Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Agho Ekhator . We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Agho , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.
I’ve been drawn to music since a very young age, but never thought I’ll pursue it as a career, moving to the USA from Nigeria. Music helped me with my transition as I had lost my grandma and it was a very difficult moment. I started playing around with instrumentals online and realized I was really good at it. Fast forward to 2019, I finally discovered the meaning of my name Agho (preservation) from that moment I knew music was my calling and my means of fulfilling my purpose to preserve my culture.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
Born August 20th in Benin City, Nigeria. I’m a Nigerian American musician based in New York City. My sound is a fusion of Afrobeats, Reggae and Afro pop elements. I really enjoy experimenting with sound. I was exposed to different cultures at a young age, as I was Boy Scout who represented Nigeria in 3 different Jamborees (Libya, USA and UK) from age 12-15. I moved to the United States at a critical age of 17. This merging of worlds has helped shaped me and this also shows in my musical development.
Always had passion for music since a very young age but never had the background to pursue it, I remember writing my first song at age 11. Moving to America was a big change in my life leaving most of the people I have grown to know behind wasn’t easy, upon getting here I received news of the passing of my grandmother who raised me. Music helped ease the pain I was going through at that time, I’ll just listen to instrumentals and try to make something out of them.
The journey hasn’t been a smooth ride, in fact it hasn’t been easy at all, African artists based in the diaspora especially in the USA have been overlooked, it has almost created this notion of us (diaspora) vs them (from the continent) because of the success the acts from the continent are receiving, I’m learning now to stay away from the vs mentality as we are all sharing our stories, just from different perspectives.
I’m very proud of myself for sticking to this, the reason why it seemed difficult was because there was no structure in place for the type of music, but in the age of social media and other outlets, the playing field is a lot more even.
Also on a personal note, had a rough time with family, as I moved to US for school and it took time for my family give into the idea of me being a musician. This might just be a Nigerian parents thing.
Realizing the meaning of my name Agho made me understand my purpose. Agho which means preservation, made me realize that I have a role to play in keeping my culture alive.
I strongly believe my music could be the bridge for all Africans and a voice of the Diaspora speaking to the world at large.
My debut project titled 206 just recently released, it’s the very first taste of my musical capabilities, it’s me doing things my way with the resources that I have thanks to the special people who worked with me on it. 206 is a number I see almost everyday and I have tried to make meaning of it. The project has 6 songs and I encourage you to give it a listen.
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
My goal is to be able to reach out to the next gen, show them that it’s possible to follow their dreams and achieve whatever they set out to do. Also to preserve my rich heritage, by using the platform I get from music to share light on how rich the Bini culture is.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
The most rewarding aspect of what I do, is knowing there is someone out there who I’ve never met, who takes their time to listen to me, enjoy and appreciate what I do. That’s one of the best feelings you can have. When I started this i didn’t have any expectations, i said to my self that if later on when I’m no longer here, a future descendant of me stumbles upon my music that would be my greatest reward.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.itsagho.net/
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/itsagho?igshid=OGQ5ZDc2ODk2ZA==
- Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/Itsagho
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/ItsAgho
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@theparlouruniverse?si=UR-cjwC4JwxqMiUo
- Other: Link to my EP 206 https://www.itsagho.net/presave206
Image Credits
Images by Dapo Davinci, Steven Onoja Jessfinesse and Isandres