Orits Wiliki: Contents of Most Afrobeats Musicians Can’t Stand Test of Time
nobody was making money from them in terms of royalty. What was available was just you going on live shows and all that and it pained me that some of us signed those contracts. But then you see when you think you are smart, you will be smarter. We looked through the clauses and everything in the contract, I saw some of the boggle-traps I told them I do not agree with some. There was an addendum to my own contract. So by the time I told them we should leave or we should cancel the contract they told me I should realise they own and control my works for the next 25years and until its 25 years, I can’t do any business with my business. So I was patience until it was 27 years and I told them I want my job returned back to me since they couldn’t give account. They said no they owe it for life that there’s a clause in the contract that talks about perpetuity. Eventually we went to court and I won them and I was awarded damages. They also have sent us an appeal which we are not afraid to follow because we know they are going to end up with the same result because of the inconsistency in the contract. So, some of us do all of these things you can imagine the story I’m telling you now. When you now see younger ones who are so blessed and talented where do they go to? Nowhere. Our own label that we also have here how much capital do we have to actually push? In our days with N1.5 million, to N2 million you can cover the whole Nigeria with promo. But now I can assure you that N10 million it’s not enough for Lagos State alone. So it’s a tough time for upcoming ones. But thank God for the internet. The internet helps you to express yourself. It is when you have proven yourself online that somebody will be interested in you. All these are the things I’m doing. And like I said I just released two artists and I’m also helping to push. That’s why I said everything is new.
On the issue of the court judgment, certain amount of money was awarded to you?
In a way, you were not satisfied with the N50 million?
I am not satisfied. The reason I’m not satisfied was because they went above what our agreements were. They knowingly or unknowingly started acting as my publisher. They were publishing my music at different companies abroad and making money. I didn’t know until one of them contacted me directly and said they want to sign me on a particular two tracks, but that Premiere is claiming the ownership of those songs. I said they cannot claim ownership. My contract with them had expired. That’s how I told my contact abroad to go on a research and discover different companies they were selling my products to in hard currency and I’m here, you are not telling me anything. When I put all that together, more facts came, otherwise I would have been asking for N500 million. But then again can they pay N500 million? I don’t think so. The most important thing is to prove a point even if they didn’t award me any money. But to prove to them that yes cannot be a slave master forever. Sometime the slave will also grow up.
Each of your songs comes with a story. Where do you draw inspiration from and you said you have 20 songs in your latest album, can you tell us about some of them?
They are all religious songs actually; they are all gospel, a double album. The primary reason why I went into it was to also continue the message where my father stopped and in doing that, I continue to rely on the word of God. My inspiration comes from two major points: God the creator of the Heavens and of the Earth and everything therein and secondly, I hate oppression. I hate poverty. Anytime I see anybody oppressed it is like you put my spirit in the mood of writing, especially when it comes to Nigeria where we are experiencing injustice every day; police brutality, political robbery, political looting and all that. And then you begin to wonder. Some time I just said, ok if we bring Americans, if we can strike a deal with us and say ok Joe Biden, we want you guys to come and take over Nigeria, while we move to America. I’m sure they will be happy for it; they will be happy because they know that in 10 years if they are here they would do better with what we have here and if we go there in two years, we will be worse because the level of greed and corruption in our system is something else. So, you begin to look for a better tomorrow. You are looking to a better tomorrow because you have indices to ascertain that. But when there are no indices to even check and project that this country would be better than it is now then we have a problem because every time a new government comes in, people clap their hands and say yes, now we got it. In three months, you begin to miss the previous one you thought was bad. That’s
Orits Wiliki
the way I grew up in this country knowing. That’s why I wrote that song, ‘Is it when I’m dead?’ When are those better days coming? So my head is filled with writing all the time because I see things and it hurt badly because I cannot do much. This generation has their eyes but they don’t see; they have their ears but they can’t hear. So, were they that crucified Jesus not knowing what they were doing. When I look at everything around me it put my mind in the state of writing all the time because we are really passing through hard times.
