For gospel singer, Kenny Saint Best aka KSB, there is no regret breaking up with her ex-husband, De Remedies' star, Eddie Montana and the subsequent downturn her career witnessed after that.
In-a-no-holds barred chat with TS Weekend recently at her residence in Ikeja, Lagos, KSB declared that rather than be broken-hearted, she has emerged from the experience a better and stronger woman.
The musician who hit the limelight in 1998 with the release of her second album, Heaven's Came Down also told TS Weekend that she's working on a tell-all-book with the view to helping other women who have gone through similar experiences get back on their feet.
In her words: "If I was in America, the kind of drama I had around my marriage which culminated in a downturn in my career probably would have gotten me a movie deal. Somebody could have done a movie just like you had Tina Turner back in the day. But this is KSB. I am not giving anybody such rights to do a movie on me because the kids are involved.
"But it would be an honour that I put a book together for people to read through my journey and see how I really went down, how down I got and by the grace of God, how I was able to pick up myself from point zero and get to the top again.
"I started getting more awards, serious awards after my comeback. I fought my way back up so the story of Turn Around album isn't just a turn-around story. It goes beyond the song and video; it's a true-life story. The objective is to prove that no matter what you're going through in life, you can move from point zero to become the hero."
Despite the impact of the break up which took her off recording for five years and which also culminated in her inability to promote an album, KSB insists she has no regrets. "I have none at all," she says with the confidence of a woman who knows her onions. And she gives reasons.
"If I have any regrets I would be writing another person's story. I would not have any subject around my personality. Whatever it is I want to sing about will not be from the soul, from the heart, from experience. People will not be able to relate with it. When I sing, people relate with every line of my songs and that's amazing. So, if I have any regrets, then every song I have written is fake.
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"Whatever I am coming to share is fake because this is what made me what I am and who I am so if I am regretting it then I have not come into contact with the person that the experience should have built, that personality that should have emerged from the crisis. If I am having regrets then I haven't found her.
"In this situation, I have found her and she herself is in the process of becoming an inspiration, a hand to help others to heal, to uplift from the swamp of the situation they find themselves. If I have any regret then I'm a fake voice," the singer declared, a smile etched on her face.
Fifteen years on
Ever since KSB returned to the industry with her Turn Around album in 2010, it has been awards galore, and as she clocks a decade and half this year, the singer disclosed that plans are on-going to have a grand celebration On a lighter note she says: "I am hoping and wishing that all things fall in place the way I desire it. I would want to have a concert for the first time in 15 years; it's going to be grand and it would be built around the KSB brand. That's a decade and half of KSB we are talking about so we are working towards having a grand celebration!" However, the singer says she is in a dilemma because of her vast fan base that cuts across the gospel and the secular.
Consequently, she says because she needs to carry everybody along, there would be two concerts. Hear her: "My current album has a lot of collabos with mainstream acts and I am looking forward to bringing them on board. So, we'll have a collabo concert with mainstream acts and we will also have a night of praise and worship where we will have the gospel artistes on parade; it's more like KSB and friends affair.
We will call it the 'Minstrel's Night'. "We are also looking at the Best of KSB on CD and the Best of KSB in pictures which will be a compilation of my videos in the last 15 years and of course, I am also writing my book which is entitled, From Zero To Hero." KSB says when she looks back this past 15 years; it took a lot of hard work for people to accept her.
"People just didn't give me the honour of being called an artiste; they would rather call me 'Keke's younger sister'. But that stopped after I stopped wanting to please and just letting the creativity flow through KSB. I love dancing. The idea was if I love gospel music like this then let me do it the way I love it. Then there would be people that will appreciate me." Marriage ?
Does KSB have any plans to remarry in the near future?
A smile breaks her features as she responds with a question: "Are we talking about marriage here? I tell people all the time I have been blessed to have it once. And had fruit of the womb twice and then seeing my kids grow and the responsibility of a mother and the gift of being called 'mum'. So, whatever it is that should be putting me under pressure to want to want to marry again has been settled.
"But if it comes, fine, it would be blissful to have a companion; it would be one jolly ride. The issue now is that I am wiser, stronger, more exposed and I have found fulfillment in myself. I am not looking for someone to come build me up so if it comes, fine, lets enjoy it together."
Single parent
As a single mother, KSB says it's not been easy coping but she is grateful to the good people God planted around her. "I am not just a single mother but a single parent. I always tell people that there is a difference between a single parent and a single mother. Single mothers still get some of their bills if not all their bills paid.
"They still get their children's school fees taken care of by the fathers of their kids. I have been making money doing big shows, big brand shows. I have been doing shows both in and outside the church."
- Culled from Naij
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