Obong Priesto: The Sound of Revolution, Identity & Global Impact

Hello, hello, everybody. Welcome back to Women of Color, an Intimate Conversation. Okay, so I know you see right now that the person that's on the screen with me is not a woman of color, which is okay because we let the brothers participate every now and then. And so this is my very third male guest. So I am excited to have Obong Cristo. He is a founder of The Pipe Messengers. He's a freedom activist, a top liner, versatile, multi-genre, dubplate, jingles, musician. So, Obonpista, welcome to Women of Color and Intimate Conversation. You're not just making music, you're shaping history. If listeners take away just one thing about you today, what should it be?

Obong Priesto:00:54 01:28 I think, first of all, it should be my freedom, my time. Can you get me? My time. Tell us more. So, like, you know, I love doing creative songs, I like doing music, you know, having my precious time to compose, you know, to write songs, meaningful songs, so I think One thing that would like me not to be meaningful with my crafts is time.

Deneen L. Garrett:01:30 01:43 And you know what that makes sense, because time is something we can't get back. So if we're not using it wisely, if we're not getting the most out of our time, then we're kind of wasting it. So OK, I can dig that. Your time.

Obong Priesto:01:45 01:46 Yeah, you're right.

Deneen L. Garrett:01:47 01:57 So your birth name is Famous Endurance Friday, but you go by Obon Pristo as an artist. What's the meaning behind that name? Why did you choose it?

Obong Priesto:01:58 02:31 You mean, what's the meaning of Endurance, Famous, or Obon Pristo? Which one are you talking about? Like, is it Obon Pristo? You can give it to us both, right? OK. My birth name is Famous Endurance Friday. That's what I was called. Like, I was given birth to. That's the name my parents gave it to me. So, um, Obon Pristo simplifies a culture name and Obon is a kind of a nickname in my music career. Okay. It's going to be artistic, artistic name. Okay. So it's simplified. Obon means king.

Deneen L. Garrett:02:32 02:32 Okay.

Obong Priesto:02:33 02:56 Yeah. If I king. Yeah, I'm a king in my lineage, yeah. So I'm priest too. I do all priests, like priests. You have a Catholic priest? Yeah. So I'm a messenger. So I'm priest too. Then you not have it too, like you have it all at the end. Like priest too, like kind of a Nick style name. So priest, like a servant of all mighties, a messenger.

Deneen L. Garrett:02:57 03:05 Okay. And so that pretty much speaks to, you know, your activism, your music, All of that.

Obong Priesto:03:06 04:37 Okay. Yeah. You know, I grew up in the first state. I grew up in a country that we are, you know, the few, we feel cheated as a regional region parts where I come from. So, you know, we haven't, we are not Nigeria before. So if you check out the history, the, um, the biography of Nigeria today, you see, you know, when Nigeria was created. So there's a country that was formerly called Biafra. Okay, so before the war, the third world war, and before the independent day of Nigeria, the day we created Nigeria. So before this time, we have our own nation, we have our own nationalities. So if you watch, you know, when you have a cat and a dog, you can't put them together because they'll be fighting. So the way we're raising and the way we understand things, it means a lot. So in terms of my activities, I see it as we are being cheated and humanity is being suffering daily basis. So I had to come up to speak for them and speak my heart. I felt a lot. Even if I should be known worldwide, like be popular, I cannot feed everybody, but I can speak for them. The government can take control about it. Understand me? So that is it. So that's why my activities, just going like that, you know, moving in different steps. So, I mean, just for humanitarian and also for freedom. I love freedom. You know, when you have freedom, you know, you feel happy.

Deneen L. Garrett:04:39 05:23 Yeah, absolutely. And so for those who are watching or listening, famous Obong, he is in Nigeria. And he's from Akwa Iban State. And so he just talked about how where he's from is definitely why he has shaped him into doing the things that he's doing. The music, his activism is how he's influenced. And as he even said, he can't do everything for everybody. However, he can speak, right? And so he's speaking through his music and the different things that he's doing. So for someone who's discovering your music for the first time, which songs should they start with and why?

