Folarin Falana, popularly known by his stage name ‘Falz’, may not be packing out London’s 02 Arena or other global venues, or getting a Grammy, but he is certainly giving Nigerian politicians nightmares while rousing his fanbase to political activism through his music.
‘Mr Yakubu’, Falz’s second official single for 2023, featuring Olanrewaju Ogunmefun, a Nigerian rapper known by his stage name ‘Vector’, caused a remarkable eruption in Nigeria’s political space, dropping just a few days after a highly contentious governorship election.
The song, which has been viewed by 1.2 million people in two weeks, is seen by some as a diss on Yakubu Mahmud, chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) following the conduct of the 2023 general election.
While ‘Mr Yakubu’ may not be Falz’s finest work (fans on social media recently rated his collaboration with Simi on the song ‘Chemistry’ as the hottest song of his career), it is certainly his most provocative and one that drew a rare comment from his father, Femi Falana. According to the popular legal practitioner and activist, Falz’s dye-in-the-wool position on bad governance was from watching his father arrested multiple times as a child.
“One of these guys one day said, ‘Falana, talk to your son; he should stop embarrassing the government’. I said, ‘Which government?’ Do you mean that boy who is an adult? Can I give you his number so you can talk to him? But be careful because when that boy was growing up, I was being arrested from time to time. So, the only language he understood was detention, arrest, and the rest of them,” his father said.
On one of the occasions when his father was arrested, the young Falz – then six years old – went to ask his mother why his father was always being arrested because his teacher had told him only criminals got arrested.
“And the mother had to say that in Nigeria, under the military, only two sets of people were arrested: Criminals suspects and political suspects. Political suspects are those who are out to expose the criminality of the government. That is what you see going on,” Falana, the father, said.
In ‘Mr Yakubu’, there is no equivocation as to who the targets are, as shown by the first verse of the song:
“Mr Yakubu! ẹ ma n se bi (Translation: you are doing like that) fraudster/ You don’t want to prosper/ Come and collect Oscar/ Three hundred billion te gba lọwọ ijọba (Translation: taken from the government)..”
The last line is an obvious reference to the over N300 billion budget INEC received to conduct the elections. BusinessDay has found that the biggest line item on the budget, the BVAS devices, was over-quoted by almost 30 percent. The glitches the devices experienced and the failure of the electoral body to upload the presidential results immediately after voting ended are currently the subject of litigation.
‘Mr Yakubu’ hit quite a note with many young people who took up a challenge to recreate the song in a video. TheMrYakubuChallenge also attracted celebrities who exhibited their singing abilities.
“I have released tons of records that are very confrontational. And I was on the ground. I’m always on the ground when I release these records. It is not to say that I’m running anywhere. Absolutely not. Everyone knows where to find me. If anyone wants to find me. But I have no reason to fear anything. And I always say this when people ask me ‘how do you do these things without any fear of consequences,” Falz said in an interview on Arise TV. His management did not respond to a request for an interview from BusinessDay.
Falz later announced that he would team up with Vector again to release an extended version of ‘Mr Yakubu’ and that the top three entries would feature in his upcoming project.
“I consider Falz and other African musicians singing about social and political issues as following in a long and proud tradition that has the power to galvanize emotion and transform the will of the people to action. I consider Falz, Vector, and others to be activist musicians,” said Samo Onyemelukwe, head of Global Business Development, Trace TV.
Protest music has been around for a long time, going back centuries. According to a Vox report, the songs are usually written to be part of a movement for cultural or political change and to galvanise that movement by drawing people together and inspiring them to take action or reflect.
Protest songs often come in two major categories: politically charged, topical songs taking issue with the government, or culturally focused songs aimed at injustices facing marginalised groups.
The Nigerian music industry has a long tradition of protest and activist music. Long before Fela Anikulapo Ransome-Kuti got the ears of a global audience glued to his brand of afrobeat songs dipped in protest lyrics, Nigerian musicians had been making music meant to address societal ills. Ladipo Solanke, a political activist (1886-1958), used songs written in the Yoruba language to draw people’s attention to the colonial rules that were against the welfare of Nigerian students.
