Ace singer, Teniola Apata professionally known as Teni, has revealed that she once thought her older sister, Niniola was jealous of her talent because of her harsh criticism of her voice.
She recounted how Niniola, who is also a singer, would criticise her when they were rehearsing during her childhood.
Teni, 30, took a trip down memory lane while having a chat with media personality, Taymesan on the Tea With Tay podcast.
She said their eldest sister, Doyin told her that she had a melodic voice, but Niniola, 36 insisted that her voice was not “sweet.”
According to her, her immediate older sister would take her to the side and tell her that Doyin was just deceiving her. She said Nini then advised her to be singing from her stomach and she emulated her.
Teni said; “My elder sister, the one that’s older than Nini [Niniola], Doyin, maybe she was deceiving because she didn’t want to hurt me; she used to tell me I have a melodic voice whenever I sing during my childhood. Nini, on the other hand, would tell me my voice isn’t sweet. So, I thought she was jealous of me.
“She [Niniola] called me aside and told me not to let Doyin deceive me. She now said, ‘You sing from your stomach.’ So, every time Nini sings, I would watch her sing. So, I also started singing from my stomach.
“There was a time my school organised an event, I sang and the whole school stood up and was clapping for me. I said, ‘I’ve arrived.’ I went back home to tell Nini that I sang in school and everybody was clapping and she said I should sing what I sang. I sang it and Nini too clapped for me. I said, ‘Okay, we are up to something.’”
