Deborah Aiyegbusi: Daughter, Sister, Singer

FSU senior aims to build on first EP

By Kevin Spradlin
ENGL 336

* Her first EP
* Video: Deborah sings a clip of "Slow"

FROSTBURG — Deborah Aiyegbusi is like a song that has been written, but the music video has yet to be made. In other words, her song — her life — is going to be interpreted exactly as she intends.

So far, Deborah’s is a life born of opportunity, sometimes planned, and sometimes not. She makes the most of either situation, however, and smiles at the unknown that comes next. In fact, a ready smile is one of her most noticeable characteristics, at least initially. When she puts her voice to lyrics, however, is when the room changes.

The 20-year-old senior Communication Studies student, who also is pursuing a minor in Public Relations, wraps a hobby of singing and songwriting around a future career in public relations as well as being a solid foundation of support for her mother, brother and sister. And she is not about to let anything get in her way of her personal and professional goals. 

Photo by Kevin Spradlin
Deborah Aiyegbusi, 20, reaches for the sky in both her
personal and professional endeavors.

"Everything that I do, I'm really passionate about," Deborah said. "I'm the type of person ... if I say I'm going to do something, I just have to do it. If I want something, I really go for it."

Her headstrong personality comes directly from her mother, Idowu Ibrahim. Deborah said her mom maintains the family's home in Montgomery County, Maryland, while plans to finish up school in May 2018.

"She's really driven," Deborah said of her mother. "So that makes me very driven."

Her mother is a single mom — her parents divorced when Deborah was in elementary school — and now Ibrahim "plays both roles, of mom and dad."

Seeing how hard her mother has worked to support her, her brother Elijah, 23, and her sister, Mary, 13, has been a motivating factor. 

"That just makes me want to work hard so I can give back to her," Deborah said.

To be sure, Deborah also takes some time for herself. She has been singing since she was little, but began "taking it seriously" in her last two years of high school while taking theater classes. The personal journey continued when she arrived at Frostburg State University as a freshman.

"I met a friend (on campus) who makes music," Deborah said.

The friend offered a place to record and a reliable microphone. That's all she needed. Earlier this summer, Deborah and that friend, Justin C. Alexander, teamed up to release Deborah's first mix of original singing. The mix is entitled, "Dawn." She wrote each of the five tracks.

Deborah compares her style of music to Lauryn Hill, and offers a "jazzy, soulful" tone that is reflective of a mix between Andra Day and Rag 'n' Bone Man. Hers is a voice that offers a religious experience even if the listener is not accustomed to attending church. 

Family first

A first-generation American, Deborah's parents hail from Nigeria. Deborah comes by her love of music honestly. Her older brother has been accepted into the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. 

Deborah plans to cultivate a career that mixes her personal interest with her professional goals. She intends to move back home after college and pursue a job in public relations, ideally within the world of nonprofits.

"I really like kids," Deborah said. "I feel like we should have more things to motivate kids (and be) an outlet for them, because ... not every child really, really enjoys school."

For Deborah, school at times was a chore, tolerable only because she has her singing in theater classes. 

"I would always make sure I had at least a 2-point-something (GPA), so I could participate" in extracurricular activities, Deborah said.

In the meantime, moving back home will help her family as well. Her mother, she said, is anxious for her middle child to return home next May. 

"I think she's really tired of moving me up here (each semester)," Deborah quipped. "She's ready to start relaxing a little bit and enjoying the fruits of her labor. I help out a lot with (my sister) as well. I think she's just excited for me to be home."