During the Civil War of 1966 to 1973, protest music helped bring the attention of the world to the suffering of people living in the Southeastern region. Highlife, which was the dominant genre in the region, became the vehicle through which musicians passed their message to the world.
Fela’s rebellious afrobeat sound focused on the post-civil war, elected officials and military leaders he accused of corruption and dictatorship. His lyrics took no prisoners in their potency, often bringing in direct confrontation with the military leader. He went to prison several times as a result and his house was torched by alleged government mercenaries.
After the demise of Fela, protest music has continued in different forms. The earliest reggae musicians like Majek Fashek and Ras Kimono popularised the genre in Nigeria leveraging protest songs.
In the 21st century, it has taken a more temperate form, For example, Innocent Ujah Idibia, known by his stage name as ‘2Face Idibia’, has often dabbled between protest songs and entertainment music. ‘E be like say’, one of the tracks in his album Grass 2 Grace released in 2006, raised public sentiment on corruption by elected officials.
But Eedris Abdulkareem, an R&B rapper, attempted to reinvent the confrontational style of Fela with his song ‘Jaga Jaga’ released in 2004. The song put him at loggerheads with then Nigerian president, Olusegun Obasanjo, and he was eventually banned off radio waves because of its supposedly non-gratifying lyrics because they were subject to the goings-on in the country.
Chinagorom Onuoha, known by his stage name ‘African China’, also grew popular in protest songs. His song ‘Mr President’ was also released during the time of President Obasanjo and hammered corruption in the government. Bukola Elemide, known by her stage name ‘Asa’, has been the most outstanding among the female musicians in producing protest songs. She has gone on to perform these songs including ‘Fire on the Mountain’ at high-profile government events where she was invited to perform, sometimes to the consternation of the officials.
“Many artists are visionaries and imagine a better world when they even start out but as they gain popularity and relevance, these types of artists spend more of their capacity thinking about the struggles of the people ahead of their own personal indulgence. They are self-aware and compassionate and consider their popularity a responsibility and therefore aren’t afraid because they know they have the hearts and minds of their audiences. And if they are penalised, they usually don’t back down, they double down,” Onyemelukwe said.
‘Child of the World’, a song Falz released in 2017, was the first time he came close to protest songs. The song highlights the trauma of girls that are sexually abused. Falz took it a notch higher in 2018 with the release of ‘This is Nigeria’, which addresses a number of societal issues prevalent in Nigeria, including police brutality, codeine abuse, and unrestrained killings. His father Falana performed background vocals on the track. The song, which received a lot of accolades, drew the ire of Muslim Rights Concern, which demanded that Falz withdraw the music video or face legal action. His management team said it would not be taken down.
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After releasing two protest songs, ‘Hypocrite’ and ‘E no Finish’, in 2019 where he bemoaned people’s lip service to the rule of law and corruption, in 2020, Falz was marching on the streets with thousands of Nigerian youths for the EndSARS protest, which sought an end to police brutality.
Falz songs are not always for protest or highlighting a social imbalance. Songs like ‘Chemistry’; ‘Soft work’; ‘Bahd Baddo Baddest’ etc, are basically feel-good songs and dance halls.
Experts say music investors do not discriminate when it comes to protest musicians. Fela, who was arrested several times, still got music deals. He was signed by labels such as Polygram which folded into the Universal Music Group.
Falz, however, owns his own music label, Bahd Guys Records, where heproduces his songs. He is an ambassador to a number of corporate organisations including digital investment firm, Bamboo. But the path he has chosen is one many top artists are very hesitant to thread mainly for fear of losing their highest-paying patrons, the politicians.
“Well, right now, Nigerian musicians are focused on glamour, fame, and money, but that is a reflection of our country’s challenges. The fact that music can lift a street kid to a rich superstar is an alluring idea. 20 years ago, parents revolted if their child wanted to be an artist or musician. These days, I constantly get parents and relatives trying to help and sometimes even push their sons and daughters into music,” said Onyemelukwe.
