MOBO award winning rapper Akala who was in the country for the Shoko International Spoken Word and Hip-Hop festival last month (September 21 to September 24, 2011) had a one on one with Zimbo Jam and shared his thoughts on Zimbabwe, its people and the music.
ZJ: Your experiences from the first day you landed in Zimbabwe?
Akala: The people are so welcoming here. I went to Great Zimbabwe which is incredible. Then I gave some talks for the young people. It’s been great. My experiences so far are very good.
^ International Hip Hop artist Akala at a press briefing during the Shoko International Spoken Word festival.
ZJ: So what intrigued you about Great Zimbabwe?
Akala: Great Zimbabwe has always intrigued me. I actually made a study of the place when I was still in the UK. I have studied African history, Egypt and the Pyramids, Zimbabwe and Great Zimbabwe. I looked at photos before I arrived here but it was far more impressive to see Great Zimbabwe upfront. When we went on top of those mountains and saw the view it was very impressive.
ZJ: What about the discussions you have had with the youth?
Akala: I see that the issues here are the same as the issues everywhere else in the world. There are the issues of class, identity, dreams. It’s the same kind of struggles that you expect from young people all around the world.
ZJ: Can you share some contrasts that you see between the culture in the UK and that of Zimbabwe?
Akala: It’s a completely different culture. In London there are many different cultural groups including thousands of people from Zimbabwe. All of these different identities contribute to the identity of London and the identity of London is very different to the identity of England as a whole so London’s identity is the international identity.
ZJ: Have you heard any Zimbabwean music?
Akala: Yes, there was a performance from a marimba group and I saw some traditional Zimbabwean dance.
ZJ: Did you know of any Zimbabwean artists before you came here?
Akala: Yeah there were one or two Zimbabwean artists whose names I saw on a list and I wanted to see them perform in the flesh. Usually when you learn about an artist is after having seeing them perform live.
ZJ: Any song from a Zimbabwean artist that you have heard of before you were invited to Shoko?
Akala: No!
ZJ: Is Zimbabwean music valued in the UK?
Akala: Music outside the UK and Germany struggles to be heard. In the UK you have some individual African artists particularly from Mali and some other countries like Sailif Keita and some from West Africa who have made it big in the UK, such as Hugh Masekela, and Miriam Makeba. However at the moment there is no artist of that stature who can occupy the space that these guys occupied before.
ZJ: Have you heard of Bkay and Kazz?
Akala: I know the name but I don’t know the music.
ZJ: Are you planning to collaborate with any artists from here in Zimbabwe?
Akala: I haven’t collaborated so far but there is a young MC who was working with some other young Zimbabwean MCs that I met. His name is Steve Bhiko he was very good. I would like to do a track with him before I leave.
ZJ: Any trade secrets you can share with aspiring artists who want to make it big in the music industry?
Akala: I don’t think there is anyone who has any secrets about their success. I think for me the main thing is to be true to yourself. Some people can make one good pop song and they go on radio, they go on TV, everyone knows them and this is fine. For me this has not been my journey. I have made three albums over a long period of time. I have done so many shows and slowly but surely I have gained a reputation by making quality music and this is how I have built my following. I would say to young artists if you want to build your career I think that’s the way to go.
ZJ: What challenges have you faced during your music career?
Akala: Everything, like trying to get my songs on radio, trying to get my music on TV, trying to get myself to the fans because when I first came out in 2004-2005 we didn’t have You-Tube yet, no My Space and no Twitter and Facebook. These things have made it a lot easier but when I came onto the music scene it was a lot more difficult.
ZJ: In your own perception, what role does Hip-Hop play in shaping the youth?
Akala: It takes many different roles depending on what type of Hip-Hop the young people are listening to and we have all different types of Hip-Hop depending on what kind of young person you are, what environment you live in, decisions you make when you are listening to a particular song and how it helps you uplift yourself and get more knowledge.
ZJ: A lot has been said about Hip-Hop to an extent that it has been linked to Satanism, what’s your say about this?
Akala: I think that is a little bit silly. I think that one has to look deeper. You can’t just take five videos on MTV and make that a whole representation of the Hip-Hop culture. I think we also have to be careful about propaganda sometimes.
ZJ: Any parental guidance on your music?
Akala: Yes there was in my early stuff because I used to swear a lot and my music was a bit negative even today apart from my last album.
ZJ: What’s the main theme of your music?
Akala: Its political, I mostly sing political stuff, the world, the politics, politics of ways, class, gender, nation, colonialism, imperialism, this is the kind of topics I like to do.
ZJ: Have you faced any negative challenges from your government because of your music?
Akala: No I think the UK is different from other countries. That’s what I was saying to the people yesterday that UK has problems but not problems like in some other countries. UK is quite stable and the government doesn’t need to fear the musician.
ZJ: What problems have you discovered in local artists that you have met so far?
Akala: Issues of originality. A very long time ago in the UK we used to copy America, raping about American scenes, cars and in Zimbabwe I see a mixture. Some are original but I think one has to be original where nobody is copying America. You can be influenced and you can like American Hip-Hop but this not America this Zimbabwe.
ZJ: What are you going to tell everyone back in the UK about Zimbabwe?
Akala: Well Zimbabwe is a great country with amazing people. Everybody likes to talk about the government of different countries you know but really the government is not the people, the people is the people and for me having the Zimbabwean people sharing their experiences with me is an inspiration to me.