So, the new album? This album is actually gospel afro. And when six years ago I decided to just go gospel, but still reggae, some people were like gospel? I said yes, I have been playing gospel all the time but because its reggae, some of you are biased. You don’t care to listen to what I’m saying. Yes, I’m a pan-Africanist, I’m a revolutionist, I am also a gospel artist. So, if you listen to all my songs: From Conqueror to Tribulation, they are all gospel. So, I read the bible very well. And that is my power. This album is like emphasising that all you have been hearing me play was reggae music but gospel. Spiritually motivated songs and sometimes when I perform them I do ministration and move from church to church. When I perform you see people are moved spiritually.
What do you think about the quality of music we have today and can you do a comparison between Afrobeats and reggae?
You cannot compare them because both of them have different blood, but one soul. It’s like comparing your own children. Reggae did so much for the youth when it was given the adequate publicity. What you have at the moment is a systemic problem because they don’t get to play enough of the reggae music. Wehavesomanygoodreggaemusicaroundbecause when we go on tour, they play and they perform you would wonder how you wish these children could have some of the opportunities that we artist had. That’s the reggae artists. They are so many lying down in radio houses and TV houses.
Some of have even argued that reggae music is dead?
No! Reggae cannot die. Reggae has also evolved too. Reggae music as you knew it as the traditional root-rock reggae music has metamorphosed into a different style and pattern which is hip-pop. If you listened to Bob Marley, you would see that in his late days, his tempo had fastened up. It was changing with time as well and was no longer the slow groove music that he used to play. It had to move with the time. And so reggae music has also metamorphosed into hip-pop. They have a very close culture. The only different is that where one is highly spiritual, the other one is highly protesting. Hip-pop is for protest; it’s protest music. So, our way of life might seem the same but they are not actually the same. When you say reggae is dead, no, reggae is not dead. It is existing in another new life; in another new body. But afrobeats, when they continue to say afrobeat and afrobeats I laugh. I laugh because afrobeat is one. Afrobeats is afrobeat as produced by Fela Anikulapo-kuti. He is the originator of that music, you understand. Yes, kudos to our children who have been able to research into that kind of music and came up with new beat. I give kudos to them for being able to do that. But you now look at the contents. The contents are not contents that you may think would stand the test of time. And that is why if you go and play ‘Tribulation’, my song I released over 30 years ago, its talking about now. And some of the youths I asked one the other day, how will you explain to your grandchild when you are age 90 years, when your grandchildren are flocking around you and they say ‘daddy, what were you saying in this your song then? Will you be able to feel comfortably to talk about boobs, pants, you know booty, drugs and dollars to your children? Whatever you are doing now is just for the time. It’s not something I think will last till such moment. People like Davido are a little different. If you listen to Davido’s music it’s more of culture, heritage. From the percussions to what he will sing about he is a little more philosophical than a lot of the others. A lot of the others are just talking anything once the beat is there, it’s okay. And I also project that he (Davido) will last longer than all of them because he has originality.
What about your assessment of the likes of Burna Boy, Wizkid and the quality of their music?
Burna Boy is very creative. He can make something out of nothing. I will give it to him he’s versatile. It takes a creative mind to do some of the things he’s doing. You will see that he takes a little flip from here and he will turn it to something else. For me, I would not see much originality like I would see in Davido for example. So that’s how I differentiate them. Wizkid he’s also very good in his own style you know. But you see Wizkid is more like wanting to be in the eyes of the global media. So he’s pushing himself more to the international audience and in doing that, he loses some of the values of the traditional thing that we have here, you understand, because he’s working towards the projection and acceptability of these people. By doing that, you will forget the ingredients, the elements that reflect in the music. All in all, they are all brilliant. I love them all.
Considering the perception that reggae is dead. What kind of support do you think should be given to reggae?
Give them airplay. Because when we had good airplay, there was not much cultism in the system and they were not going into drugs like you see now. It was not so in our days because we had healthy contents. If you preach violence on our airwaves now if all the radio stations decide to play violence-motivating songs for three months you will see what will happen. It is the media that controls what the youth react to. Today, if you don’t have money they are not going to play your songs.
With what you see in the industry today, do you have any regret taking up music as a career?