Obong Priesto:05:25 06:14 OK, if you want to start with my song, I think I have reggae songs. People know me as a reggae artist, but I started doing other genres based on music composition in terms of theme, commercial stuff. So I have a song titled Redemption Song, but it's not out yet. It hasn't been distributed yet, but I believe this year it will be distributed. So I would say they should go with the Matter Arise. But for now, since the song is not out, the only song that is out is other genres, songs like Afro, I'm a piano. So if you want to listen first of my song, it should go with Dreams Come True. Yeah, Dreams Come True. It's an Afro song. Yeah, Dreams Come True. So they should go with that first. They will see some message about it, giving hope and future. for everyone.

Deneen L. Garrett:06:16 06:56 We definitely need that right now. And so anytime I hear anyone talking about dreams, I'm definitely interested because I coach women and empower women to live a dream lifestyle. So Dreams Come True is the first song, the song that we should look for of Obon Cristo. and check that out and get to know him through his music. So every artist has that defining moment when they realize music isn't just a passion, it's their purpose, right? We're talking about purposes, passions, and dreams. When did you know that music was your calling? Was there a specific moment that changed everything for you? Okay, that's an amazing question.

Obong Priesto:06:57 10:36 Thank you a lot. I love this one, honestly. No, you know, from my kid, from 12 years, I've been drumming. I'm a professional drum. I also drum too. That's where my career started. Yeah. When I was a kid, I called my parents to say, you know, I love, I love to be at the band side, like the band group side in the church. Okay. I love to go to that band site. I will sit down, I'll be watching what they're doing. I love songs from my kid, according to my parents, you know, when your parents, your parents can tell you more about your history. Okay. So, um, at the age of six, I was nearing them, like when they are doing church service, you know, I go there, I sit down, I'll be watching what they're doing. So when the church have not, maybe, maybe at the end of the church, I can just go and climb the drum and start playing, you know, playing, hitting the drum in different style. then I'm just capturing something in my mindset. So that's how it started. Then along the way, from my 15 years, I start having something inside of me saying that, you can sing, you have the voice, you have the call. I was like, I don't have the voice yet because I've not developed it yet. But it's inside me. But I have something, even right now, I still have something that's telling me that I'm going to be popular. It's not about motivation, but something within me is telling me that I'm going to hit up to the star. I'm going to hit up to my expectation. I'm going to be popular someday. So I'm not just saying it to be bragging, but I have something that's within me. So that is how I started then. From my 20 years, But before then, my 15 years, I started going for shows, local shows, to play in a drum. I go for wedding recession. I play a lot in a lot of ceremonies. After then, I left the church because of my calling. My calling wasn't in a church anymore. It was a priest, a kind of a traditional priest. That was my calling that aborted me too. So I stopped, but it does not stop me to bring hate on any belief, I respect everyone's beliefs, you know, I respect everyone's religion, but I always speak the truth, and the truth is always hot. So that is it. So I start, you know, going to places, you know, talking about freedom things, talking about stuff. So when I have the call to start singing, they develop the spirit, or should I say the spirituals, the ancestors, like starts nurturing my voice, tries to train me about something inside of me. So I started not reasoning, so I started doing the practical. So, because although I've already engaged myself on something else, like in terms of the band group, I've been there for decades, do you understand? So I started, you know, working along the way about that dream to manifest. So it was 2020, that's when I go to studio first in my life to be in the studio to do a song called Crisis, Sun Arise, Matters Arise. A lot of them about, it was about six tracks, that's EP. EP then, yes, it was an album, it was EP. So I distributed it, but the company that distributed it got crashed. So I got to look for another one. I stayed for one year without distributing the song again. So it was just like see, I start to distribute other genres of song. So I'm planning to distribute it completely as an album, at least 10 to 15 tracks. So that is how my calling started. So that is how everything went.

