Beautiful Nubia

thumb Beautiful Nubia is the performing name for Segun Akinlolu (born 11 November 1968), a Nigerian-born songwriter, music composer and band leader. Quotes There isn’t anything specifically different – we are still using the same mix of instruments to present these traditional rhythms. Our music is multifaceted and continuously evolving so it is possible to hear slight variation from album to album, which is a good and positive thing. That way you don’t become too predictable and boring. Our music is art on a journey – it is not a short trip – we are not in the business of producing those instant hits that fade within a short period. This kind of music slowly seeps into people’s consciousness and the kind of change it preaches is one that takes a while to manifest. Some of the messages are not that palatable to many people and it will take prolonged listening or a special reflective moment in time for their minds to be tuned in. The messages are reaching the people through all possible avenues; the results, however, may take a while to become evident. Our job is to keep those messages coming. In our traditional culture every man is his brother’s keeper, every woman is the mother of all and the child belongs to the community. You’re only childless if you wish to take up that title and mire your soul in despondency. If you make your life a blessing to the community, and at your passing, people come out to celebrate their common loss – that is when you can claim to have been a mother. Of course, Africa and Africans will ultimately be free of these shackles. It has been more than 400 years of subjugation and carefully orchestrated retardation by the continent’s external and internal abusers, so the change cannot just be in an instant. We have to keep talking to the people, to the young, to the children, re-orientating their minds, re-focusing their energies and getting them to return to a state of spiritual and physical fullness. Then, slowly, we shall see the wheels of true growth and development turn. The pendulum has swung so far the other way that it is hard to see the possibility of light at the end of this tunnel, but we shall keep talking and keep pushing these messages. A generation is coming that will eventually, totally, throw off these chains and emerge into a new dawn of development and real progress. Our music, as I always say, is a tool of mass sensitization, and we are not just opportunistic jingoists chanting leftist slogans in order to gain fame and money. I am a realist – I know that I may not live to see the changes, but there are already many who will pick up the baton and keep the work going until we achieve that true state of liberation. Yes, a revolution of the mind – in every individual and every home until the community is cleansed, consumed by a spirit of renewal and then explodes into a bright dawn, a new beginning, the birth or re-emergence of a land where those who truly deserve honour are rewarded for their hardwork, honesty, dedication, good neighbourliness and selfless service to the community. It will happen – it may take a while to manifest – but it will surely happen. As in many of our songs, we are just trying to embolden the people to stand up for their rights when trampled upon, and to demand truth, honest service and accountability from their so-called leaders. In ‘Osomaalo’, we employ the parable of the itinerant Ijesha merchant who refuses to leave the doorway to a debtor’s house until he is paid for his wares. In some of our songs, we take the direct approach and lay the words out simply but, in other cases, we play around with proverbs, parables, little stories that take you in a different direction only to bring you back to a stream of thought ending in the real message within the song. Martha is a product of my mind: perhaps I’d caught a glimpse of her in her little house by the sea somewhere; perhaps I created her for a story that I never wrote; perhaps she came to me in a dream – I have no idea. One day I am just sitting in this empty park playing with my son and this song pops into my head – all the words, the rhythm and the melody (the same way “Seven Lives” came to me in 1989). I rush home to put it down quickly. The urge to record it is strong, and when I falter, Martha’s spirit, following me around, insists, “You must sing it, sing it”. So I did. Every true artist is a blessing to society, a conduit through which the ancestors speak to us and guide us. Through them the past is recalled for our correction or upliftment, and through their works the future is foretold and outlined in brilliant colours. I feel blessed to have been chosen for this work. Nothing in the Beautiful Nubia story has been invented for commercial gain, everything has evolved from a natural gift, carefully nurtured and honed and then, through some most difficult circumstances, packaged and expressed for the enjoyment and enrichment of us all. It has been a tough journey, and the struggle continues to this moment, but I knew what I was going into once I decided to sidestep a thriving and promising career in vet medicine for art music. I never set out to be a culture activist or anything like that. I just had this strong drive to put to use the natural gifts of songwriting and poetry that I was blessed with from birth, to use this medium to provide joy, and perhaps guidance, to those who choose to listen to me. In normal conversation, I speak the two languages I am fluent in – Yoruba and English – and I also sometimes employ the peculiar Nigerian pidgin. And when I write my songs, I just do the same. A lot of my English songs are poems employing all sorts of literary techniques and those heavy, ancient-sounding Yoruba words come from a place I do not know. I get a rhythm or melody, I squeeze out the words from my mind, and then I start to bend and blend all the elements until I sense that a fluidity has been achieved. Now I am tagged a conservator of language, a culture activist, a custodian of tradition…those are heavy labels. I thank everyone for the honour but I am just doing the job I was sent to do and the challenges I have faced, and still continue to face, are just a part of the trip. The biggest pleasure for me is in seeing the variety of people who buy our music – folks from all walks of life! And it is the same at our live concerts – I particularly love seeing the children and the youth. You go to all these universities and colleges, hundreds (and sometimes thousands) of these young, trendy folks turn out to sing our songs word for word and dance with total abandon – that is always a moment of immense fulfillment. External links Category:Living people Category:1968 births Category:Nigerian musicians