What is Afropolitan Vibes?
Afropolitan Vibes is a monthly live music concert which exists as a platform for alternative music: a place where music lovers congregate to watch contemporary singer-songwriters and musicians perform mostly original works that are firmly rooted in African musical origins of Afrobeat, Afro-funk, Afro-hip-hop, Afro-pop and Highlife music. A host of talented artists gather each month to rehearse and then perform with Bantucrew on stage at Freedom Park’s Main Stage. The show is held every third Friday of each month. Show starts promptly from 8.00pm-10.30/11.00pm. Afropolitan Vibes is co-produced by Ade Bantu and Abby Ogunsanya.
Bantu
Bantu aka Brotherhood Alliance Navigating Towards Unity is a 12-piece Afro-funk-Afro-hip-hop-Afro-beat musical collective founded by NigerianGerman brothers Adé Bantu and Abiodun. The band features multiinstrumentalists and singers who perform as a collective.
Palm Wine Tradition
Palm wine is now available at all our shows. As our palm wine is always freshly tapped in Badagry in the early hours of the morning of each show, this luscious white liquid is guaranteed to be sweet and only mildly intoxicating as it is yet unfermented. Our palm wine is served the traditional way: the wine is available to buy per gourd (to share with friends/family) or in individual calabashes. Alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks are also available for purchase at the Freedom Park bar area where we encourage you all to come join us after the show for a drink, chat and photographs.
Official After Party Spread the Word
After each show, we have an after party gig at the Freedom Park bar area. Your DJ for the night will be Raymond Bola Browne aka DJraybeeBrowne of Igroove Radio. Join us at the Freedom Park bar for past, present and future dance music all in the mix. If you love Afropolitan Vibes, spread the word – tweet about us - @afropolitanvibe join our facebook page - facebook.com/Afropolitanvibes subscribe tour digital magazine - issuu.com/afropolitanvibes and invite your friends and family next time.
Next Afropolitan Vibes show will be on January 30th 2015. See you then! Afropolitan Vibes Magazine credits: Editor: Abby Ogunsanya
Cover art photo: Aderemi Adegbite
Contact and advertising enquiries:
Copy Editor: Kolade Arogundade
Models: Aderemi Adegbite, Bunmi Akinwonmi
afropolitanvibes@gmail.com
Guest artists Interviews: Rayo Adebola
Keziah Jones picture: Kelechi Amadi-Obi
Tel: + 234-806788-1471
Profile of Dr.Victor Olaiya: Dami Ajayi
Victor Olaiya picture: Andrew Dosunmu
Printing: John Bola
Other Guest artists’ pictures: Courtesy of subjects
Graphic Design: Graeme Arendse
Show pictures: Aderemi Adegbite
Afropolitan Vibes
Editor’s Notes
We have come to the end of the year and the last Afropolitan Vibes concert of 2014 and what an experience it has been! Every single show has held some very special moments and we are grateful to all of our guest artists who featured this year. We have many people to thank for helping us grow the Afropolitan Vibes Movement. First of all, we thank you – our fans - for supporting the show and helping us spread the word about Afropolitan Vibes both in Nigeria and abroad. We thank all the corporate organizations that have contributed funds and various other types of support to us this year: Spinlet, MTN, Goethe Institut, British Council, UBER, and the German Consulate in Nigeria. Thanks also to all the organizations that have advertised in Afropolitan Vibes Magazine. We are extremely lucky to be working with partners on the show who share our vision and have given of their time, space and expertise and have walked the journey with us from the start. They are Freedom Park – our hosts right from the very beginning, Madestics Entertainment – our technical partners who provide the sound at every show, Ultima Studios and GET TV – who film and air our show on Channel 129 on StarTimes and on our dedicated YouTube channel, and Olorisupergal who help us promote Afropolitan