Deneen L. Garrett:10:37 11:28 Yeah. And so, you know, as I'm listening to you, I'm thinking how we, a lot of times we do know what it is that we're purpose for at a young age. Right. You mentioned six. And so to have family or friends or people around you who nurture that is a beautiful thing. And for those, again, those that are watching and listening, pay attention to kids that you're around. If they seem like they're passionate about something, help them to tap into that. You never know where it will lead you. It could lead you to where it's led famous. And so reggae, Which surprised me, because when I hear reggae, I think of Jamaica, right? But it's at the heart of your sound. But you've also expanded into TV, film, and media. How do you stay versatile while keeping your authenticity as an artist?

Obong Priesto:11:30 12:47 Wow, that is amazing. I keep myself in terms of learning more and you know developing a lot of skills within me and I keep moving in terms of the line which I found myself because number one for it to be a great artist you have to know how to write a good song not just writing multitude of songs or like quantity but writing meaningful songs so I start seeing myself when I got to know a man from Philippines is from Philippines into sync. Licensing is like using your songs on the TV shows, commercial shows, like, you know, on the films, advertisements. So they start telling me that, you know, reggae songs is hardly placed. They hardly place reggae songs. That is how I diverted. It's not like I left the reggae. I'm still on. But I started seeing myself doing other genres of songs. Very good. I started developing it, you know, during a lot of songs. So that is how it's come about. So I keep moving. I keep moving. Even I can also do pop. I found myself doing pop too. I have some pop songs. I've not released it yet. So that is it.

Deneen L. Garrett:12:48 13:21 Yeah, and so you mentioned learning. And so like for me, I'm also heavily involved in art. So I'm on an art journey as a curator and whatnot. And so I'm in my build, connect and learn phase. So what you said about learning, developing, growing, I mean, that is so key with anything that you're doing. You have to always be a learner, right? In order to get better and even to perfect your craft, and also to possibly pivot and move into some other things, learning is absolutely key.

Obong Priesto:13:22 13:24 All right. That's cool.

Deneen L. Garrett:13:24 13:43 What would you say is the biggest personal sacrifice that you've made in pursuit of your music career? Come again? So any sacrifices you've made while you're pursuing your career? What would be the biggest one?

Obong Priesto:13:46 16:02 Number one, you know, having a good song out there is not easy. I had some cool cash then. I wanted to use it to do some stuff myself, but I got to, based on the passion towards music, I don't have to dive out of cash. I used it to go to the studio to promote the song. So based on, I was thinking that me, during the songs, because I don't have the knowledge yet. I don't have the music business knowledge yet then. I was thinking, well, once I just release the song, you know, people will dive into it. You know, all these marketing strategies of a thing, like, you know, have Spotify, Boomplay, and the rest of it, you know. So I don't have the idea that once you release a song, you have to master, you have to promote it. So I was just thinking that once you do the song, then people will start liking it, sell your CDs. So I had no doubt. the marketing plan and everything has changed. The most business have changed totally. So it's very, very saturated. So I was like, you know, overwhelmed. So I sacrificed a lot on that. And also sometimes the, as I was, I was founding myself into a theme like, um, the sync licensing placement. So I was like, you know, bringing my time to learn more because when I see that there is much money when you have a song that has been placed on a film or TV shows or on an advertisement, you understand me? So I see there's a lot of money on it. So I start giving myself more developing. I start giving myself more time to learn and understand. So, and they will say they need a song for a social scene. They want to use this song for social scene. Along the line, after figuring out those things, you do the song, they'll say, hey, the song, your song is good. It's good. But it couldn't meet up the time. The time is dead. The deadline is over. So it couldn't meet up. So I spent a lot of money then. But for now, you know. Life is stage by stage, graduate by graduate, so I invest a lot on myself then, when I was not having the right information, till I start learning more about the music business, how it works.

