Meet Progress and Zadok, the 2022 Nigerian Idols [Pulse Exclusive Interview]

Pulse Nigeria recently spoke with the winner and runner-up of the seventh season of Nigerian Idol, Progress, and Zadok.

Progress Chukwuyem, better known as Progress, is a Nigerian singer, songwriter, and performing artist who went from singing in church to winning 100 million Naira. He is a 21-year-old Delta-born and raised singer.

Speaking after his win, Progress said, "Emerging as the winner is fulfilling and very satisfying.”

He said he came to the show for different reasons.

In his words, "The show gives you exposure you can't buy with money. I came on the show and everyone is super talented and I felt that anyone can win this thing. But then going through the show, after performances I hear reviews and I knew I was on the right path. I needed to continue on that path and if possible win."

He talked about his family and how it has been since losing his mum. According to Progress, he is from a family that enjoys music.

He said, "One of the major things that inspire me in music will be my family. Coming from a family that loves and does music makes it one of my biggest inspiration."

Zadok, on the other hand, is an only son from Edo State. He lost his father when he was only seven years old. He relocated to Lagos a few years ago to further his musical career. He has been doing music for a long time, according to him. His music is soulful and Afrocentric.

His drive as a performer and Nigerian artist is his gift and purpose.

"My gift and purpose is my driver," he says. Coming to Nigerian Idol was meant to give him a larger audience.

Zadok described his rise from less than 10,000 to over 60,000 Instagram followers as a blessing.

"For me on the show, I was not competing. I just wanted people to get to know me and get to download or listen to my songs," he added.

They both agreed that the show was amazing. They shared their experiences as well as the lessons they picked from the show. Progress said he discovered that life is not a competition. He said the show taught him to be true to himself and never try to be or sound like somebody.

"Be who you are because people are watching you and that is what they love about you", he enthused.

Zadok discussed growth and how the judges and coaches were able to assist him in that process. He described the coaches as "amazing," while Progress called the season's judges "the best."

When asked what inspired his switch from gospel to 'bang bang', Progress said, "I let myself loose on the show. Church is my comfort zone but it is a competition and people require more from you. I needed to show the world that I am fit for the commercial market. I wanted to show that I am a professional artist. It was a challenge for me because I haven't done that before but I did and it went well."

He insisted that despite performing 'bang bang', he doesn't plan to move away from gospel music.

He said, "I see music as a means of communication. I see myself as a contemporary gospel artist cos I don't want to be limited. No be everytime you dey worship na. I can talk about love, even pastors fall in love and get married. I can talk about love, I can do conscious music. I want to be liberal but I can't say things that are not in line with my personality and what I stand for."

While on the show, Zadok told us he had a great relationship with Progress. He stated that he has been his roommate for a long time and does not mind working with him.

In his words, "Progress and I have a very good relationship. And we are both open to any collaboration."

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Progress claims that Johnny Drille, Fireboy DML, Chike, Ric Hassani, Mercy Chinwo, Tim Godfrey and some other artists are his dream collaborations. "For producers, I like Cobhams, Masterkraft and Gospelonthebeat,” he added.

He also admitted feeling the pressure after winning the show, "I already know for a fact that there are lots and lots of expectations for winners and everybody who contests in reality shows. I feel the pressure. It is there but I am not going to let it overwhelm me. I am in no competition with anybody. All I need to do is to stay relevant and take it step at a time,” he said.

On the other hand, Zadok claimed he was totally happy for Progress on winning the show. He said he reacted naturally, hugging and congratulating Progress on winning - he couldn't do more than that.

"People are so hypocritical to think I was not happy with Progress when he won. People like people who pretend,” he says bullishly“When they declared him the winner I was happy for him, hugged him for 6-7 seconds but people expected me to be jumping just like him, What do they expect me to do? I congratulated him even on Instagram. The truth is that I didn't win the 30 million naira cash prize but I know in my head that there is a 100 million naira for me somewhere.”

Talking about his confidence, He said, "Your confidence, is it natural or you trained yourself to be confident to avoid being hurt by negative comments. When I am just alone, I am introverted. When I am on stage, I am quite different.”