Beebee Bassey: From Preacher’s Kid to Award-winning Singer

Yinka Olatunbosun

Beebee Bassey’s life was filled with music from a young age, as her preacher parents tendered to their growing ministry. Along with her siblings, she was a member of the church’s first choir, small round face but a powerful voice that reverberated through the church, even at a young age. Music meant more to the young Blessing Bassey, as Beebee was called, at the time. It also saved her at school.

As a child, she had struggles with studying. She had dyslexia and dyscalculia—a specific difficulty in understanding numbers—which brought along with it other challenges. As a student of Clitter House Nursery and Primary School, taking a look at the board was a struggle as the numbers did not make sense to her.

“I’d write ‘3’ as ‘E’, and it was hard to differentiate between P and 9.”

In Nigeria at the time, many educationists did not cater to the condition, hence they were not patient with her learning. Like many other children who struggled with learning disabilities at the time, she was termed a ‘dullard’. As a result of this, she struggled with a low morale and fear of classrooms. Her grades dipped even more as she never wanted to go to the classroom because she would be talked down to whenever her struggle with numbers cropped up.

“I had no passion to learn again, yet, I still struggled…if you ask me a question verbally, I can answer but when it comes to writing, it was hard,” Beebee recalls about how the struggles still remain. “It still takes me a longer period to calculate things.”

When the classroom failed Beebee, she fell right into the waiting arms of music. Eventually, she found succour and the confidence to face life. It got worse in secondary school as she was beaten for her struggles to answer and pass questions during examinations even though she could answer them verbally.

“Music was the only thing I could do effortlessly. I was not trying to get any grades. Neither was it as if someone was teaching me anything and I was letting them down by not giving it my best.” Beebee says as she explained the critical role that music played at the time.

Despite her struggles, with the support of her family and on the wings of music, she sailed through primary and secondary school, an average student. One would think that she would study music or a related course to her passion at tertiary level. Yet, Beebee chose to study Mass Communication at the Cross River University of Technology. She was continuing a tradition. Renowned singer Onyeka Onwenu, had studied Mass Communication before making a name for herself in music. Also, Beebee’s mother had studied the same course and had produced a show, Contemplation, that was syndicated across some television stations in Nigeria at the time. For Beebee, she chose the course because it was the closest pathway to use her voice. And while at the university, she began learning how to play the guitar from YouTube videos.

In 2011, she entered her first music competition—the Voice of Cross River. She had heard the jingle on radio and saw it as a challenge. To her surprise, she came second. Even then, music was still a hobby, not a possible career path. The win came with a cash prize yet she kept her win a secret from her family. Soon, the cat was let out of the bag by a family member. Her parents were proud, and for her twentieth birthday, they got her a guitar.

“Music was what you did for fun. It was not what you faced your parents and said you wanted to be. It was what you did in addition to the main thing you were.”

Then, sometime in March 2014, without her parents’ knowledge, she entered the Nigerian Idols competition. Cradling her guitar, she walked into the audition room in Calabar.

“I’ve watched you many times with your guitar. I have watched you many times without your guitar. It feels as if it is your guitar that keeps you grounded when you are singing.” Dede Mabiaku, one of the judges said the first time he set his eyes on her. That day in March, Beebee serenaded the judges and she was given a straight golden ticket to the main competition in Lagos.

During one of her performances, wearing a black mono-strap dress, she belted out the lyrics of a song “Don’t Go” by Tarri. “Baby don’t go. Don’t turn away from me. I cannot do this by myself,” the lyrics were directed at a lover about to walk away. Yet, looking back, it felt as if it was ‘music’ beckoning her not to leave it alone, to continue standing with her. The show stretched her vocals; she remixed songs; she sang in other languages; she emoted the lyrics of her songs in a deep way.

At the end of the show, Beebee placed 5th runner-up and that was the beginning of her music career officially. That secret could not be hidden from her parents. She began to attend performances, travelling across different cities in Nigeria. In 2016, she worked with Pulse Media, one of the biggest media companies on the continent at the time.

“My experience with Pulse was indeed a growth phase for me. This was a time when there was a live performance scene in Lagos was bubbling. There were karaokes, open mics almost every night. So, it was a fertile ground for a newbie like me.”

As her music thrived in the city, she also gained more skills in personal branding and marketing; skills that would become useful beyond her music career. In 2019, she relocated to Dubai and there, she got a job as a sales assistant. Around this time, she also participated in the Karaoke World Championship, won the Nigeria rounds and represented the country in the competition.

A few years later, she got trapped by the allure of International Business and she is currently studying for a Masters Degree in International Business in the United Kingdom. Despite the ups and downs of life, moving across countries, music has remained a constant force.

“In Dubai, it was an entirely different country as a black female singer—women only meant to be heard rather than seen; then, there was the tone of racism—yet my songs were welcomed. In the UK, my performances have also gotten crowds’ applause.”

In December 2022, a recording of one of her performances shared on social media opened the door of another performance. She performed at the 2023 Telford African and Afro-Caribbean Resource Centre (TAARC) Windrush Celebration. Despite many turns, music has remained a constant in the moor of Beebee’s life, keeping her grounded as different puzzle pieces move. Her EP titled “Toxic Places” explores domestic abuse but sends a message of hope to victims. Her album, tentatively titled Truth is due out in 2024.