No. I will do it over again and over again because we went into the profession not because of money. First is the calling. When you have a calling that makes you happy, a calling that you know if you are doing this thing you are doing it with joy, you are passionate about it, then money becomes secondary. But one good thing about music is that if you don’t make the money now, don’t cry, the money is somewhere, don’t stop, continue to work. Bob Marley died with over four million pounds in his account and one year after, it rose significantly to over $750 million. Fela, when he was alive some were mocking him. But the day Fela died, the following year, you saw what happened? Did you see the millions that rolled in? That is the life of musicians and music. So, you never really die. When you stop working, the works that you had, people like Rex Lawson, IK Dairo, they are still making good money today through their foreign repertoire. For you to get discouraged because you are not making the money now, then you didn’t have the calling. If you have the calling, you will continue to work. You met working in the studio. I’m still working. Bob Marley did something that I really love and I emulate him and I’m copying that. Bob Marley, 10 years after he died they were still releasing his jobs as if he was still alive. I want to beat that record. I want to be able to lease my job even 20 years after, like I’m still here. So, just keep recording.
So in a way you have so many songs recorded but unreleased?
Like how many songs at the moment? As I’m sitting down here I have not less than 100 songs I have not even constructed the lyrics. I have 150 and I have released over 160 songs (the new album inclusive). So I will continue to pile my archive.
You did mention of Bob Marley earning more afterdeath.Thathastodowithroyalties.Compared to what we have here in our country do artists really get royalties because a couple of times we see some of them here struggling to make ends meet?
Yes, they do get. Don’t forget I’m also the chairman of the Musical Copyright Society of Nigeria (MCSN), that was why I never relegate fighting for this particular structure to begotten. It took us nearly over 20 years fighting, going to court and that, getting intimidated at a time by the regulatory body. But we said no. this is our lives, this is our right. It is called intellectual property. It’s my right. I can decide to give it to a dog to manage. I can decide to give it to a monkey to manage. The government doesn’t have any role. It’s just like when I build my estate. If build my estates, the government mustn’t come to me to decide who to give it to manage. No, they have no right. It’s me that would decide. And that’s why we told them they should liberalise the industry. Just having one society doesn’t give us a choice. And they thought otherwise. This was a battle we fought. But thank God, it’s all over now. Structures are falling place and I know that given what we are putting on ground now, in the next five years, artist should be getting their cheques like you get abroad every quarter. Last year we distributed not less than N5.7 million among all the artists, even though its small. Like this year we want to be able to do more. If we have the structures working well and everybody getting his cheque quarterly, why will you have a problem of taking care of yourself? And we are not talking of just Nigeria. Anywhere your job is played outside the shores of this country, MCSN is there to pick up your money for you.
Which among your contemporaries are you closed to and how do you draw inspiration from each other?
My contemporaries, some of them are dead. From Majek, I worked in Majek’s album, the very first one. I worked in Ras Kimono’s album. I worked in Alex O’s album. I worked in Isaac Black’s album. I worked with almost all of them; Chris Mba and the rest. Every one of them has had a bit of me in their music, either co-producing or co-arranging or arranging the percussions and all of that. So, I am very close to almost all of them. And that’s why they call me Pupa. But I was closest to Ras Kimono than the rest. So that’s why they call us Siamese twins. So we really were very close and his death affected me a lot.
What would you like to be remembered for? I want to be remembered for somebody who fought the system without attracting violence through music. Music is more powerful than the bullet. Music is more powerful than the sword. You can use music for whichever way you want to use it; positively or negatively. Today, music is used as a therapy for healing in the civilised word. You don’t use needle because music is played in a particular realm. The chords, interpretation, are in particular different realms. If I want to sing about love, I need to employ those chords to express the words. When you marry them together, it must touch your heart. I can make you cry. I can make you so emotionally that you begin to wonder. You will be so neck deep in listening to what I’m saying. There are some dangerous songs you can write and put in the perfect words people will hear it and they would want to pick up. In the bible when there was Canaan war in Jericho you realized there was no gunshot, no sword, it was just music. Just trumpet and the walls of Jericho came down and the people ran away and then Israel took over. So music can be used for a lot of other things. I want to be remembered as one who used music to attack the system without employing violence.