60 seconds with: AFROLOGIC

We caught sight of the Nigerian producer Afrologic at the Frisky Disco event at Treehouse the other night and given that we knew that he had just spent a week recording in the Coke Studio Africa house and that a little bird told us it was his last night in Kenya, we decided to pin him down and conduct a (slightly tipsy) impromptu interview with him.

Given that we could hardly read our notes the next day, we feel that we got quite the lowdown!

Hey, so how are you enjoying Kenya so far:

Hey! Yeah I’m enjoying it just as much as I did in March this year but I haven’t gone out and about nearly enough. I’ve been very busy this past week producing for Coke Studio Africa.

Wow, that must’ve been an amazing experience. Mind me asking how exactly you got selected?

It wasn’t my choice at all, I was referred by Blinky Bill. He was the first producer they ever incorporated in the show.

But why you, was it just a coincidence he referenced you out of all the crop talent in Nigeria?

Well, you’re right, it wasn’t just a coincidence. We had previously met earlier on in the year at Ten Cities held in Nairobi in March. I think the real reason he had put my name out there is because I’m a left field producer.

Which means?

My music productions are not the typical commercial sounds you’d expect from Nigeria. They’re heavily based on my foundations of interest in Afro beat, soul and funk; I call it Afro-funk.

Having worked with several Kenyan artists, what do you think can be done to make our music industry grow further?

I know you’re asking that from the perspective of assuming Nigeria has a music industry and to be honest it doesn’t.

No way!

It’s true! It’s highly uncontrollable and nearly no-one get’s paid in royalties so that means there is no industry. What makes it seem like we have an industry is our creation of scenes. People got tired of listening to foreign music so producers started experimenting and the people requested for that kind of music to be played in the clubs.

If that’s the case, what do you think should be improved in music produced by Kenyan artists?

Kenya needs to track back to it’s own legacies and put it into their music so there is a strong cultural element, you people have such a rich history.

I disagree with that, why can’t musicians just make ‘art’ or in this case, music for music’s sake in such a globalized world?

Because what we have when it comes to the arts is a culture war. Look at South Africa for example, everyone knows about House music, however when they infused it with their own sound with house they’ve become iconic for bringing something new into modern day pop culture. In order to be noticed you need to represent yourself as yourself as much as possible that’s when music from here will be taken seriously.

Then what do you think we need to keep doing?

Keep having venues like Tree-house and events like Frisky Disco where Dj’s or producers can showcase their own eclectic tastes no matter of how big the crowd is. I can assure you nothing like this could ever happen in Lagos, tell me you can’t hear how amazing this music is!

Haha, you don’t have to tell me twice. So to wrap this up, when can we expect to hear your productions with the artists you’ve worked with

Definitely, later this year most likely December for Season 2 of Coke Studio Africa.

 

by Akinyi Nyangoma