The interviewee, a prominent African musician, views his music as a powerful tool and "weapon" to raise awareness about the political and social issues plaguing Africa, particularly the detrimental impact of corrupt leadership and the imposition of foreign systems.
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oh man oh man it's the best thing I've
ever done I think saved man's life oh no
and prove my life it is some chick man
oh if you could make a documentary on
don't want to make documentary on
African music no if you could make one
for good work what do you mean exactly
well if you could make okay suppose
you're the director of a pop show on
Dutch television and you could make
documentary on African music what would
no I probably wouldn't talk for myself
at all you see it's very difficult to
answer cause my music is is it's not for
me to want to protect myself as such I
do project myself because I do play the
music but what I already want to project
is the happenings and the African
continent itself so I've never thought
about one in one is right but African
music make a history of it no I've never
thought about it because my my main my
main preoccupation right now is what is making
making
Africans retrogress so music is only a
very small part of it
exactly see but music is a small part of
it for the same time I consider music to
be effective like a weapon to inform
people you see okay like if I don't play
my music now I won't be sitting here
today to talk about the problems of
Africa so my music is like an attraction
to inform people say yeah it is an
information side of the musical is
important because I'm not really I don't
really care about history ever become
music other people will write that I
prefer other people to write that ok
let's assume you're the man who wants to
play music there has been a few years
that you couldn't play music that you've
been in prison right yes what happened
why I was in prison yeah well the prison
simply because of what I talked about
Africa we silly the African leaders we
have all over Africa today are very
preoccupied with their own personal
development as now richness you know so
it is it is a it is they're committing
crimes against African people and then
on the right persons on the right
but let's be concrete why were you put
in prison it's not because of just a
simple fact that you told the guy
upstairs that he's wrong is it a reason
but what did you say that it was wrong I
said that they're putting us into
bondage they're making us layers the
follow white man's footsteps too much
they don't want to improve Africa as
Africa should be improved they they are
not authentic and they corrupt
how does Africa have to improve our has
to improve by his own methods you see
every race has a reason to be born yeah
the white people have a reason to be
born in Europe
suena born in Europe they create their
own cultures and their own way of life
they have their own God at the worship
in Africa had a reason to be born there
so we have a God we have our gods we
have a mode of worship see when African
doesn't want to understand or
participate in the reason why he was
born and he becomes a failure see so all
the African leaders look up to Europe
for progress okay you cannot know a
white man's things better than the white
man so therefore you cannot intend to
progress at the same level with
man you see Africa has not been able to
contribute its own knowledge to this
understand yeah of course you see so all
these things need to be in the education
system of the African countries the fact
that Africa must unite as one government
must be in the education system in
African countries but these things never happen
happen
steady come to television talk English
talk but what is happening in Europe and
all this man
they talk sometimes about technological
transfer and all this shady see it can
never help Africa see we have to we have
to looking most ourselves that's what
I'm saying
it's your music kind of a tool is a weapon
weapon
yeah to say he's a weapon to say and
it's a weapon to introduce me so I can
yeah you were in you were in prison for
quite a while
18 months yeah that's quite a while and
what do I tell you it didn't change your
life it didn't change my life but it
changed my way of thinking yeah what we
do own okay change another world
really he developed my way of thinking
look I'm very spiritually inclined and
in prison gave me a lot of time to
meditate and think about what this wall
is really about it gives me knowledge
about time you see if anybody tells me
20 years is a long time I will tell him
no because prison has taught me that
time is meaningless unless you want to
understand what time is about coz one
does time what is it what times about
you have to know that there is time for
everything okay but there's 24 hours a
day and there's 31 or 30 days in a month
and there's 365 days in a year it's a
lot of spare time to concentrate on
music and when you're in prison
you can't make any music at all I didn't
think about music in prison oh maybe a
few times some sounds come to my head
but I don't write them down just kidding maybe
maybe
how many some sounds to my head or slice
one sometimes what I did in prison was
not to play games I try not to talk too
much try to remember myself and I just
Prison is supposed to get you bored so
when people go in there they try not to
