I should have bought a jet by now - Ayuba

Bonsue Fuji exponent, Adewale Ayuba,
speaks on his plans for the music genre
and the challenges ahead in this
interview with JAYNE AUGOYE
One thing that cannot be taken away
from Adewale Ayuba is his Afrocentric
yet modernist approach to music. The
legendary musician, who has about 23
albums to his credit, believes firmly in
the uniqueness of indigenous African
music genres, such as Afrobeat, Highlife,
Fuji and Juju.
Although he is one of the few artistes
with a cross-over appeal, Ayuba says
that one of the high points of his career
is his duet with Jazzman Olofin in 2006.
He was featured in the production of the
latter's hit song, Raise the Roof.
"I was the first fuji artiste to sing with a
Nigerian hip hop artiste. Before then, no
one believed that such collaboration was
possible. When you realise that younger
artistes are taking the shine off the older
musicians, you must look for ways to
collaborate with them in order to remain
relevant," he says.
Eight years after, Ayuba still believes
that any musician of his generation who
wants to remain relevant must learn to
re-invent himself by the day. Although
there is so much competition among
music artistes, the singer is worried
about certain developments in the
industry.
He says, "As far as I am concerned,
Davido O and the likes sing Fuji. The
truth is the music they play is sweeter
than American hip hop and rhythm 'n'
blues. So why call it hip hop? That is why
they cannot enter for the Grammies as
that tag 'hip hop' is limiting.
"They have to rename it 'hip hop Africo'
so that the West will know that it is
Nigerian. Rhythm 'n' blues and hip hop
music in Nigeria is like a candle that will
die soon because there is no door to the
outside world. And any music you can't
take to the outside world is not worth
doing."
To the layman, the average fuji artiste is
a college drop-out or tout. But this
erroneous impression does not bother
Ayuba as much as the quality of music
videos that such artistes churn out.
He says, "Fuji musicians don't spend
money or make out enough time to
shoot good videos. But you can't blame
them for this because they don't believe
it is worth doing, since their songs don't
get enough air play on radio stations.
"Many of the people behind the consoles
at these radio stations are aged between
18 and 23 years. The kind of music they
know and prefer is hip hop. And you
know Nigerians love anything that comes
from the western countries.
"See what happened 10 years ago with
Makossa music. It practically took over
our churches and mosques, though most
fans didn't even understand the
language."
To chart a new course for fuji in Nigeria,
Ayuba plans to give back to a new crop
of talented singers. Having recently set
up a state-of-the-art recording and
editing suite, he intends to shoot free
videos for select fuji singers.
"Since you require as much as N1.5m to
shoot a standard music video, I will help
them by shooting world class videos, as
long as the song is right. They won't be
able to compare the quality of the videos
to the ones that cost a paltry N100, 000
to produce," he reveals.
As far as Ayuba concerned, fulfilment
comes in different forms. But he believes
that the staying power of any artiste
depends on how happy he is.
As a recording artiste, he is contented
with the acclaim he has received from
music fans.
"I am not happy with what the nation is
doing to us. Piracy is killing us. King
Sunny Ade and I should have bought
private jets by now. I can't even release
an album because I know I may not
recover my money," he says.
A director of the Collecting Society of
Nigeria, Ayuba laments that many
artistes are ignorant of the activities of
the body.
He says, "Some of them think it is all
about sharing money. Some don't even
have albums, but they expect to be paid
royalties. Others have dead albums. In
spite of this, COSON still gives between
N30, 000 and N40, 000 annually to
artistes who don't even have albums.
Those who have albums receive
between N500, 000 and N4m every
year."
The artiste, who has avoided getting
entangled in scandals these past years,
speaks glowingly about his wife of many
years.
He says, "I can never be ashamed to talk
about my woman. After God, she is next.
I cherish my home a lot. If you don't
have a settled home, you can't have a
successful career. More so, I believe in
one man, one wife."
Having clinched the two Kora awards in
2005, Ayuba says he has his eyes on
what he calls the bigger picture for now.

Source: The punch