Afrobeat musician, Fela protégée, and Idol judge, Dede Mabiaku reminisces about his life and times with Fela Anikulapo Kuti, the Afrobeat maestro, his background in the arts, his passion for music, social consciousness and advocacy issues, and lots more. In this interview with JANE KOLADE. Excerpts
How did your romance with music start?
I must give it to my folks, because as a kid we had an organ in the house, and my father played the Piano, my mother had a wonderful voice, and she used to sing in the house. So as a kid from my mother’s womb I heard those voices and the songs she sang. I got into primary school and was in tune with music; I was in the choir, and the cultural society. That continued to secondary school, where I joined the school choir, was in the band, and was very active in cultural activities.
After my father donated the organ to the church; St Andrews Church, Warri, he had one Mr Segun come teach me how to play the Piano. I was a truant at the time, and did not like the fact that the man was teaching me. I still don’t know why I kicked against it, but I never learnt to play the piano with the opportunity my father created but I always admired my father whenever I watched him play. Music has always been there for me, it goes way back.
How did you learn to play the sax?
That came after my sojourn to Kalakuta, Fela’s commune. It all started when Fela sat me down in Kalakuta and taught me the Piano, and the things he taught me I passed down to Seun. One of those days when we were at the Kalakuta, I said to him, I would like to learn how to play the Saxophone, and he said If I want to learn to play the Saxophone, I should buy one, and fiddle with it. Shortly after that Fela gave me one to practice with. And I started learning. I went to YS, picked up a few scales, and came back to Kalakuta and started working.
What kind of teacher was Fela?
Fela was forthright, truthful, very intelligent, and highly disciplined. He was very direct, not one who believed in beating about the bush. And he was very astute. Fela would tell you, “Open that book, turn to page 523, paragraph two line three, it states . . . ” he would quote it verbatim. When I was with him, many people thought it was just all about music. It went beyond that, it was about a way of life.
We sat down some days, sometimes for fourteen hours going through books, journals, and reportorial. Very importantly, we went through journals, newspapers, we debated issues, situations around the world, and then we tried at every twist and turn to increase the spiritual knowledge, the spiritual base of those of us who sat around him. It had to do with you accepting the fact that you were an African, and the essence of what you are. You must have the understanding of that before you can truthfully express what it takes. And all these things he did open-mindedly, without reserve.
So, how did you meet him?
(Laughs)Meeting him was multiple, if I may put it that way, because when I was in secondary school I belonged to a group of guys called The Fela Boys, with the likes of the retired Air Vice Marshal Nicholas Spiff. We made it a point of duty to rep baba, we loved his sounds, and Fela’s album happened to be the first album I ever bought in my life.
I played a fast one on my dad to get the money to buy it. I will never forget. And throughout that period I never knew that something of this nature was going to happen. When I got to the university, I was in a band; the Sonix band. And whenever we played Fela’s covers, the school just went gaga; you can imagine the progression from secondary school days to the university. From playing the records to playing live, at the University if Benin, with the Sonix band with Amas, Alex Emordi, Sammy; Sammy and Amas are married now, they met through the band. Osas, Mike Obi was the leader of the band. It was fun, real fun for us, school days.
During my youth service in Owerri, I worked with a recording company called Labamba records. We had a band, and I was the leader of the band with Feladey; Felix Odey, we had Nkem Owoh, and Charles Dickson; who later joined The Wailers. We toured the East; Aba, Enugu, Owerri, Port Harcourt sometime in 1984. And whenever we did Fela’s cover, the audience just went ballistic, and it was interesting for me. When I got back to Lagos after my Youth Service, we were always frequent at the Shrine, and at Jazz 38 which belonged to Tunde Kuboye at the time. They played classical jazz, contemporary jazz.
How old were you at the time?
That was in 1989. I was quite young, in my late twenties. And I had just won the Best Actor in Nigeria award at the time, the first time it was ever done. It was the NITETEP award. Then it was for the movie, The Wandering Stranger by Roland Henshaw and I. Some scenes were shot in this house, this is my home. I’ve lived here since forever so. At that time, there was that buzz about but I wasn’t feeling fulfilled so I really needed to relate with him, as I was soul searching. After that first experience in Kalakuta, he invited me into his room. I entered Fela’s bedroom that night. That night we discussed with him. Chuzy was the one asking the questions while Ohi was recording the interview we had with him, asking him questions, all kinds of things
How long did that relationship last?
It is still lasting.
Even though he is no longer with us?
Well he is no longer with you physically, but when you go into this house, you can’t tell me you don’t feel his presence. He is still here, he is everywhere.
How did your relationship with him affect your life and career?
