Nigerian afro-pop singer, Teniola Apata who is professionally known as Teni has opened up on how she thought her sister, Niniola, was jealous of her talent.
Due to harsh criticism of her song by her elder sister, the singer had thought it was based on jealousy.
The singer revealed this while speaking in an episode of the Tea With Tay podcast, Teni recalled rehearsing with her sisters during her childhood.
She said their eldest sister, Doyin told her that she had a melodic voice, but Niniola insisted that her voice was not “sweet.”
She said the latter’s harsh criticism made her think she was jealous of her.
“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, everytime Nini sings, I would watch her sing. So, I also started singing from my stomach.
“There was a time my school organized an event, I sang and the whole school stood up and clapped 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 want I sang. I sang it and Nini too clapped for me. I said, ‘Okay, we are up to something.’”