Vibes on its social media platform. Ade Bantu and I would like to give special thanks to the wonderful members of BANTU for their professionalism, incredible talent and constant good cheer. It is not easy to learn the material of all our guests artists each month, in addition to performing the band’s own material, but somehow they all manage it. It sounds corny to say we are one big happy family but that is indeed what we are and it is a joy for us to work together. We would also like to thank all our superb writers Rayo Adebola, Sam Umukoro, Dami Ajayi , Kolade Arogundade and Ed Keazor and our official photographer Aderemi Adegbite. Magazine editing is new to me. I literally stumbled into the role because we decided to create a magazine to compliment the show and we couldn’t find someone we could afford to pay to help us put it together. I have learned a lot on the job and I know that I would have had a far
Issue 15 // December 2014
harder time of it if it were not for my friend and our graphic artist Graeme Arendse. Not only is Graeme one of the most talented people I have ever worked with, he is also someone who is completely in tune with the method in my madness. We drive each other nuts, but somehow we make a very good team and with Ade Bantu, we have managed to create a magazine series that we are all extremely proud of. Please note that the show next month will temporarily move from our usual third Friday of every month and will instead be held on FRIDAY JANUARY 30TH 2015. We will be taking a break in February 2015, which is the month when general elections will be held in Nigeria, so there will be no Afropolitan Vibes Show or Afropolitan Vibes magazine in February. We trust that you will have fun at the show and that you will continue to spread the word about Afropolitan Vibes to everyone. We wish you all a very happy Christmas break and we look forward to an even more exciting year ahead.
In this issue
Rayo Adebola interviews four of our guest artistes for this month: Keziah Jones, BOJ, POE and Kaline. Dami Ajayi profiles highlife legend Victor Olaiya who is headlining our December show. We feature some of our favourite pictures from 20th edition of Afropolitan Vibes, which was held on November 21st 2014.
Contact us
You can email us with your thoughts at afropolitanvibes@gmail.com. We also read all comments and respond to questions on Facebook, and Twitter. We have a limited number of back issues of Afropolitan Vibes magazine. If you would like a copy, please contact us via email or on +234-806788-1471.
Afropolitan Vibes
V
ictor Abimbola Olaiya is one of the oldest, if not the oldest, living Highlife musician. He represents what was described as a Golden Era of music in Nigeria. In the 50s and 60s, Highlife was the most popular brand of music across West Africa. This period coincides with the declaration of independence by colonial masters to their former West Africa colonies— Nigeria, Ghana and Sierra Leone.
Highlife music was the tune of independence resonating across the land and occasioning a sort of awakening of African pride. The blare of horns and the cadence of drum—a syncretism of western instruments and indigenous percussion—gave a rhythm of the true African experience. And Victor Olaiya was in the midst of it all with his newly formed Cool Cats band, an ensemble of musicians that included Fela Ransome-Kuti and Tony Allen at some point. Victor Olaiya was born on the last day of 1931 in Calabar to parents from Ijesha-Isu, which is in present day Ekiti State. He grew up in Eastern Nigeria, attending schools at Owerri and Onitsha where he learnt how to play the horn and speak the Igbo language. Since that tender age when he picked up the horn and blew into it, he has not looked back. He forfeited a chance to become a Howard University trained Civil Engineer for music. He started out as a musician who played in several bands in the 40s. He played for Sammy Akpabot and Bobby Benson and must have witnessed the widespread popularity