I was paid with a bottle of drink for my first movie soundtrack – Stanley Okorie

Stanley Okorie, a renowned Nollywood soundtrack star, and singer, recently shared an interesting anecdote about his early career in the industry. He revealed that he received a bottle of Sprite as payment for his first movie soundtrack.

During his appearance as a guest on the Osikoya Speaks audiovisual podcast hosted by Wonu Osikoya, the veteran artist recounted how Nollywood was facing financial constraints when he entered the movie industry.

He said; “The first soundtrack I ever did, guess what I was paid? I was paid a bottle of Spirit. And it was three songs. And I didn’t drink the Spirit alone, I drank it with one guy called JT Tom West. So, it was still half payment even with the bottle of Sprite.

“The guy [filmmaker] said he was even doing me a favour. I just did. In fact, one of the times I saw him, he told me that they didn’t use the music again. A month after, I watched the film and it was the music.

“So, I went to meet him with JT Tom West who is late now, and he said okay, he will connect us with somebody who will give me a job. And the very first job I got payment for was a film called ‘Compromise’, and from that, other films followed.

“The next film I got big pay for was a film called ‘Evil Genius’. That was my statement of ‘I don come’. There wasn’t money until much later when I started charging [filmmakers].”