intellectual minds, we naturally bonded even after the campaigns.

After temporarily parting ways due to our separate pursuits, we met again in majors studios in Lagos State where he, as a prolific producer was using his then Jahoha Sound System platform to build and nurture the dreams of upcoming acts that would later become great celebrities in future.

The sound system that was only made possible with the philanthropic endeavour of his elder sister, Mabel Akomu Oboh, who procured the complete music recording studio equipment on Mighty Mouse’s request, also aided in the ingenious creation of his trademark genre of his that subsequently metamorphosed to Galala, Konto, Swor, Alanta…etc., that continue to shape the Nigerian music scenes till date.

Sometime in September of 1995, Mighty Mouse contracted me to coordinate the vocal sessions of his sophomore album, especially with the track, Repatriation Tyme.

Interestingly, however, after the very first session, he requested that I team up with him as a music group, instead, due to his satisfaction with my input on the project.

Flattered by the gesture, despite having my original trajectory, I accepted the offer; and so, the group, Mighty Mouse and Remie was born.

The group had a tremendous media and stage impact with the Repatriation Tyme maxi-singles, despite the not-too-impressive promotional efforts by Felin Records, under which label it was released. Consequently, we decided to move on and handle our subsequent jobs on our own.

The release of the video of Folashade in 1997 took the industry by storm and for many months the track remained on top of most musical charts of the time across the nation and beyond. The release of the video of Repatriation 2, featuring Dr. Fresh, about a year afterward, by then under PAC Promotions, owned by Chief Josephine Oboh McCleods, recorded an even greater success.

Our robust mutual synergy as music partners notwithstanding, we had our differences which ultimately resulted in our parting of ways in 2001.

However, our relationship remained cordial and progressive as we continued to jointly feature in the production of other artists’ projects. His Jahoha Studios continued to be one of my favourite workspaces. Over the years, we had grown to become akin to siblings of separate parentage.