When I met him, it opened my mind to a lot; he woke my spirit to a lot. The reality of who we are, what we are, what we represent and what we are meant to be. What the focus should be and what our world view should truly be. Those things took me away from where I was, the paradigm shift became obvious; my folks could not take it, considering the kind of home I came from.
My father was the Iyasere of Warri, next to the king, and being the offspring of such an aristocratic home, they didn’t think it was proper for me to be seen in the midst of the so-called “Terrible one.” They seemed to forget that Fela did not come from a useless background, not seeming to understand that Fela’s fight was not a fight for his own personal aggrandizement. I saw through all that.
My parents gave me the order to leave Kalakuta and never be found there, they even planned to send me to the US for my Masters in Filming Arts in Syracuse University; that was to be a lure me away from Kalakuta. I refused, and turned everything down. I was supposed to get married at the time, but my Fiancée was five months pregnant while preparing for the wedding, and her parents refused. When she put to bed, I was prevented from seeing her and the baby. Hurtful as it was, it didn’t get that bad until my father disowned me.
Everybody thought that it was the end, but I abandoned everything. I had nothing at the time, other than the clothes I had on, and the Saxophone I had in my hand which I had just started learning. I went to Fela, and he gave me a room in Kalakuta Republic
Did getting thrown out do something to your psyche?
It woke me up to the reality of life, because everything was available in the home I grew up in. Then all of a sudden, you are thrown out with nothing, not just with nothing; with nothing at all. Because when I went to Kalakuta, I started this move with Fela, and on his birthday in October 1989 I asked if I could sing with his band, he looked at me and said, okay.
When my folks got wind of the fact that I was singing at the Shrine, it was war. They couldn’t imagine that I was living and performing at the shrine. To them, I was tarnishing the family name. After he did that and gave me that opportunity to remain deeply with him, it really changed a lot of things. It made me see life for truly what it was. I just wanted to be there with him, I just wanted to serve. I just wanted to learn. I was not earning any salary, I wasn’t earning any money from anywhere as I had been cut off from everybody. I used to be on stage, working on plays like Kongi’s Harvest, Lion and the Jewel, Chatting in the Sun, Wandering Stranger, all kinds of productions, but I cut everything off. I severed everything for Kalakuta. The moment I got there I was consumed, I was completely subsumed in it.
Can you paint a picture of the man, Fela?
Let me paint you a picture. Can you imagine a massive waterfall, rushing down the mountain, and the massive torrent? Imagine inside that torrent; in the middle of it, there is a twig, and on that twig is a nest, and in the nest is a little bird just lying down peacefully.
That is the best picture you can paint of the personification of what Fela is; Peace. Truth in the midst of everything else, sincerity in entirety, one who was spiritually aware of what goes on in the physical, one whose call was not towards personal aggrandizement, but towards the betterment of people who were born into this world. Fela preached oneness, he preached peace, he preached prosperity, most of all; truth. Fela spoke about things that people hardly spoke about; he was an extremely caring being, fighting even for those he never knew. He cared so much he fought for everybody and took everybody’s pain, never minding whose ox was gored. He didn’t do what he did at the times he did it for any personal aggrandizement, he did them for the people.
How did your role as an idol judge come about?
It was Elvina Ibru that started it. She was in partnership with a South African firm that won the franchise. I went for the auditions, was recalled and was told the way I answered their questions, and my approach, and that was it. It was not about money, but about rendering service, especially to those coming after us. I was criticised for my toughness.
Would you still consider putting out an album in the future?
If you know how many times I have put it off. If I don’t do it, my children will. I have over fifty recorded songs.
So what has been keeping you from putting them out?
I am in the arts for art’s sake.I am a committed artiste apart from being a thespian by training. Seeing the extreme commercialization of what art represents, it kills the value. I will, but the point is over this period, was my spirit willing to?
If you were not into music, what would you be doing?
I am an artist in toto. I might also have been in farming, or cooking because I cook.
In what way do you think you are different from your mentor?
I am Dede, different from Fela. He took so much torment because at the time he started there was no media to express one’s views, like we have social media. So he had to fight the fight for the people.
Would you encourage any of your kids to go into the arts?
My son was in a University in London, and suddenly called that he would like to do a one year internship in music, and I told him it was his choice. So he is with Olaitan (the guy called Heavy Wind) a Jazz artiste. My daughter in Ghana, I hear is one of the best voices in Africa; from her ratings.
Would you give marriage another shot?
I tried, people thought I wouldn’t last six months in marriage but for someone with the kind of load I earlier described to suddenly shut down. No one expected me to get myself a bride from across the border. But I did it and was respectfully committed to that woman. But I thank my ex for the chance to experience marriage.
