Ifedayo Olarinde popularly known as Freeze is an On Air Personality. He talks about his fashion likes and dislikes with Ademola Olonilua
You have been an OAP for about 18 years. How has the journey been?
I started in 1996. I have watched the industry grow from where it used to be to where it is. When I started entertainment, there were home videos; there was no Nollywood. Nigerian artistes were driving in old, rickety tokunbo cars. It was a very difficult choice for me at the time because the entertainment industry back then was frowned at. We were not believed in; so most of our parents thought we needed deliverance. A lot of our parents thought we wanted to waste our lives, even our colleagues. I remember when I was in the university and was still a radio presenter in Ibadan, a friend came to me and asked if that was what I wanted to do with my life and I felt very depressed that night. We blazed our own trail. I would not say I am a veteran broadcaster but I would say I am a new generation broadcaster. We changed broadcasting. It is not what it used to be any more. We have brought reality to the radio. We have brought faces to the radio. Back then, a radio presenter was a radio presenter, but today most radio presenters are anchors, brand ambassadors, have roles in movies.
Have you done any movie?
I have done only a few cameos here and there. In the Return of Jenifa, I had a little cameo appearance there. I have done some cameos for some music videos. I have had a lot of offers to feature in full length movies but first, the pay has to be right and I have to be ready for it. I don’t want to go and embarrass myself and my family.
You worked for BCOS Ibadan for about five years of your life. How were those years?
Yes I worked with BCOS for exactly five years. I would say that BCOS to me was like a school. I learned a lot from BCOS. I grew in that radio station. Although there were so many challenges; back then, my salary was N1,500. I earned N1,500 in BCOS in 2001 when GSM came out, so don’t think it is that far back. It was no money at all. The first MTN recharge card that came out was N1,500 and that was my monthly salary. I earned that for about five years; so it was really rough. We lacked equipment; we used to play tapes and sometimes the tape players would not work.
If you had decided to stay with BCOS till now, do you think you would have been this known?
Definitely not, first, a brand has to be positioned right. Ibadan is still an ancient city and the vernacular culture is better received than the urban contemporary culture. Although we had a few fans, the people that were making money and recognised as broadcasters were the vernacular speaking broadcasters; so I had to move to where my brand would be better positioned. I got a job in Cool FM as I was leaving university. I served in Cool FM in 2001 even though I got the job before the service. I had to get posted to the company as I knew what I wanted and I opted for it. I was one of those little kids that knew exactly what they wanted and did not waste time.
So while growing up, you always wanted to be on the radio?
I wanted to be an entertainer while growing up. I wanted to be either a rapper or an actor. I always wanted to be around entertainment, so I stumbled on presenting in 1996 when I was in Romania. I went with a cousin of mine to a radio station and she had a kiddies programme and I told myself that I could do it. So I started a long journey from 1996 to where I am right now.
Being light-skinned, people may mistake you for a foreigner. Has it ever happened that people spoke about you in your presence believing you did not understand the language?
It used to happen but I am not totally unknown. People are quite familiar with me. Radio these days involves a lot of visuals; we have lots of advertisement. People would be familiar with the fact that I speak Yoruba and pidgin very well. I grew up in Nigeria; I am a Nigerian, even though I was not born in Nigeria. Contrary to the general belief that I have a European passport, I also have a Nigerian passport which is very useful to me when I am coming back to Nigeria. Apart from that, a lot of people think I do not understand the Nigerian lingua but they have been disappointed.
What clothes do you feel more comfortable in?
I love a bit of all. I love my jeans, my polo. I love my suits, I love my tuxedos, my ties. I love my natives.
Which do you believe that you pull-off the most?
I would say traditional attires. I am an accessories person, your native shows off your accessories. If I had my way I would wear native more. Left to me alone, I like being in boxers and a vest; that is me. But when going for events, maybe because I am growing older, I tend towards natives. The Daddy Freeze is kicking in more now; it is no longer the hip-hop Freeze.
You said you are a fashion accessories person. Which accessory are you talking about?
I love good cufflinks, wristwatches. I own a collection of exotic wristwatches.
When you say a collection, how many are you talking about?
Not like how many, like how much. I have maybe $200,000 in wristwatches. What I am wearing now is a Rolex Daytona, I got it from Polo for Christmas. It cost about $30,000. Polo is Nigeria’s only authorised dealer, so I bought it from the company and I love it. I love pens too. Sometimes I could just be like a woman. I love things that shine but not all the time. I like cufflinks, pens but I am not the necklace or a bracelet kind of guy. Though I wear bracelets once in a while; so I like my cufflinks, pens and wristwatches, any attire that would show them off, I am good with it.
What does your wife like on you?
My wife shares my taste. She likes what I like. I am not wild but I am not conservative. There are some really expensive watches or shoes that you would never know are expensive. I would not wear those. I would want a bit of bling but I would never wear a pair of shoes that has LV or Gucci monogrammed on it. I would like the LV to show but I would like it to be somewhere that you have to look to see it. I would not like to wear an all gold wristwatch so you would see the gold from afar. I would want to wear a gold wristwatch that is made of pure gold; but I would like to tone it down with maybe a leather or rubber strap so it would be a bit conservative but at the same time, not as conservative as white gold. I like a bit of red gold. The kind of woman that I like is the kind of woman that is not loud but she is not too conservative.
What wouldn’t you be caught wearing?
Michael Kors. I am sorry but I just think that brand is so razz. First their name, I think their name is so razz. Not exactly the name, it is the brand, all you have for the logo is MK. Their products are loud, ugly and cheap. I see someone wearing a Michael Kors watch and I see it as they are trying so hard to wear Rols gold. I can’t afford that so the next thing is to pick up Michael Kors. I would rather take equally priced designer but with a bit more class and less noise. I would never be caught wearing that. Designers I like are Tom Ford, Gucci, I love LV shoes that are not monogrammed. I like Hermes; I think that is a really brilliant designer. I like the fact that they play with orange a lot.
You have mentioned names of some foreign designers. Do you ever patronise Nigerian designers?
I like David Wedge, Yomi Casual; I don’t think Tom Ford can do natives except it is custom made which I cannot afford.
What is your take on celebrities posting photos of their expensive fashion items on their social media accounts?
First thing first, for all the entertainers putting up pictures of their accessories on Instagram, can they please tweet the receipt from an authorised dealer. Trust me, I have seen too many celebs wear fake stuffs. You can tell that they don’t know what they are wearing. Of course, there are a few brand names like D’banj, Don Jazzy, P-Square or Wizkid that would not wear fake. I have seen them wear good watches. But there are some other people who I have seen wear funny looking pieces. There was one particular musician that I saw wearing a Rolex and the gold was fading. Rolex never uses gold plates, they use pure gold. If you see anything gold on a Rolex, it is pure gold. When I saw that, I was disappointed at the musician, especially because of the level of respect I had for the musician. There is no such thing like buying a Rolex with a credit card. You can’t buy a Rolex with a credit card; who are you? Diddy? For you to be able to walk away with a £20,000 watch, you would have a substantial amount of money in that card.
Eighteen years from now, where do you see the industry?
I see it more grown, sexy and mature. I see it evolving. It is going digital. Nigerian entertainment industry is growing; good movies, radio, television, music video. We have grown from where we used to be five years ago, let alone 18 years ago.
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