TY Bello – popularly known as one of the founding members of one of Nigeria’s most celebrated urban gospel band ‘Kush’
After spending two years in the studio, TY Bello’s much awaited solo album - Green Land is finally done. Her dark eyes, raspy alto and big hair are unmistakable.
Apart from music, TY is also an internationally acclaimed photographer.The colours, shades and textures which she captures in her photographs are expressed in her music as well. “Art is about collecting experiences and expressing them. For me music and photography are similar art forms. I collect experiences, stir them in myself and express it in my own language. Just like my photography, music is my language.”
TY spared no expense with Green Land. Each song on the album is the uninhibited expression of an artist in an otherwise inhibiting environment. From love, to family to nation, TY bore her soul in words that are bound to capture the hearts of all who listen. She wrote the title track for her countrymen to levitate from a place of despair to a place of hope.
In Ekundayo she wrote about her first encounter with Mrs. Ekundayo who runs Ekundayo Children’s Home, an orphanage in Isanlu, Kogi State “The song is about a conversation between Toyin Subair myself and Mrs. Ekundayo. That conversation made me realize how empty my life was. I saw someone who was doing a lot more than I was and had much less than I did.”
TY is a multifaceted young woman. She stages an annual photography exhibition to raise funds for orphans across the country. She is also a Director of Link-a-child; an NGO dedicated to propagating information on orphanages in Nigeria and soliciting sponsorship on their behalf. Through the songs in her new album, TY seeks to take fans through the journey of her life and the lessons she has learnt on that journey. “Green Land is like a journal of my everyday life and the different phases that I have been through over the years. I wrote the songs on this album in my moments of doubt, my moments of triumph and my relationship with God.”
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