Emmerson Bockarie aka Emmerson has in an interview opened up on how the late former President Dr, Ahmad Tejan Kabba made him start singing music.
Emmerson said the late former president Dr. Ahmad Tejan Kabba gave a policy statement that they should allow young people to voice out their opinion that it was better than them going to the bush and this got him hooked to music.
“We were like eh em ‘watin dorti man lek way pump lock’ they have given us the right to sing so now we are going to misbehave.”
Emmerson said this in an interview with Samuel Wise Bangura the presenter of OSIWA’s powered program on AYV’s Channel 34 on Saturday called “le we eng ade fo Salone.”
He said when he got exposed to music, he saw it as an opportunity to use it as a tool to change the country.
“When I recorded my very first song ‘yu way dae tif salone moni, if yu yai nor buss wan dae yu go see am’ everyone was like Yes this is it. So that song opened the way for me for where I am today,” he said.
He said he then started criticizing the unfavorable system that was in place but he did not think opposing political parties would use it as a campaign tool.
“In 2007 I started critiquing the same system. And all I saw then was the system, not the party.”
“Political parties have been using my message, while it is detrimental to me,” he said.
He added that he has lost friends and so many opportunities due to the songs he has sung.
Emmerson went on to say he sees his songs as his civic responsibility to continue to pass on the message to Sierra Leoneans. And this is not about political parties.
“When you go to vote, especially when it comes to the parliamentary level, get the country’s interests in mind. Because we need leaders that will present us if you vote for someone that seeks their self-interest, they will not remember the community”, he said.