garnered by Emmanuel Teytey Mensah, the Ghanaian pharmacist turned Highlife musician who brought his big band orchestrated Highlife to Nigeria in the 50s. Victor Olaiya and E.T Mensah would later make an album together, but back then they were each other’s competition. Victor Olaiya was big in the Nigeria scene; he played at the Independence Day Ball and later when Nigeria became a republic. He also played for the Federal troops during the civil war and perhaps was the only musician who retained his status during this period hence his popularity throughout the watershed that commenced the decline of Highlife. Rex Lawson, Celestine Ukwu and a host of other Highlife musicians who found themselves within the Biafra territory did not have it that good. Victor Olaiya in addition to enjoying sustained popularity as a musician was also gifted with long life unlike contemporaries like Israel Njemanze, Ayinde Bakare, Crosdale Juba, Rex Lawson and Celestine Ukwu. In 1963, Dr Olaiya, on performing at the International Jazz Festival in 4
Prague, was honored with a doctorate in African music. His music, to say the least, was hugely popular and influential. He also dabbled into the hotel business like Bobby Benson, but instead of a Caban Bamboo, his hotel was called Stadium Hotel, which he referenced, jocularly in his timeless song, Iye Jemila. He also imported musical instruments and accessories, distributing them across West Africa. Highlife music, like Ska music, did not have an exalted calling. It was not a music of social change, even though it birthed Afrobeat through the pelvis of Fela Anikulapo-Kuti. It was music of high life, of fun, of pleasure. Victor Olaiya was called the Evil Genius of Highlife for his uncanny ability to fill bar rooms, to fill dance floor, to make women gyrate their hips, start the Highlife party. With songs like Trumpet Highlife, Moonlight Highlife and Invitation Highlife, Sir Victor Olaiya lured people to dance his special brand of Highlife that was cosmopolitan enough to retain the nature and harmony of the Ghanaian variant while infusing it with a Yoruba consciousness. I daresay Victor Olaiya was the only musician who could successfully achieve this feat amongst his peers.
DR VICTOR OLAIYA
The Evil Genius DAMI AJAYI
Issue 15 // December 2014
In his musical trajectory, he saw himself competing with E.T Mensah. He once shared the stage with Louis Armstrong. He is indeed a delight to watch in his specially made clothes and sleek shoes. His piebald patch reflects his years and he bestows upon himself two sparking white handkerchiefs and his brass-coloured trumpet as a signature items. Victor Olaiya, in his illustrious career spanning over fifty years, sang some of the most popular love songs. Many people born in the 80s experienced his music through the gramophones of their grandfathers and fathers. Some through the wonderful films of Tunde Kelani and yet some through the delightful covers that have been made, one of which was a recent endeavour of Victor Olaiya himself featuring 2Face Idibia. These timeless songs include Omo Pupa, Mofe Mu Yan and So Fun Mi, amongst others. In recent times, there has been a spate of Highlife-tinged Afro-pop in our music-scape spearheaded by younger musicians like Flavour, Omawunmi, Wizkid, Sean Tizzle, Cynthia Morgan amongst others. This goes a long way to instruct us that Highlife music will continue to be expressed in our evolving culture. Thankfully they have the likes of Olaiya, Victor Uwaifo, and Chris Ajilo who are still alive to sound their ideas with. And, of course, an incredibly loaded discography to pilfer from. Victor Olaiya’s music is marketed and distributed by Premier records. His music is also available on the Spinlet platform.
Afropolitan Vibes
M
y first memory of Keziah Jones is of being a teenager and seeing posters of an upcoming concert of his at MUSON centre. Maybe it was the image of him, or the name, but there was something enigmatic about him and so I sought out his music.