Deneen L. Garrett:16:04 17:42 Yeah, and you know what, and so that goes back to what we were just talking about as far as learning, you know. People want to jump into things and I'm one of those those people and that's fine if that's what you do, you know, because I do believe in building as you fly right building the plane as you fly. However, there is definitely value benefit in a time saver because you talked about time earlier. when you do take the time to learn before you go ahead and launch, let's say a song, launch a podcast, whatever it is you're doing, I definitely highly recommend that you take some time learning about it because it will save time, it will save energy, frustrations, right, and definitely money. So I'm all about taking the time to learn. And if you are one of those ones who kind of like, because some of us, it's our destiny to go ahead and to do the thing and then tell people what we learned from that thing, right? So we're going, you know, we're going out before everybody else so we can come and kind of tell them, well, this is what I did and this is what worked, this is what didn't work. So, you know, that testimony type thing. So there are people who that's their destiny and that's fine. But if you can take the time and learn because Either way, you're still going to, you know, learn, right? You're gonna learn one way or the other. You learn every day, every day. You're inside, learn every day, yeah. So thinking about your music, what could you sum up as the core message of your music? Like if you have one sentence to describe your music, how would you describe it?

Obong Priesto:17:43 18:30 My music speak mostly motivation and you know freedom you know mostly African continent but totally for everyone but mostly African continent that we are suffering a lot mostly I'm just a messenger I speak motivation you know speak you know dignity speak you know speak freedom mostly freedom So I'm not good on entertaining like that. I'm not that good on entertaining, but I speak the message. I speak more message than even listen to my motherland and what I call it, dreams come true, push on power. A lot of them out there that I've been listening. So you can see a lot of message on the lyrics. So that is it.

Deneen L. Garrett:18:31 18:50 Yeah. And you know, that's kind of like for me, I created this podcast to give women of color a platform to use their voices, right? So that's why it made sense for you to even be on here. Yeah, because there's less energy.

Obong Priesto:18:51 18:53 Yeah, that's an amazing one.

Deneen L. Garrett:18:54 18:58 So my motherland sounds like an anthem. Is this your love letter to Africa?

Obong Priesto:18:58 19:21 You said? Your song, my motherland? Okay, yeah, it's a song. Motivation. Yeah, you come into my motherland, feel, it's exciting. Feel good, you know, let's embrace ourselves, let's come close. Like, you know, it speaks a lot. It's also about love, you know? So that is it.

Deneen L. Garrett:19:22 19:30 And so love to who? Is it your love letter to Africa? Is it love of someone else? Love yourself?

Obong Priesto:19:30 19:50 Not just Africa, but just motherland, as in mother earth, like motherland. To all motherland, continent, different countries, like no motherland. So that is it. It's not as particular. It's not just based on Africa only, but just motherland generally. The earth is motherland.

Deneen L. Garrett:19:51 19:59 Okay. And so the motherland, different continents, what do you want the world to feel when they hear these songs?

Obong Priesto:20:01 20:03 Wow. What did I do? What?

Deneen L. Garrett:20:06 20:27 When I'm sorry. I know. Are you very clear? Yeah. So, you know, you just mentioned that, um, it is a love letter to motherland. to different continents. So when we're listening to your music, what do you want us to feel from your songs?

Obong Priesto:20:27 20:42 I want you guys to feel good, feel love, no discrimination, no racism, feel good. Let's embrace our roots. Let's embrace who we are. Let's come together. Let's love, like, nice message.

Deneen L. Garrett:20:42 20:56 Yeah. So love, feeling good, no discrimination. That's beautiful. I mean, we definitely need that right now, right? So can't wait for your songs to come out in March, right? They're coming out.

Obong Priesto:20:56 21:08 Yeah, although no specific dates yet, but I think they're working on that. I believe March, it will be dropping on March. Yeah. All right.

Deneen L. Garrett:21:10 21:29 Definitely looking forward to that. So when you think about the music industry, right? And you already talked about how you spend a lot of money. There were some things that you didn't know or that you went ahead and did yourself. But when you just think about the industry as a whole, what other lesson have you learned?

