My Pastor Advised Me Against Shooting 'Grind' Music Video – Waje

Nigerian singer Aituaje Iruobe, professionally known as Waje, released her debut studio album W.A.J.E in 2013, which included her most explicit song to date, Grind.

The song Grind, which she collaborated with singer Damini Ogulu, better known as Burna Boy, was well received, although there was no music video.

Waje said in a new interview that her pastor objected to her collaborating on a song video with Burna Boy.

The singer stated that her spiritual father conveyed several aspects of the song to her, which she witnessed firsthand and chose not to film.

Waje stated that as a Christian, she has conscious boxes to tick and will never listen to sensuous music. 

In her words: “One of the biggest breakthrough years of my career was 2013, that was the year that quite a number of things happened for me. But there were a lot of songs that I didn’t even touch, because of my faith.

"Sometimes, you as the musician, you have to sit down and think about the lyrics because you can have something you have in your mind but the person receiving it is receiving something else.

"And the truth is if you truly love God, you will care more about the person releasing it than you do about your art. [And that’s the reason I didn’t shoot the video for Grind]. I had to grow to that point.

"Do you understand? The song with Burna Boy [titled Grind], I didn’t shoot it because at the time my album came out and I had a conversation with my spiritual leader, Pastor Tony, he explained the reason to me and the way my understanding is: there are three boxes."