“Malta Guinness has placed me on a pedestal, and I intend to reach for the moon and beyond”- Lemmy Adejo

Lemmy and his crew won the regionals for the Malta Guinness Street
Dance Competition in 2009. He is also the star of the new Malta Guinness
Advert. In this edition of our “Goodness to Greatness” series, we
caught up with Lemmy and he talked about all the amazing work he’s been
doing since winning the Malta Guinness Street Dance Competition.

Q. What motivates you to dance?

A. The
PASSION I have for dance is my major drive. When I started dancing it
was never about the money, the money started coming in eventually, but
the passion never dwindled. I was driven by the fun, the excitement, and
the sense of purpose dance gave me. I wasn’t always a dancer, I was an
actor first. My love for the arts generally led me to study theatre and
film arts, in the University of Jos, where I majored in dance. I see
dance as a text in motion. A means of expression, where you let your
body speak. My love for dance and the art in general is my motivation.

Q. How did you hear about the Malta Guinness street dance?

A. It
was in 2009, a friend and a member of my group (Transformed
Generation), Franklin Patrick, saw the advert online, and printed out
the form. It was an opportunity we weren’t ready to forfeit.

Q. How was the Malta Guinness Street Dance experience?

A. After
finding out about the competition, I put a team of six together, we
called ourselves ‘HIS GOLD’. We left Kaduna for Jos. On our way to Jos,
it was early, about 4am, and we were stopped by armed robbers, they
mounted roadblocks, it took the grace of God, and the driver’s skills to
manoeuvre around the robbers and the roadblocks. It all happened so
fast, it was the first time someone ever pointed a gun at me, even
though the driver never stopped, and it was super scary. That did not
stop us.

We
got to Jos, competed, we were favourites, but we didn’t win. So we
decided to move to Enugu to try out that region; amidst the lack of
money, and nowhere to sleep, we still competed; and still we didn’t win.
We didn’t give up, we moved to Benin and changed our name to “Isaiah 54
(i54)” where we eventually won.

Malta
Guinness Street Dance gave me my first pay check in dance after five
(5) years of dancing without payment. Winning the regionals was Eighth
Hundred Thousand Naira (N800,000), that was a lot of money. It was then I
knew I could actually make a career out of dance.

Malta
Guinness Street Dance gave me some of my most treasured experiences.
The priceless bond it created between me and my brothers Oche (GG),
Franklin(eff ell), Felix (firm), Ajibola (above), promise (kiss), and my
humble self, LIGHTwas my stage name.

 

Q. What did you do after Malta Guinness Street Dance?

A. After
Malta Guinness Street Dance, I tried out other competitions, won a few,
lost some. I lost my dad in 2009 just after the competition, the
struggle to hustle with dance and see myself through school at the same
time, wasn’t easy. But God saw me through. I haven’t stopped dancing
since then. I’ve done a lot of stage performances with a lot of A-list
music artists, travelled to represent Nigeria in the Abu Dhabi
international dance Festival; I became a Choreographer, and a dance
director. I was the assistant dance director on the famous TV show
“Dance with Peter”, I have choreographed and directed major productions,
some of which I’m not at liberty to mention. Starred in major theatre
and Broadway productions like Saro the musical by BAP productions,
heartbeat the musical by Lufodo (Olu Jacobs and Joke Silver), Gula by de
classical productions, to mention a few.

 

Q. How did you become the star of the Malta Guinness Advert?

A. I
heard about the casting from Mr. Wale Rubber, he sent the address to me
and I showed up and auditioned like every other artiste. Honestly I
can’t say how I became the star of the ad; I guess I was just being
myself.

Q. In the commercial, you go out to solve problems, is that something you do? Or want to do every day?

A. The
character in the commercial (Abu) is who I am in reality. I’m a problem
solver, whether or not I can solve the problem, I put in effort. It’s
who I am, I take care of things, and I take care people.

Q. What role would you say Malta Guinness played in fuelling your greatness and helping you actualize your dream?

A. I
would start by saying DANCE IS TAKING OVER. Dance is the future of
entertainment in Nigeria. Right from the days of Malta Guinness street
dance Africa, I’ve always wondered what it would feel like, to be the
face of the brand, to be the brand ambassador, I’m not there yet, but
I’ll get there. So far so good, Malta Guinness has placed me on a
pedestal, and I intend to reach for the moon and beyond. This is just
the beginning, it’s not pride, but I’m the next big thing. Thank you
Malta Guinness.

Malta
Guinness is a premium malt drink, packed full of goodness and energy
with vitamins B1, B2, B3 and B6. Malta Guinness Goodness has been
fuelling the Greatness of Nigerian c“Malta Guinness has placed me on a pedestal, and I intend to reach for the moon and beyond”- Lemmy Adejo

Lemmy
and his crew won the regionals for the Malta Guinness Street Dance
Competition in 2009. He is also the star of the new Malta Guinness
Advert. In
this edition of our “Goodness to Greatness” series, we caught up with
Lemmy and he talked about all the amazing work he’s been doing since
winning the Malta Guinness Street Dance Competition.

