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Teni discloses that she once thought her elder sister Niniola was jealous of her
Popular Nigerian singer Teniola Apata, often known as Teni, has admitted that she originally believed her older sister, Niniola, was jealous of her skill due to the severe criticism of her voice.
Teni reflected on her early days of practicing with her sisters during a Tea With Tay podcast interview, going down memory lane.
She claimed that Niniola told her that her voice was melodic after their elder sister, Doyin, said so, but Niniola insisted that her voice was not “sweet.”
She claimed that the latter’s critical remarks made her believe that she was envious of 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, everytime 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 want I sang. I sang it and Nini too clapped for me. I said, ‘Okay, we are up to something.’”