get bored so I tell myself okay you want
to get bored do you want to make you
want to make me bored okay I'm gonna get
myself bored so that I will not be
afraid to go in next time so I go in
there to understand what boredom is
about so it gives me knowledge about
patience those are the kind of things
prisoners taught me they prepared to go
back again
yeah I'm prepared that's why I'm talking
to you lilies oh yeah I'm really
prepared that's why I'm talking to you
like this if I wasn't prepared I won't
be talking to you either
I'll say I don't want any interviews so
this is a well so-called political
statement as well it is about the
Constitution and this interview is
dangerous for you in Nigeria it is
okay I understand it but I don't feel it
I understand it sure but I I can't feel it
it
yeah I don't know what prison is yes you
can't feel it because you see the
European public I've been deceived a lot
of what is happen in Africa see because
the citizens who really understand where
when they tell me see you have to be
there to know because the situation in
Europe is not a situation in Nigeria in
my country for instance see you have the
European system that you clearly
understand and you walk out but we have
an alien system that guides our minds
which is the European system and our
minds African so that the total
confusion in that country we can
everything so expensive have as foreign
currency for that matter
you know foreign currency problems that
matter in some African countries one
unit dollar is 200 units of that
country's money one to two hundred and ridiculous
ridiculous
that's like in Ghana but do you hate
Europe or do you hate America
no I don't if I hate America you'll only
here you see it is the culture it's it
is not it is it Israel it is European
leadership that causes these things the
citizens don't know really what is
happening in Africa you see for instance
now citizens of Europe should be
informed that British Tatas democracy
America introduced democracy into Africa
it can never be a military rule in
Britain America never they will not
accept it because in their culture they
know that the soldier has his place in
society and everybody understands that
now they bring the same culture to my
people and the soldiers are now ruling
many African countries
and America and Britain mix to toss
business with his governments what this
government cannot be legal governments
because the military governments which
they cannot accept in their countries so
that cannot be fair these are the kind
of things were fighting about Scotia
greatest hero acai for common Karuma no
aside for Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana and
who's dead
he was the first president of Ghana
he was the first to talk the way I'm
talking Africa Africa can be great we're
actually talking a lot about politics
but I'd like to go back to him music
same pop music is the kind of see the
way I started to write my music is like
I was born a colonial boy I went to
colonial school I went to England to
study music and everything then
something changed me completely to see
that I was not playing African music by
the time I started selected work as a
professional as a professional now so he
had to take I to take myself back to my
culture started to read fine books to
read so I started to listen to a lot of
traditional African music try to know
the real history of African music you
know this is my music and after study
that one and I was truly I was play music
music
music just comes to me yeah a lot of
people mentioned you as the number one
African who grew into being an African
rock star and paving a way for artists
such as salif keita
or accountant and lots of others exactly
that's what it is
other way it is I'm still the number one
man in Africa I was true I made a little
sacrifice for that but that is what I
wanted to happen because by the time I
started to play my music I was telling
the press of that time that I become
music was going to be the music of the
future even in Europe yeah you see so I
didn't I don't want to participate in
the madness of commercialism I'd wonder
I didn't want to participate in - of
gimmicks I do not want African music to
belong to the fashion where music comes
and goes because where African music
goes it stays see so I don't know we
don't want to involve ourselves in come
at least I don't want to involve myself
in commercialism so that is what it is
about my music you can't avoid it I
think I can't avoid it
No being a part of I'm avoiding it I
don't get an OK look at this working on
this stuff for instance I didn't have
any toe support all the TEL deals
everything is paid from our fields from
here on that toe hmm you see it's a big
sacrifice for me I would have to bring
my music for information for people to
know because the record companies don't
want to support me ok we made a few
recordings of one of your fellow
musicians such as more accountant what
do you think of him
Oh obviously never come music I'd be any
good work he's good and you Sandor it's
fine and what's your favorite African
band together blasters no they are my favorites
favorites
you see ready in my own kind of
situation I don't comment on musicians
in general see comments about musicians
should come from listener but from the
artist especially Sophie thank you very
much thank you goodbye
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