With commit, Bere steps out bold
After months of working tirelessly in the studio under with his new record label SolidStar, Afropop singer Bernard Chidiebere Nwankwo, otherwise known as Bere in the industry, is out with his latest single, Commit.
Dubbed wedding song, the track, which was released recently, I gradually gaining airplay on radio stations across the country and will set the tone for more recording from the Ebonyi State native.
“Like the name implies, the song Commit means commitment. As a human being, I’m big on connection, loyalty and love; I value human connection a lot. Anybody that knows me will know how passionate I am in every relationship I got into; it’s not all about romantic relationship. It’s called the wedding song because that’s the loudest commitment one can have in a relationship. Though it’s a suitable song for all kinds of wedding occasions, but it’s not just about wedding; it’s about all forms of relationships in life; it’s about passion,” he enthused.
Though his genre of music can be classified under Afropop or alternative sound, it is actually has some influences from the traditional bongo music, which is popular in the eastern part of the country, particularly in Imo State.
“Most of my songs come with that beat, which I consider my trademark. Unlike before, I think people are more receptive to that kind of sound these days; they are beginning to pay attention to it and more platforms are being created. We can only hope that, as this platform emerges, the listenership also grows bigger. Hopefully, in the next few years, I see that kind of sound gaining more ground.
However, I’m not limited to it; I play different sound. But alterative sound is my comfort zone,” he said. With a three-year contract, Bere is confident that his relationship with SolidStar Records would provide all that is needed to break into the mainstream of the industry in no distant time.
“It’s a three-year contract, but I wouldn’t want to go deep into to details. However, all I can say is that it’s a comfortable relationship that gives me room to be myself as much as possible, as well as gives me space to grow and achieve milestones.”
He continued: “At SolidStar Records, there’s no breathing space; you just have to continue working. I’ve actually recorded a number of tracks, but I wouldn’t want to let the cat out of the bag yet. We are starting with Commit first, but before the year runs out, we are likely going to drop more singles and video,” he assured.
Though he started playing music professionally about eight years ago, Bere has always been passionate about entertainment. “My relationship with music is intimate; I’ve been doing music for a long time. Right from my childhood, I had started having interest in music. I remember then, I used to stay awake to listen to music on radio and dance. It’s been that far with music and me. From there, I graduated to dancing, then singing and all other forms of entertainment and arts,” he enthused.
Professionally, his first single remains Unu Anugo, which was a hit back then in Enugu.“I dropped the song in 20017; I was really young at that time, without any management. Later I moved to Lagos and the rest is history.”
With his single already on air, Bere is back in the studio, working on more tracks that would form part of his debut album under SolidStar.
“Every recording artiste looks forward to putting together a body of works that people can buy and keep in their library. But as much as that is the goal, I’m not exactly in a haste to do that because, the dynamics of the industry keeps changing. People have a way of reacting to music; you need to be very careful with that. You might end up recording certain sound and in the next three months, it’s no longer the kind of sound that people want to listen to. We’ve seen delays in album release for a lot of big artistes because of changes in the industry. So, we are taking our time,” he assured.