A decade later, having listened to albums of his and watched many live performances, it is a pleasure interviewing him. There’s an aura of ‘freedom’ to Keziah’s person and to his music, and I ask how he got to that place. “Through a lot of personal struggle to overcome crippling shyness and societal conditioning,” he says. “I read a lot and I try to keep my mind open.” He started out playing musical instruments, quickly learning to play the drums, the guitar and the clarinet. Today, he plays six instruments. Coming from a non-musical family, he describes the most defining moment of his career as the moment that he got the go ahead from his father to pursue his music dream. “Without him ever hearing my music,” he says, adding that, “Although we (my family) are all known to be quite theatrical and considered to have a way with words.” Keziah, who came about his stage name as a result of a bet between him and his best friend as to who could come up with the dopest stage name, lists his biggest musical influences Fela Kuti, Miles Davis, and John Coltrane. Art and the Man He describes his style of music as ‘Blufunk’, a fusion of the blues, funk and soul, but beyond music he’s the rare artist breed. He also draws, paints and writes poetry essentially making him an all-round artist (and making me
facebook.com/keziahjones
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envious) – and I ask how he finds the time to fulfil the different forms of expression. “Music, visual art and writing, to me, are one and the same thing,” he says. “I visualise sound or music and hear colours, images and movement; so, for me, all arts become ways of solving problems. In other words if I can’t describe the situation or the image I am looking for when I am writing a song, then I will draw it, and when I draw it I can see it, and if I can see it I can now sing it (or describe it). They all work together.” He adds that his art is just a tool and was never meant for exhibition or display… “but I may do something with it eventually.” I can’t help but wonder how he finds the time to do all of this, and how much time he spends on his craft(s) on an average day. “I can’t say, but I know that I practice the guitar as soon as I wake up, then the rest of the day is spent either thinking about music in some way or writing about the kind of music I would like to make or hear. Then I try to practice before I go to sleep.” You can’t tag Keziah’s music as mainstream music in Nigeria, yet he moved back home a few years ago and has continued to tour the world from his base here. He tells me that the pleasure he derives from making music is what keeps him going. “Music is something that helps me to carry out social education. People pay me to do it. When people pay you to do what you love, that’s perfect. I can exist by doing it and I can express myself. It’s perfect.” At 46, Keziah has the body of a man decades younger, and I must admit that a huge part of watching him on stage has to do with the bare chested moments. I ask how he keeps so trim and his answer is simple: “Eat well and eat proportionally.” Well, there you have it – the guide to being a hot, wellrounded artist.
www.keziahjones.biz
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twitter: @keziahJNZ
Issue 15 // December 2014
Keziah t s Jones i t r The A RAYO ADEBOLA
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Afropolitan Vibes
Boj
When Music Finds You RAYO ADEBOLA
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H
e’s not one of those people who started making music when they were little kids or who always knew that music was his path. In fact, Boj says he imagined that he would be a business man or a footballer – something other than a musician. It’s hard to reconcile that with the fact that at 21 he’s achieved so much in the music sector, and all of it over the last few years. Back in 2009 when he tried his hands at making music with a few friends of his in the UK, he had no idea he’d make a career out of it shortly after. “People liked the first song I recorded and said I should carry on,” he says of his choice to become a professional musician. “It was the response from people when they heard it.” Although he’s still in school in the UK, since 2012 he’s divided his time between there and Nigeria in furtherance of his education (audio-engineering) and his music career. “I live a very creative lifestyle, to be honest, and I’m very happy with the progress I’m making,” he says, then adds in that tortured artist way, “It’s just that I haven’t really done as much as I’d like to do.” All I can think is: He’s 21 and making waves, should he even be allowed to say that? Creating Music Boj spends his average day in the studio making music. “I can be in the studio for like 8 hours and not even realise that time is just passing,” he says. “In London, I’m always in the studio. One of my friends has a studio in his house so I’m always there.”
In creating, Boj says, the melody comes to him first, and then the words. “I record my melodies first and then I listen back to it and put words to it,” he explains. “Sometimes the words just come when I’m recording, and sometimes I get help from my producers or anyone in the studio at the time.” As the only child of relatively young parents for 9 years, he grew up listening to Wyclef, Lagbaja, Asa and Fela, and he says that’s where his sound came from. Today, it’s not hard to hear those influences in his voice, his choice of lyrics and melody. That sound is what makes him stand out amongst many others. Despite not setting out to make a career out of music, he seems to have settled on it as his thing, and says: “By God’s grace I’ll still be making music in 20 years, but you never know, anything can happen.” He’s worked with quite a number of Nigerian artistes, but dreams of working with great artists from around the world. At the rate he’s going, it’s very easy to believe that he will conquer the world stage in the years to come. All of his achievements haven’t been without the support of his parents, and of his friends. “My friends are very positive, so they keep me going. They give me advice on how to go about certain situations and stuff,” he says. Being Boj Beyond music, there’s a persona to him. Boj dresses a certain way, has an ease to him that does not seem cultivated – one gets the sense that he’s a free spirit, just being awesome without forcing it. “I’m very laidback,” he says. “I don’t really try to be stylish or whatever. Anything you see it just who I am. I’m just being me.”
