MR DUTCH
KEEPING HIS SOUND FRESH
NIGERIAN musician Mr Dutch has just released his latest single,
Better Soup, which is a taste of his upcoming EP.
One of my very first questions was about the name of the song. Before our interview, I tried figuring out what exactly he was referring to and why he would call a song Better Soup.
Turns out, it’s actually very simple. The name comes from describing an African woman and was inspired by the many edible soups in Nigeria.
“In Eastern Nigeria, better soup is actually a term we use to describe many different things that we think are good. It could be anything: a car, a person and definitely, an actual soup.
“It also means that if you want good things, you have to spend money to get it. In the context of my song, I am saying if you want a beautiful African woman, you have to pay. Buy her fancy things, and make sure you spoil her to get better soup,” he said.
The single is also inspired by the Igbo culture and its genre of high life music.
“Many musicians from the past would say this, so it’s like paying homage to them. In the song, I even say “better soup na money kill em yeah” which is Nigerian Pidgin English”.
The single was recorded in Cape Town, where Mr Dutch is based. The star described the sound of the single as a mix of afro-beats and high life, but also said that he was working towards creating his own unique sound.
“I think a lot of people will associate it with afro-beats which is okay because there are those elements but this single is also me moving into creating my own unique sound, and I think listeners will pick up on that,” he said.
Mr Dutch will be releasing a EP soon.
“For the longest time, I concentrated on my business, which was running my own record label, so I was doing a lot of collaborations. Now I can focus on myself, and release my own music that has its own distinct sound,” he said.
He said that future endeavours would ensure that people understand him better as an artist. “There are a couple of messages my EP will have. I want people to get to know me better, and I want to break some misconceptions people might have.”