2 hours ago
4
Following the release of his latest single, GRACE, Iretemide Akintunde, popularly known as Ire Richie, spoke with IFEDAYO OGUNYEMI on the inspiration behind the song and his life story.
Kindly let us know about your background.
Iretemide Akintunde, known professionally as IRE RICHIE, aka the BIG TREE Inna360, is a Lagos-based Nigerian singer, songwriter and entertainer. I was born May 17, 1996 and I hail from Ogun State. My mother, Sule Abiodun, is my biggest inspiration, as she raised me alone after a fallout with my father while she was pregnant with me.
I grew up in Lagos, attended Cleveland Nursery and Primary School and later Anglican Comprehensive High School, both in Ipaja, Lagos. I obtained both my National Diploma and Higher National Diploma in Mass Communication from Moshood Abiola Polytechnic (MAPOLY), Abeokuta in 2018.
I obeyed the clarion call to serve my fatherland in Osogbo, Osun State between 2018 and 2019 and later returned to Lagos to continue my music career in 2019 before I released “Dapada,” “Feli Feli,” “Inna Higher Way” and before my debut album.
What served as the inspiration for the track “Grace”?
“Grace” is a daily drive for everyone. It tells the struggle of life in Nigeria, amidst the economic hardship and accompanying controversial issues. Just like it is said, experience can tell a better story.
The youth have gone wild in the bid to get money through any means so they can feed. They hardly get the white-collar jobs anymore and because of that, they resort to weird jobs such as being loan retrievers whereby certain loan companies give out loans to citizens who are hungry and these youths are expected to retrieve such funds without appropriate measures or plans. But these companies mount pressures on their staff members to get the money back or risk not getting paid.
We have a lot of bankers out of the banking system handling multiple POS shops by the roadside which was never the case.
Many youths travel abroad where the systems are somewhat fair to them, but they refuse to return home because the fear of their motherland is the beginning of wisdom. This leads to loss of investment for the country.
Amidst all this, everyone must survive and only that keeps the hope strong for many and pushes everyone to believe in better days, no matter the current state of mind.
What tracks/albums have you previously created and released?
On February 2, 2024, I released a debut album “BIG TREE” consisting of 10 songs (Big Tree, Yeba, Only you, Affection ft Noisemaker, Tonight, Jo ft HeshCode, Kilofe, Feli Feli, Voltage, Dapada). I further released “Sooner or Later,” the EP 12th of July, consisting of five tracks (Sooner or Later, Aje, Elenu, Shot on Shot, Location).
When do you plan to release the visuals for Grace?
We have a lot of musical videos awaiting green light and soon, they will be released one after the other. Big shout out to Bigtree360 Management for having my back this long.
How well does “Grace” tell your story?
If not for grace, I promise you, I won’t be here today. The journey from birth, education to being here today was rough. I was raised by a single mom, but still got private education through the help of God and a few helpers. I remember living in a one-room apartment in different areas. There was a point in time when my mom and I lived inside church for a while because we could not afford a place of our own, yet I have a barrister father somewhere doing just fine with his wealth. I must say growing up wasn’t easy, neither was life after NYSC, COVID-19 year or my music journey that lacked finance and fundamental support.
This is the reason I have more audio releases and you see me less in videos. I hustled hard to earn every penny I got; I once taught as a teacher, worked in a plantain factory and served people at events to get that weekend money.
I was a journalist for about two years, but had to step down because I had bigger dreams and journalism was not feeding me as expected; I was owed salaries for months and that backlog hasn’t been paid till date. I ventured into photography which was a family business, but I had to take a pause after the debts owed by clients became too much.
I once had an internship placement at the Ministry of Agriculture for a while. It was tough and I had to quit because of the high transportation costs. I worked in about three different loan companies back then just to make the bread. The hustle is real and if I continue, we may not be able to finish up today.
In 2012, before I gained admission into MAPOLY, I was a classroom teacher earning about N5,000 or N6,000. I took a month’s salary to the studio to record a song. The studio was owned by Kobo in Abesan Estate during the time of Seriki and the like. All of these are part of my untold stories.
So, Grace has spoken for me a lot in many instances because I’ve now been to states and events I never thought of performing at or earning from.
What inspired you to do music on a full-time basis?
Music, for me, started at an early age when my mom was participating in church praise and worship activities, even though it wasn’t perfect. Aside from that, music has been my thing from my school days. I can recollect having a couple friends and coursemates back in secondary school with whom I sang, drummed and danced together at a roundtable after Friday classes.
You seem to have a strong admiration for Burna Boy. In what way has he impacted your journey, music and personality?
Burna Boy is like my frontman and he has been a big inspiration for me ever since “Like To Party.” I remember how somewhat unacceptable his music was in the early days of his career, yet he wasn’t discouraged, but he continued to strive till the light shined on him and this is why you would hardly see him go down, because talents like us are meant for the world. It’s just too big for a shallow mind to see until the better days arrive.
What’s the outlook like for you in 2025?
I am ready for 2025. Honestly, I have a lot of projects waiting to be released. With these projects, I see more collaborations and deals coming my way.
READ ALSO: I tasted real poverty and hardship —Nigeria’s best teacher
