By Nneka Chile
LAGOS, March 13 (Reuters) - Singer Bianca Okorocha, aka
Clay, is something unusual in the world of Nigerian music.
In a nation dominated by Afrobeats, the 26-year-old who
calls herself the "Nigerian Rock Goddess" is trying to change
long-held perceptions that rock is something alien to her
country's music scene.
Dressed in black with a crucifix sign on her cheek, she
gives her alternative rock style a hometown vibe with lyrics in
local languages: Igbo and Nigerian pidgin.
Okorocha's new single, "Wetin you want", which translates as
"What do you want", tells her story of defiance in a city full
of crooks and hustlers with the catchphrase "This is Lagos".
"People tell me that when they hear my song on the radio and
they heard the English part, they thought it was an American
song, and next thing they heard Igbo. My God she is Nigerian,"
Okorocha told Reuters Television.
Okorocha says her musical style is heavily influenced by her
father's love of rock.
"Rock music chose me, because even when I was young without
any idea or plan of going into music at all, I was already
writing songs on the side and they were all rock songs," she
says.
"When I had to pick my own TV channel, I was picking
channels that play rock music so this is something that I always
liked when I was growing up as a child and my dad too influenced
that because he used to listen to Bon Jovi and the likes."
Okorocha began singing in a church choir then moved on to
perform in bars and at concerts.
She released her first single in 2011, "Ogadisinma", or
"It's going to be well", which went down a storm.
Musician Jazz Atta is a fan.
"I loved it, I loved that raw thing, like you could feel
where she was coming from, you could feel the music, you could
feel the soul."
(Editing by Giles Elgood)