Maverick entertainer, Charles Oputa, aka Charley Boy is back!
The singer who had been away from music scene said he decided to make a comeback primarily because he wants to pass a serious message to the people, especially the youth.
In a chat with Saturday PUNCH, Oputa who released a new song, God of Men (Fake Pastors), featuring Falz, on Valentine’s Day explained that in life there are times and seasons for everything. He said while at a time, he was crazy about being a biker, but for the past four years he has not ridden a bike, “so that time has passed,” he said.
“For the past 40 years, I have engaged in different protests and agitations. Last year, I decided that I was going to take a break from street protests; partly because other people I was dealing with as far as protests were concerned were young people and I realised that they had a different mindset.
“I looked at all of that and decided to go back to my first love, which is music. I have then poured all my frustrations into my songs.”
Speaking on the song, God of Men, Oputa said, “It talks about fake pastors. I believe many Christians, these days, worship their pastors more than God. That is why I call those fake pastors ‘god of men’.”
On some of the changes in him that are reflected in his new body of work, Charly Boy said, “My music has always had highlife and afro influences. What I have attempted to do in my new music is to mix afro highlife with the hip afrobeats that is being played today. So it is a bridge between the old school and the new school.”
The veteran entertainer also noted that there were a lot of themes in the forthcoming album. “There are songs that address the worrying condition of the country– the frustrations of the common Nigerian and the stupidity of government.”
On why he decided to feature his wife on a song. Charly Boy said, “I featured my wife on one of the tracks, ‘You Give me Joy’ in the album. We have been married for over 41 years and we have decided to stick with one another forever.”