Q. What motivates you to dance?

A. The
PASSION I have for dance is my major drive. When I started dancing it
was never about the money, the money started coming in eventually, but
the passion never dwindled. I was driven by the fun, the excitement, and
the sense of purpose dance gave me. I wasn’t always a dancer, I was an
actor first. My love for the arts generally led me to study theatre and
film arts, in the University of Jos, where I majored in dance. I see
dance as a text in motion. A means of expression, where you let your
body speak. My love for dance and the art in general is my motivation.

Q. How did you hear about the Malta Guinness street dance?

A. It
was in 2009, a friend and a member of my group (Transformed
Generation), Franklin Patrick, saw the advert online, and printed out
the form. It was an opportunity we weren’t ready to forfeit.

Q. How was the Malta Guinness Street Dance experience?

A. After
finding out about the competition, I put a team of six together, we
called ourselves ‘HIS GOLD’. We left Kaduna for Jos. On our way to Jos,
it was early, about 4am, and we were stopped by armed robbers, they
mounted roadblocks, it took the grace of God, and the driver’s skills to
manoeuvre around the robbers and the roadblocks. It all happened so
fast, it was the first time someone ever pointed a gun at me, even
though the driver never stopped, and it was super scary. That did not
stop us.

We
got to Jos, competed, we were favourites, but we didn’t win. So we
decided to move to Enugu to try out that region; amidst the lack of
money, and nowhere to sleep, we still competed; and still we didn’t win.
We didn’t give up, we moved to Benin and changed our name to “Isaiah 54
(i54)” where we eventually won.

Malta
Guinness Street Dance gave me my first pay check in dance after five
(5) years of dancing without payment. Winning the regionals was Eighth
Hundred Thousand Naira (N800,000), that was a lot of money. It was then I
knew I could actually make a career out of dance.

Malta
Guinness Street Dance gave me some of my most treasured experiences.
The priceless bond it created between me and my brothers Oche (GG),
Franklin(eff ell), Felix (firm), Ajibola (above), promise (kiss), and my
humble self, LIGHTwas my stage name.

Q. What did you do after Malta Guinness Street Dance?

A. After
Malta Guinness Street Dance, I tried out other competitions, won a few,
lost some. I lost my dad in 2009 just after the competition, the
struggle to hustle with dance and see myself through school at the same
time, wasn’t easy. But God saw me through. I haven’t stopped dancing
since then. I’ve done a lot of stage performances with a lot of A-list
music artists, travelled to represent Nigeria in the Abu Dhabi
international dance Festival; I became a Choreographer, and a dance
director. I was the assistant dance director on the famous TV show
“Dance with Peter”, I have choreographed and directed major productions,
some of which I’m not at liberty to mention. Starred in major theatre
and Broadway productions like Saro the musical by BAP productions,
heartbeat the musical by Lufodo (Olu Jacobs and Joke Silver), Gula by de
classical productions, to mention a few.

Q. How did you become the star of the Malta Guinness Advert?

A. I
heard about the casting from Mr. Wale Rubber, he sent the address to me
and I showed up and auditioned like every other artiste. Honestly I
can’t say how I became the star of the ad; I guess I was just being
myself.

Q. In the commercial, you go out to solve problems, is that something you do? Or want to do every day?

A. The
character in the commercial (Abu) is who I am in reality. I’m a problem
solver, whether or not I can solve the problem, I put in effort. It’s
who I am, I take care of things, and I take care people.

Q. What role would you say Malta Guinness played in fuelling your greatness and helping you actualize your dream?

A. I
would start by saying DANCE IS TAKING OVER. Dance is the future of
entertainment in Nigeria. Right from the days of Malta Guinness street
dance Africa, I’ve always wondered what it would feel like, to be the
face of the brand, to be the brand ambassador, I’m not there yet, but
I’ll get there. So far so good, Malta Guinness has placed me on a
pedestal, and I intend to reach for the moon and beyond. This is just
the beginning, it’s not pride, but I’m the next big thing. Thank you
Malta Guinness.

Malta
Guinness is a premium malt drink, packed full of goodness and energy
with vitamins B1, B2, B3 and B6. Malta Guinness Goodness has been
fuelling the Greatness of Nigerian consumers for almost 30 years. The
“Goodness to Greatness” series showcases Nigerians who have been fuelled
to greatness by Malta Guinness.

onsumers
for almost 30 years. The “Goodness to Greatness” series showcases
Nigerians who have been fuelled to greatness by Malta Guinness.