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because a lot of youths are listening to you as well as elders so you always must keep that in mind.
You seem to navigate through several styles of musical genre, hip hop, RnB, reggae, Pop afrobeat, do you think every genre has different approach to the message you try to convey to your audience? Or it’s just a way touch several types of public?
I work freely so if I end up doing more like reggae or Afro sounding records that’s how it’s, but obviously some people take it very seriously trying to get more audience, I didn’t really thought too much about it . if it was just to sell music I would not be doing the type of music I’m doing, but that is not me, this is not what pushes me, I rather would like to mix several joints of music and feel good about it.
You sing mostly in Igbo and English, how the languages you use influence your style?
Yes of course especially when I’m in Nigeria, when people hear you sing in their languages they feel more connected to you, but I started also singing in Pidgin English, I feel emotionally attached to what I’m doing, passionate about. I think if I can funnel the emotion, I feel while using a certain tongue, and then I would have achieved the goal, which is to touch people hearts. Meanwhile I don’t have a language barrier either because the music itself as a universal language. You don’t need to understand the words to dance to a tune.
Since your debut album, Victim of the Truth, and of course the sophomore effort No longer at ease you seem to have engaged the meaning of your art to openly talk about what is wrong with the world, in Africa and in your home country Nigeria. You stated I quote” it’s important for people to recognize the fact that they are also part of the problem,” about you what must be done for Africa and Nigeria to move forward?
I think that is exactly what we need to do ask ourselves, what we can bring forward, is spite of waiting for our governments. It’s our individual responsibility. Not just blame. Yes we have a lot of corruption, I was watching an interview of the Nigerian President, an interview done by CNN in 2013 with Christiane Amanpour, frankly speaking this problem of corruption is been there for eons, we cannot really depend on our government
alone, we ourselves need to change our mentality there is tribalism there’s segregation, there is nepotism, and now we have this religious crisis because of that tribal infighting. So if we do not see ourselves as one Nigeria, as one Africa there will always be some western entity coming in, to profit from that situation of chaos, so they will feel like since those guys are not getting along with each other, they can come and temper with the resources, and play chess with our political leaders as pawns. We say in Africa, 5 fingers make a hand, if one is missing is kind of difficult, it works but it’s difficult. So we need that unity within the country, within the continent and from the grassroots not just in surface. We need to be more proud of ourselves, we have a mentality that is sometimes very self-centered, egoistic, and at the same time we have a low esteem of ourselves towards non Africans, and these are 2 extremes. There is no healthy equilibrium between these 2 aspects. We need to overcome that; there’s a lot of colonial mentality going on there, that need to be expelled.
What can you say about the actual situation lived by Nigeria and its neighbors like Cameroon, Chad, and Niger do you think that if at last they are coming together to face the same issues it will build a better perspective for the future?
I can only hope, but it’s easier said than done