From Zimbo Jam by Anozivashe Shumba
ZJ: Your experiences from the first day you landed in Zimbabwe?
Akala: The people are so welcoming here. I went to Great Zimbabwe which is incredible. Then I gave some talks for the young people. It’s been great. My experiences so far are very good.
^ International Hip Hop artist Akala at a press briefing during the Shoko International Spoken Word festival.
ZJ: So what intrigued you about Great Zimbabwe?
Akala: Great Zimbabwe has always intrigued me. I actually made a study of the place when I was still in the UK. I have studied African history, Egypt and the Pyramids, Zimbabwe and Great Zimbabwe. I looked at photos before I arrived here but it was far more impressive to see Great Zimbabwe upfront. When we went on top of those mountains and saw the view it was very impressive.
ZJ: What about the discussions you have had with the youth?
Akala: I see that the issues here are the same as the issues everywhere else in the world. There are the issues of class, identity, dreams. It’s the same kind of struggles that you expect from young people all around the world.
ZJ: Can you share some contrasts that you see between the culture in the UK and that of Zimbabwe?
Akala: It’s a completely different culture. In London there are many different cultural groups including thousands of people from Zimbabwe. All of these different identities contribute to the identity of London and the identity of London is very different to the identity of England as a whole so London’s identity is the international identity.
ZJ: Have you heard any Zimbabwean music?
Akala: Yes, there was a performance from a marimba group and I saw some traditional Zimbabwean dance.
ZJ: Did you know of any Zimbabwean artists before you came here?
Akala: Yeah there were one or two Zimbabwean artists whose names I saw on a list and I wanted to see them perform in the flesh. Usually when you learn about an artist is after having seeing them perform live.
ZJ: Any song from a Zimbabwean artist that you have heard of before you were invited to Shoko?
Akala: No!
ZJ: Is Zimbabwean music valued in the UK?
Akala: Music outside the UK and Germany struggles to be heard. In the UK you have some individual African artists particularly from Mali and some other countries like Sailif Keita and some from West Africa who have made it big in the UK, such as Hugh Masekela, and Miriam Makeba. However at the moment there is no artist of that stature who can occupy the space that these guys occupied before.
ZJ: Have you heard of Bkay and Kazz?
Akala: I know the name but I don’t know the music.
ZJ: Are you planning to collaborate with any artists from here in Zimbabwe?
Akala: I haven’t collaborated so far but there is a young MC who was working with some other young Zimbabwean MCs that I met. His name is Steve Bhiko he was very good. I would like to do a track with him before I leave.
ZJ: Any trade secrets you can share with aspiring artists who want to make it big in the music industry?
Akala: I don’t think there is anyone who has any secrets about their success. I think for me the main thing is to be true to yourself. Some people can make one good pop song and they go on radio, they go on TV, everyone knows them and this is fine. For me this has not been my journey. I have made three albums over a long period of time. I have done so many shows and slowly but surely I have gained a reputation by making quality music and this is how I have built my following. I would say to young artists if you want to build your career I think that’s the way to go.
ZJ: What challenges have you faced during your music career?
Akala: Everything, like trying to get my songs on radio, trying to get my music on TV, trying to get myself to the fans because when I first came out in 2004-2005 we didn’t have You-Tube yet, no My Space and no Twitter and Facebook. These things have made it a lot easier but when I came onto the music scene it was a lot more difficult.
ZJ: In your own perception, what role does Hip-Hop play in shaping the youth?
Akala: It takes many different roles depending on what type of Hip-Hop the young people are listening to and we have all different types of Hip-Hop depending on what kind of young person you are, what environment you live in, decisions you make when you are listening to a particular song and how it helps you uplift yourself and get more knowledge.
ZJ: A lot has been said about Hip-Hop to an extent that it has been linked to Satanism, what’s your say about this?
Akala: I think that is a little bit silly. I think that one has to look deeper. You can’t just take five videos on MTV and make that a whole representation of the Hip-Hop culture. I think we also have to be careful about propaganda sometimes.
ZJ: Any parental guidance on your music?
Akala: Yes there was in my early stuff because I used to swear a lot and my music was a bit negative even today apart from my last album.
ZJ: What’s the main theme of your music?
Akala: Its political, I mostly sing political stuff, the world, the politics, politics of ways, class, gender, nation, colonialism, imperialism, this is the kind of topics I like to do.
ZJ: Have you faced any negative challenges from your government because of your music?
Akala: No I think the UK is different from other countries. That’s what I was saying to the people yesterday that UK has problems but not problems like in some other countries. UK is quite stable and the government doesn’t need to fear the musician.
ZJ: What problems have you discovered in local artists that you have met so far?
Akala: Issues of originality. A very long time ago in the UK we used to copy America, raping about American scenes, cars and in Zimbabwe I see a mixture. Some are original but I think one has to be original where nobody is copying America. You can be influenced and you can like American Hip-Hop but this not America this Zimbabwe.
ZJ: What are you going to tell everyone back in the UK about Zimbabwe?
Akala: Well Zimbabwe is a great country with amazing people. Everybody likes to talk about the government of different countries you know but really the government is not the people, the people is the people and for me having the Zimbabwean people sharing their experiences with me is an inspiration to me.
From Zimbo Jam by Anozivashe Shumba
Nice article, I m following this guy and he is very interesting
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