BEVERLY HILLS, May 15, (THEWILL) – Talented female drummer, Aralola Olumuyiwa, better known as Ara, has stated that she was open to having a relationship.
Ara disclosed this during an interview withThe Punch.
She said, “Yes, marriage is on the cards for me. I definitely would love to get married again. I definitely would want to love and be loved again. I’m very open. It’s just that when one has been scarred, one tends to see everyone as a scallywag and one tends to be careful. But that doesn’t mean there are no good guys around. There are definitely good guys around. So fingers crossed, let’s see how it goes.”
She also disclosed that she was in the process of mentoring young female drummers.
She said, “There are many female talking drummers but I agree that none of them has been able to get to the level I attained. Being a pacesetter is a tall order for a female talking drummer or any female drummer at that. Whenever any female drummer is sighted, people send me their videos and pictures. I recently had a meeting with a lot of female drummers and it was beautiful. I decided to start mentoring them because many of them were reaching out to me. They had lots of things bothering them and they needed direction. We have had our first meeting and we are going to have another major one soon, where the drummers from different parts of the South-West and other parts of the country will come to Lagos. There are some female drummers as young as five years old. We need to encourage drummers and artists generally. We have not been given our rightful place and we are not being appreciated the way we should. It is a sad development but by God’s grace, I believe things would change. There is going to be a positive turnaround for everyone on our platform.”
Speaking on the issue of sexual harassment in the entertainment industry, she said, “I have heard victims talk about it. However, I would say I was lucky in that regard. When I started out, it was destiny and passion that drove me into entertainment. I had no ‘street sense’ whatsoever.
“There are instances where I would have fallen but because I was a genuinely naive person, I did not even know those were supposed to be traps. For me, it did not come as abuse or harassment. Along the line though, it started looking like it and I fought back. That is the reason I had a lot of issues at the end of the day.
“So, yes it (harassment) is very real. However, some females also offer themselves to these men in desperation to become famous. But, if you’ve got what it takes to be a star, you do not need to sell yourself or give your body to any man.”
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