BOJ won the award for 'Best Alternative Song' at the 2014 Headies. twitter: @BojDRB >> www.stargazelive.com
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Afropolitan Vibes
Poe
r i a f f a e v o l A musical
P
RAYO ADEBOLA
oe started making music while living in the USA in 2006, and listening to him today one gets the sense of an eclectic artist who blends a fusion of styles to create art that’s uniquely his.
“It’s about the places I’ve been to, and the music I’ve listened to. Nigeria is just rife with influences, for example. I can’t pinpoint one thing,” he says of his musical influences. Music as a Collaboration Poe is one in a set of Nigerian artists – think ShowDemCamp, TemiDollFace, Di’Ja, Boj – who returned to the country over the last few years, and who make amazing, rich music. They all seem to have a relationship that helps grow each other’s art, making music that stands out from what was on ground – you’d as soon dance to it as reflect upon the content. “I don’t necessarily want to be distinguished from any other Nigerian artist, but if people notice that there’s something different about it, they shouldn’t be surprised,” he says, adding, “I care about my music. I think about the music I want to do. I don’t just go into the studio and ‘whatever comes out comes out’. It’s an art form.” Which leads me to ask about his process, using the popular ‘Ko Ye Won’ track as a reference point. “I was very frustrated and I wanted to release music. I was in a very frustrated place. You know, the fact that I rap, it’s more than hiphop but nobody gets that, nobody appreciates that. So, ‘Ko Ye Won’ came about because of that.” He talks about the collaborative process that often births his music, saying “It really depends on the song; sometimes I come up with the hook, and other times someone else does.” “The music industry in Nigeria is a bit chaotic to say the least but at the same time Nigerian music allows you to do a number of things; there are so many different styles here and I think that makes up for the fact that it’s a bit chaotic in terms of distribution and all.” 10
Issue 15 // December 2014
Music as a love affair “They say if you fall in love with music, it’s a long term love affair,” Poe says to me as he explains his choice to get a Master’s degree in Business Administration, even after he decided to face music as a career. “Sometimes, certain things are taken out of your hand. It’s not really up to you anymore, it just happens. That’s the thing with music – once you’ve started there’s no real turning back. At the end of the day, your MBA is meant to assist with whatever you do in life and so it’s not wasted.” He adds that when he’s no longer at the forefront, able to create anymore, he intends to get into the business-side of music. “Ultimately, I would like to play a role in that. After you’re not able to create anymore, being in the background can be just as exciting.” Music as a body of works There’s been a lot of talk about T.A.P ‘Talk About Poe’ and he tells me what the project is about. “There’s a constant influx of good music and it’s about bringing the conversation to things like that. Rap is not just married to hiphop, it goes to so many other things and I think T.A.P is going to explore that. Besides rap, Poe also makes music across genres and he says his E.P will reveal a variety of sounds. “Now I really feel great about hiphop but I also love the highlife palmwine music. There’s so much that appeals to me – it’s like Fela’s philosophy about women. I love so many genres and I’m not confined to one.” Besides the T.A.P EP, Poe is also working on singles, and says by the first quarter of next year there should be a new project.
