Ranti Ihimoyan… The Special Breed Classical Singer

Listening to the single, Iwe Kiko, quickly reveals that the song is a folk music and the nostalgia that the singer brings with her music. This is what Ranti Ihimoyan, who is well known by her stage name, Ranti represents.

An opera and crossover singer with great versatility, she has been a thrilling performer for both local and international audiences, cutting across a wide variety of music interpretations and styles including the classical, jazz and folk music forms.

Produced by Cobhams Asuquo, Iwe Kiko as carried by Ranti’s smooth, fluid vocals with just the right amount of jive speaks directly to the listener. The lyrics Iwe kiko lai si oko ati ada, ko i pe o (education without farming tools is incomplete) address the very importance of agriculture – reviving our indigenous occupation – farming, which is capable of creating employment opportunities for our teeming youth population and help diversify the economy.

According to Ranti, she chose Iwe Kiko as her first single release because she wants listeners to her music to remember their childhood, culture, who they are and where they are coming from, adding that she wants people to think agriculture and entrepreneurship when they listen to the song, which according to her will help the nation to stabilise economically.

“Iwe Kiko is a folk song that speaks directly to the listener because farming and craftsmanship are two very important skills that should be given utmost attention by the youths looking at the state of the Nigerian economy now,” she said.

She explained that Iwe Kiko is a simple song that she used as an introduction of Ranti’s music into the Nigerian music industry noting that she will build on it and then move to more classically inclined releases.

The soprano singer, who also released O Holy Night, produced by George Nathaniel (with Igbo, Yoruba and Hausa (WAZOBIA) infusion went down memory lane to talk about how she was inspired to become a full-fledged musician. She said that at age five, her mother who actually wanted her to become a musician bought her a recorder – a wood-wind instrument – and encouraged her to participate in singing both in school and in church, adding that her music teacher in school who discovered that she had music talent helped her a lot.

Ranti noted that she participated in the Shell schools’ soloist competition sponsored by Shell Nigeria when she was in secondary school and won the first place award. She stressed that this award was a source of motivation for her. As a result of the feat, she was featured as a soloist in the 2001 MUSON Festival Youth Art Concert.

In 2002, she returned to Chicago in the United States of America, where she was born for further studies at the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT), where she obtained a degree in Chemical Engineering and took music lessons at the Vandercook College of Music.

While in Chicago, Ranti was exposed to jazz, blues and soul music, and explored the fusion of neo-soul and classical music in a style she refers to as ‘neo-classical’ music. Upon her graduation, she worked as a refinery engineer, directed her church choir and later joined the Apollo Chorus of Chicago, and was among the 20-man group that performed on ABC Chicago’s Morning Television show in 2010, while she also performed often at the Harris Theatre in Chicago.

On returning to Nigeria in 2011, Ranti joined the Musical Society of Nigeria (MUSON) and participated in their audition and later performed lead roles in operas including Laz Ekwueme’s A Night in Bethlehem, Gilbert & Sullivan’s Pirates of Penzance and Mozart’s Magic Flute. She also performed in Mozart’s The Impresario in Mozart’s birth city – Salzburg, Austria as part of a summer program. She has also performed the popular Carmen Aria –Habanera in the dance musical Love Is and the Full Circle musical in 2014. She has shared the stage with seasoned Nigerian artistes including Prof (Sir) Victor Uwaifo Bongos Ikwue and Yinka Davies.

According to her, she envisaged the seemingly unpredictable nature of her musical career will outwit her chemical engineering career as she quit her eight-year engineering career which she enjoyed to pursue her musical passion through which she believes she can make the most impact on her world.

Speaking on the Nigerian music industry, Ranti said it has managed to survive with little or no support, noting that she observed there is no structure on ground and the basic infrastructure needed by musicians are lacking when compared with the music industries in the developed climes.

She, however, commended Nigerian musicians because despite these challenges, they have been able to move on and achieve success. The fast rising star, who was invited to sing the National Anthem at the recently held Kaduna Music Festival, President Muhammadu Buhari was the Special Guest of Honour, urged Nigerian artistes to be creative, original, quality conscious and take into cognisance excellence in their music careers.

According to her, from the way President Buhari spoke during the Kaduna Music Festival, it’s obvious his administration is interested in encouraging entrepreneurship, stressing that Nigerian musicians are likely to get the necessary support if they go about their craft in a positive way.

Currently working on another single that will be out very soon through her website www.rantimusic.com, the multi-instrumentalist, said she hopes to make her name household in the music industry both locally and internationally, get more people to know about her music and inspire the world.