Seun Kuti | Interview | New EP, ‘African Dreams’
The legendary Seun Kuti has released his new EP with Black Thought, the co-founder and MC of Jimmy Fallon’s The Tonight Show house band The Roots.
The record, titled ‘African Dreams,’ is comprised of three hip-hop remixes of songs from Seun Kuti & Egypt 80’s 2018 Grammy®-nominated Black Times and is produced by Molotov, mixed by Q Million, mastered by Chris Athens, and distributed by AWAL, with album artwork by Oddhouse.
This new album follows Seun Kuti & Egypt 80’s June 24 release of Live at Clout Studios, a two-track EP recorded at the renowned premises of Cool FM 96.9 on Victoria Island in Lagos. It also comes at the end of Seun Kuti & Egypt 80’s whirlwind international tour.
“I play songs live before recording them”
Your latest EP, ‘African Dreams’ is composed of three hip-hop remixes of songs from Seun Kuti & Egypt 80’s 2018 album ‘Black Times’ and is produced by Molotov, mixed by Q Million, mastered by Chris Athens. Would you like to share some words about the writing and recording process for the songs featured on the upcoming EP?
Seun Kuti: The record was made during the pandemic. I had a very big team to make the record and worked behind the scenes. I gotta thank Q Million for mixing and Chris Athens for mastering and to Oddhouse for taking care of graphic design. This was a labour of love for everybody involved. Black Thought as well. I was central to everything… bringing everyone together to create this body of work. We are very proud of it.
Can we expect a new album in the near future?
Yeah, I have been working on my new record during the lockdown. We have very special plans to record it and that’s what we are waiting for right now.
‘Black Times’ seems to have a certain concept behind it. Would you mind elaborate?
Well, I talked about ‘Black Times’ extensively when the album came out four years ago. The basic concept is to tell the global Black story, you know from a revolutionary point of view. I just felt like it was an album for me to tell what I stood for, what I believed in, what I want to do with my music.
Your music is all about the intense presence and energy. How do you see the relationship between the musician and the space where the musician is recording?
Of course playing your songs live is very important. I play songs live before recording them, because it gives me a new dimension of the song. It gives you that thing that you were missing when you were writing the song – which is how people perceive those songs and that also helps you to develop the songs on its way to the studio. The song comes out as a baby and by the time you perform it live, the song is mature and ready.
I’m a huge fan of the Night Dreamer label and I was very pleasantly surprised when you recorded for their Direct-To-Disc series. The recordings sound amazing and they truly reflect the musicianship.
The Night Dreamer project was interesting. We were basically doing a live show as I said before and I enjoyed that very much. You know when in the studio we bring in the big show… you know, everyone was ready.
“I hear a song in my head, I hear sounds in my head and I proceed to turn that sound to a song”
How do you usually approach music making? What’s your creative process?
I still can’t explain the creative process as it’s still a mystery to me as well. But basically I hear a song in my head, I hear sounds in my head and I proceed to turn that sound to a song. That’s the basic way to explain it.
What would you say influenced you the most? Have influences changed during the years?
My Dad is my biggest inspiration, followed by my environment. These are my true biggest inspirations. As a saxophonist, I draw influences from a lot of other musicians as well, like Cannonball Adderley, Grover Washington Jr., John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins, you know this is just when talking about musicianship.
What other musical activities have you undertaken lately?
Well I’ve been recording for other artists lately as well. I’ve been working in the studio making songs with other artists for their own projects.
What are some future plans for you?
I have some future plans in Film TV, so I’m working on doing that as well. Also I can not forget the work I’m doing with Movement of the People, which is my political organisation. We have plans to launch that as well… the future is exciting.
You Father left an incredible legacy behind.
No, I don’t think about legacy when I’m working. I just think about doing the right thing every time I have the opportunity to do something, I want to do the right thing. Those who talk about my legacy will have to do that, it’s not my job to do that… I just want to live a good life and make the right decisions when I can.
Nigeria has such a rich musical history. Do you enjoy finding obscure Nigerian musicians from the past and if so, please share a few records you dig!
I’ve been writing a lot so I normally don’t have the time to look for new music [laughs].
Klemen Breznikar
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