Obong Priesto:21:31 22:09 OK, I've learned to be unique, authentic, and keep moving. Have a personal brand. You know, have a focus. Don't be, don't look at yourself as a low extreme. Like, don't see yourself as someone that, I don't know how to put it, like someone that is like, won't make it. You know what you want. You know what, you know how to capture people's mindset. Like, you know how the market, what is working in the market industry, like in the music industry, you know what is working. So you have to dive in more. You learn, like, you understand what I'm saying? So that is it.

Deneen L. Garrett:22:10 23:03 Yeah, absolutely. I mean, it goes back to, you know, like I said, build, learn, you know, build, connect and learn. So, you know, you need to spend the time learning. You need to connect with other people because we can't do this alone. We have to do it in community and in the collective. And we're building something. You talked about personal brand. We're building, right? And then with you, you're wanting to reach the world. You have such a healthy desire for us to be on one accord, for us to show love, for us to love one another and live in peace. And so, yeah, that's community. That's the collective. So you create in solitude. Like you're by yourself when you're creating. What's your creative space like? And walk us through your process.

Obong Priesto:23:05 24:17 OK. You know, music is a spirit, honestly. I don't know if you agree with me. It's an expression. So, when it comes, sometimes, like today, I won't be bragging, like today I've gotten, like, two good tracks, like, that just came to me, like, I just feel it, I start vibing, I start writing it down, I start scoring the sound that is coming to my eardrum. So, sometimes I take my phone to record it and keep it, so I won't forget it, because it comes and goes. That's how it works. So, I think My Create Space, it needs something very quiet. You know, I don't like this distraction. So, that is how it works. So, it comes anytime. It can come tomorrow morning, it can come this night. Mostly, when I'm sometimes, some messages will be coming, you know, can be receiving some messages, spiritually, then I can be writing. I can be figuring it out. I can use my keyboard to trace the notes and start, you know, singing.

Deneen L. Garrett:24:19 25:13 Yeah, so it's a spiritual experience, as you mentioned, and being alone with yourself to fully tap into it. And that's how we are able to hear from God, from spirit, from the universe when we are in solitude. So that definitely makes sense. So as you know, I mentioned this the podcast I created for women of color so my audience, the intended audience is women of color now many people all around the world. listen or, you know, the podcast or watch it on YouTube, right? So if you could go back and give young, famous one piece of advice, what would it be? And that advice is something that I want it to speak to those people who are watching or listening, but what advice would you give your young self?

Obong Priesto:25:14 26:08 All right. Life is like an echo. Whatever you eat, it gives you back. So what I would say, keep focusing, keep elevating yourself with what is working. You know, a parable man says, it's wrong to keep doing something over and over again. I still see the same result. So you have to elevate, you have to divert. and try another way out. So, this life, life is a challenge, is a challenge, is a battlefield. So, you keep moving, navigating things, learning what is going on, learning the willing to's, okay? So, that's what I have to say. Keep focus, be positive, be energetic and feel good, don't allow anyone to discourage you. At the, at the, at last, you're gonna see yourself at the top, that's what I can say.

Deneen L. Garrett:26:10 26:55 So learning again, I heard that again, which is a theme throughout our conversation, taking that time to learn. I even think about for myself, like pausing as well, like pause, you know, just stop what you're doing, slow down from what you're doing, pull back and just be right in solitude so that you're able to hear and then also take that time to learn. So that is something that, A lot of people, I think they need to start embracing and incorporating into their habits, right? Pausing, taking the time to learn. So I want to shift a little bit. So fast forward five years from now, what's your vision? What do you see yourself doing?

Obong Priesto:26:57 27:13 I see myself as financial freedom. I see myself coaching young youth. I see myself helping a lot of people. I know it's not easy, but it's possible. That is the task I give myself from not five years.

Deneen L. Garrett:27:14 27:21 No, I love that, especially helping the youth, right? What are you, what, helping them in what way?

