Known for his brand of conscious music, Nigerian ghetto artiste, African China, who appears to have gone under for a while, says he is back. The artiste, who recently released some singles to mark his return to the scene, noted that the last political activities offered him the opportunity to stage a perfect comeback. In this interview with DUPE AYINLA-OLASUNKANMI, he speaks on his break, life on the streets and other issues.
YOU have been quiet for some time…
That is because I cannot join the wagon. I cannot be singing what all the present artistes are singing now that people listen to and call songs. I am an intellectual; I lecture people with my songs. I just don’t come on stage and start putting words that are incoherent together and call it music. I am not in that line. And because I cannot compete with them, I had to stop in order to do my thing. I stayed away because I just could not find myself doing such songs. Another reason is that African China has been a hit maker. There is need for fresh ideas. There has to be a time when you have to give chance to up and coming ones. That is what I did. There is no champion forever. You can only remain there, but you cannot be there forever. I have made history a couple of times over the years, so it is time for other to make theirs too. Change is here now. Someone tried four times before winning, and he has won. So I want to try again.
Are you saying that what the celebrated musicians are releasing are not up to standard?
You call them celebrated artistes if you like but don’t get me wrong. You and I know that the music we listen to these days don’t have quality. Even you complain about them. It will be difficult before you hear good lyrics out of them. You just don’t sing about love, you sing about things that can help the society. Before you can listen to good songs, you go to the lyrics first. That is what we call the lyrical content. For example, I want to approach her, but because I don’t have the mindset, I turn it into a love song. That is what you are, that is who you are. You should be able to tell a good story with your song.
What inspires your songs?
The street, the people; I am more concerned about the welfare of the people. I also get inspiration from news channels, especially foreign news.
There was a time you said you wanted to take a break because of fatherhood. Are you back now for good?
I am already back. Recently I did Anu gboko. It is a single where I called some celebrities together to do something on insurgency. But everybody refused, because they were scared to lend their voice because of the fear of terrorism. It was when the US intervened and the placard started going round that they started speaking.
Why are you not stable like other musicians?
You have to be intelligent to be able to do my kind of music, because you need to have your facts together. But if you don’t know how to look for these facts, then I am sorry for you as an artiste. I studied Fela Anikulapo-Kuti and discovered that he always looks for his facts and gets them before doing any song. May his soul rest in perfect peace.
But why ours is different and easier for me is because, you can go on social media to get all these things. But you cannot wipe out those bad people, because they will always be there.
Which genre of music would you place yourself?
I am a reggae artiste.
What inspires this new song?
Back to what I was asked, I had to do my research. If I rush in and record, which I am not ready to do, I will become nervous. And that was not the way we were taught. You have to be ready, you cannot say because people will forget you, if you don’t release songs always, then you just push out anything.
We should always remember that what we are doing is for the people, and not about us. So what you give out to these people must be undigested. And today, I thank God that African China has been able to prove himself as a living legend. And I will always perform my songs, reminding our leaders of their responsibilities to the country and people.
Tell us about growing up
It was not that rosy. I had to work hard to get to where I am today. That is the more reason, today, I have to stand up tall and make sure that I defend my country. Because if I’m taken away from this country, I have no other place to go. If I go to another country, I am going to feel like an outcast.
What does it take for an artiste to do a good music?
Patience; be more consistent and always tell yourself the truth. If you are not truthful to yourself, you will do the wrong song. Because at the end of the day, people will start pushing you around and tell you different things; like this is not the reigning style, you have to do this particular one to make a hit song. That is like moving away from what you know how to do best.
Why is it that you have hardly done collaborations?
That is because I am not ready to beg them to feature in my songs. People that I know, when I was raving, they were busy wearing pants and bathing in the rain. I the rave then, they looked up to me and I was called mentor. It is not a bad thing; I still call them because of my fans. If you follow me on social media, my fans have pushed me to call some of them. And they are still doing that same thing. That is my fear.
What is that fear?
They shunned me. I don’t want to mention names. But the only thing I want to announce now is that it is going to get rough and tough between us. And this time, I need to show them why I was born and raised on the street. They were never born on the street. Because you smoke weed, that does not make you a street boy. We have been in and out of those places, where they cannot stay for one day. But it is well.
