5 questions for Seun Olota

He has carved out a niche in several spaces including dance, club, hymnal, choral and therapeutic music, and plays string, percussion, brass and woodwind instruments.

He performed at the 2018 ACCES event in Nairobi, Kenya. Below, we share excerpts from an interview the artist granted Music In Africa.

1. MUSIC IN AFRICA: What do you think about Afrobeat today?

SEUN OLOTA: The world has no choice than to accept what is good, but must a foreign stamp or endorsement be imprinted on our thing before we start valuing it?

It’s similar to the by-chance attention that Adetutu the Nigerian model with tribal marks got from her push through to Rihanna. Her story is buzzing the net now due to some foreign attention and suddenly our people are beginning to want to embrace her. Foreign products are primed above ours even when it is illogical and not befitting us.

I once learnt that before any unit or fraction of funds leaves a community, it must pass through at least five of its people. I believe that Africans should have this mindset of patronising, promoting and protecting their own enterprises and products, or what is ours will be resold to us at a higher price.

However, there have been Afrobeat and recently the Afrobeats cliché. The recent Nigerian pop being called Afrobeats [sigh] is great. But there shouldn’t be a mix-up between a musician and an artist. Longevity and the test of time separate the boys from the men.

Wole Bucknor, Orlando Julius, Fela Kuti and a host of others reacted to the clamour of the black movement, colonial resistance and the need to project the African identity in the '60s and '70s. The music movement and development at these times were also stirred in the theatre such that nationalistic, and the pan-Africanist movements began to take shape. Yusuf Grillo, Bruce Onabrakpeya, the Zaria Rebels and a host of others fronted that in the art movement while Hubert Ogunde, Duro Ladipio, Moses Olaiya and the second generation with academic backgrounds like Wole Soyinka, Femi Osofisan and others fronted theirs in the theatre and literary works.

2. Do you sometimes think you should make pop music?

I have a tough skin in terms of what kind of sound to do. I mean, can one just thrash years of toil and study overnight for a quick fix? My training and study will just not allow me to veer off. I have always been clear about the direction to tread and even if it falls within what is called pop today, it will not be a cheap game.

Although, it can be tough for musicians in this clime particularly as the idea of early music exposure in schools and basic music knowledge of the general public is low and almost getting grounded.

3. What does your music represent?

My music represents communication for development (C4D). I am in for sensitisation, advocacy, mobilisation, archiving and projecting the African brand. As a student of cultural studies, creative arts and mass communication, I understand the responsibility shouldered by the arts and artists. Although some artists have exploited this opportunity in the negative direction while some have abused their gifts.

As part of our C4D drive, we ran a weekly music show called the Free Spot Show for four years. We thank our supporter, Freedom Park Lagos, for the platform and the partnership which ran on a modest budget that was more of material contribution and mostly the goodwill of our fans and friends of the park. The intention was to keep the live music scene alive and give other musicians a communal platform for regular jam sessions. We practice for day and night but there are no platforms to express.

4. How were you received at ACCES in Nairobi?

The audience was appreciative in all the shows and venues. An average Kenyan citizen seems to be inclined and exposed to the arts. Exposure to the arts at the elementary school level is important in a society because it is then that people get to understand why they have to pay for the creative artist's service and that his art is not a hobby but a professional career.

The applause came at the appropriate moments and those interested in dancing in a sitting-arrangement venue did so by moving to the extreme sides of the hall. I believe it is vital for the art communities to groom a cultured audience.

5. What is next for Seun Olota? Album? Video? Tour? Performances?

After the 2012 album we came up with a live recording in 2015, then we went into the studio in 2017 for the 2018 ‘Why Worry’ album project. This is the longest recording I have ever done. In fact, the recording engineer at some point gave me a deadline after 12 months that we were still inputting and deleting stuff. 

Tour projects have been initiated here and there and you know, 'Man proposes, God disposes'. We've had plans that have reached the finetuning stages.

I couldn’t honour invites from festivals in Malawi, Tanzania, Senegal, US, Spain, Haiti and the Netherlands in 2018 and we couldn’t get mobility grants nor sponsorships for the trips, so artist mobility has to be eased so that we can do more. There is more that the music industry holds for its practitioners that can be discovered by attending such seminars and music markets like the ACCES event.