Obong Priesto:27:23 27:55 Like, important with knowledge. Like, I would like, like, I don't know, I would like to have a material place here, like, like, you know, should I say, people that don't have parents to help them out, people that need to do songs, like I want to find a self in the music career. I could even have a school, music school too, you know, in different areas, in spirituality too. I can also be educating, you know, helping them a lot in different aspects of life.

Deneen L. Garrett:27:57 28:39 That is so important though, to help, right? And I love that you said They may not have parents or whatnot. Sometimes we take for granted that children need us more. They need us for so many different reasons. And they may not have a mother or a father. They may not have either one. So many different circumstances. So I love that you do. plan to mentor, to give back, and bring them along. So we touched on this as far as music. So music is the key to soulful reflection. I believe you said this. Can you break it down for us? Break this down, the soulful reflection. Break it down for us.

Obong Priesto:28:40 29:50 All right. All right. OK. Music is the key to soulful reflection. Yeah, I say this, you know, music is a spirit. As I said earlier on the previous question, when it hits you, sometimes I'll be passing by, when they hit the reggae songs, maybe some other kind of reggae style, you know, reggae music. It hits my souls. Like, I can't even stay. I'll be dancing. When it touches you, you feel the rhythm. You feel irie. You understand, man? So you feel the vibes. So I believe it works with your soul. It works with your inner mind. You know, even if you don't like reggae, like, you know, some people have their own different genre of song. But when you feel sad, you can play a song. It touches you. It gives you that motivation. It gives you that happiness. You know, when you feel boring, play a song. You have your own choice of song, your own jam. You play it, you know, give that vibes you want. Okay, with that, I don't think, with that music, there's nothing like life. For me, for me, that music, the life will be boring. Music is life. Music is spiritual.

Deneen L. Garrett:29:53 31:08 I mean, I'm like feeling it as you're talking about it, because for me, I remember there was a time when I had to like, in order to remember something, I had to connect it to a song. And so, right. Cause it's like, wait, what was going on? Okay. Well, what song? Oh yeah. I remember now. So it is definitely a, a soul reflection. I mean, I, I, I love that you say that and remind us because music is, it transcends so much. Right, it does. And it, you know, when you hear that song, like your song is like, oh my God, like for me, I love Frankie Beverly and Mays and, oh my God, Frankie, rest in peace, rest in power. He died recently, but his song, anytime his song would come on the radio, It made my day. Like if I started, if I got in the car and the first song that I heard was his, one of the first few, my day was made. It didn't matter what happened the rest of the day. I was floating because I so loved his music. So connected to his music and music does that to us. So thank you for sharing the music with us, but all right. So a couple more questions. What can fans do to support your movement? How can, how can we help you?

Obong Priesto:31:11 32:13 OK. Financially, I need a support. Honestly, mostly financially, you know, the music business is changing every day. Like what the knowledge I have last year and what is going on last year is not what is coming up right now, okay? Like you need to have a thousand of stream before it can be calculated to be a reality. I know each song that is being streamed is just 0.002 or 0.003. So it is very, very tough for independent artists. So for my own challenges for now, honestly, I don't have a home studio. I do go out to pay for services, pay for time, pay the producers. So I would think, first of all, financial aspects. Secondly, is just advice because I'm a human too. I also need an advice too. Okay. So that is just two support I need for now. The rest of it, I can handle it.

Deneen L. Garrett:32:14 32:35 That's, and so I have all your social, so we have all the ways to connect with you, your website, you're on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, all the things. So we would definitely share that in the show notes. So my final question to you, if you had just 30 seconds to speak to the world, what would you say?

Obong Priesto:32:37 32:56 If I have 30 seconds to speak to the world, what would I say? Yes. I love everyone, regardless of their belief. Number one. Number two, there should be transparency. Number three, they should focus.

Deneen L. Garrett:33:00 33:12 All right. Well, Famous Endurance Friday. Thank you so much for lending your voice on women of color and intimate conversation and enjoy the rest of your day.

Obong Priesto:33:13 33:16 I appreciate. Thank you. Thank you.