This Northern Nigerian engineer is using AI to turn personal lyrics into AI-generated songs
In this edition of After Hours, we follow Bukar Mamadu and how he turns his poetic lyrics into AI-generated songs while also juggling a full-time job at a university.
After losing a parent, Bukar Mamadu sought solace in writing poems, and by the time he discovered AI platforms, he was putting out songs without even knowing how to sing.
Today, Mamadu has put out other songs across streaming platforms through his AI artist called BukarSkywalker while juggling a full-time job as the Chief Engineer at the University of Maiduguri.
In this edition of After Hours, Mamadu shares how he went from studying Electrical Engineering to writing poems, and now managing an AI artist.
Early interactions with technology
The first time I ever interacted with technology was in 1989, at my uncle’s house in Lagos. I had just gained admission into King’s College, Lagos, and I was staying with his family for a few days before school resumed. He had a PC in his study, and my cousin and I sneaked in one afternoon to look at it.
When we turned it on, all I saw was a black screen with a blinking cursor, MS-DOS. I typed, “What is your name?” The computer replied: “Bad command or file name.” I tried again. “How old are you?” Same response. That was deeply disappointing.
From the movies I had watched growing up, I thought computers were supposed to be intelligent, conversational things. I assumed they would speak to me the way ChatGPT does now. Instead, I realised that computers are only smart if you learn how to talk to them.
By the early 1990s, I was already learning BASIC programming in secondary school. My father later brought home a Sinclair ZX Spectrum from his office at the University of Maiduguri, and although it got damaged due to voltage differences, I studied and learned the manual.
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After secondary school, there was usually a gap year before getting into higher institution. So instead of waiting idly for university admission, I enrolled in a computer diploma programme.
That was in 1994, long before Microsoft Office, and so we used WordPerfect, Lotus 1-2-3, and dB...