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Twitter: @LadiPoe
Afropolitan Vibes
Kaline
Doing things her own way RAYO ADEBOLA 12
Issue 15 // December 2014
A
t the age of 5, Kaline started playing the piano and went on to receive classical training for several years. She later learned to play the violin and then received vocal training, but it wasn’t until she was 13 that she wrote her first song for a school music project. “Since then I’ve been writing songs almost every day. It wasn’t until I started applying to universities that I realized that a music career could be an option,” she says. Although her parents didn’t want any of that, after 3 years towards gaining a BSc in Business Management at Imperial College, London, Kaline went on to Berklee College of Music to study Film Scoring. “Within my first year there, I was 100% sure that I needed to perfect my talent and share it with the world.” She hasn’t looked back since. Besides receiving training, she was also influenced by other artists. “My biggest influence and all-time favourite musician is Michael Jackson. Although you may not hear/see a lot of him in my music or stage craft, my harmonic repertoire and attention to detail as well as lyrical depth stems from listening to him endlessly when I was much younger,” she says. “Stevie Wonder comes a very close second and I especially love the delicacy of Corinne Bailey Rae’s voice and poise. I also listen to quite a bit of classical music and film music while I write. Other influences include Fela, Lagbaja, Prince, Asa, Lianne La Havas and Earth, Wind & Fire.” Afrosoul Kaline describes her music as Afrosoul, saying that it seemed like the easiest ‘box’ to place her style in --that people could automatically relate to. “Although I don’t think I really fit into one particular genre. Music consumption has become so rapid due to our sharing culture via the internet so I am forced to be influenced by so many different kinds of music and have the choice to decide what to make reference to in my compositions,” she adds. “I usually start with lyrics. I have a whole stash of lyrical ideas that are waiting to be put to music. It’s interesting because the outcome is different depending on my method. If I sit in front of the piano and roll out some chords, the song layout will be different as opposed if I started with the lyrics or with a beat. As a songwriter, I enjoy coming up
Twitter: @KalineA
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with new ways of saying things and emphasizing stages of our lives that we all go through on a daily basis. I love to make things relatable yet also have a message. It’s important for me to have a message that brings out positive feelings of inspiration and empowerment and change.” Kaline spends about 5-6 hours practicing the piano or working on her vocals every day, and says that she is constantly writing. She ladds that she takes dance classes a couple of times a week, excluding the outbursts of dance moves she does in front of her mirror in my room when no one is watching. Kaline believes that making music is the best way she can honour God’s gift to her, and she uses her gift to effect change in the world. “I got an email very recently from a young lady who heard a song I recently released called ‘Bring Them Home’ (creating awareness for the Chibok girls’ story). She mentioned that she had heard it and wanted to let me know that I have inspired her to take action and lend her voice to the cause,” she narrates. “It means so much to me when people say I have helped them in some way or that I have inspired them to achieve their own goals because I am pursuing mine. With my gift, I aim to remind us all how important it is to be true to ourselves. Focus less on comparisons and competition and focus more on individual purpose and path.” Gaining a Foothold in Nigeria A lot of women in the Nigerian music industry describe the industry as tough, often talking about the need to work many times as hard as their male counterparts. “It used to be frustrating but now it is wonderful,” Kaline says. “I love being unique, I love being me, I love having faith in what I am doing knowing that it is truly genuine and from the heart. It helps me continue to stay in my lane and work hard towards greatness. Sometimes it is difficult when people don’t take you seriously especially in a maledominated industry such as this but that just makes me want to prove myself even more – not as a woman, as a talented musician who just happens to be a woman. There is tons of space for everyone as long as we ‘chase’ the right thing.” Although it’s still a growing alternative audience here in Nigeria, Kaline finds that despite what is said about our appetite for loud danceable music, she still has sold-out shows and a growing number of followers. She adds that she is grateful for the many platforms that have been opened to her. “I want to thank Ade Bantu and Afropolitan Vibes for creating such an amazing platform for all kinds of musicians.”
www.kalineofficial.com
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NOVEMBER 2014 Edition
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Afropolitan Vibes
Issue 15 // December 2014
Afropolitan Vibes
Issue 15 // December 2014
Afropolitan Vibes