Fast forward to 2010, and a casual conversation with a Kenyan friend of mine about the group (consequently borrowed his entire Jabali Afrika Collection), soon cemented my love for this unique group with a golden blend of voices and percussion. An interview request email via the band’s website brought me perhaps the quickest response I have from any individual or group I have ever considered highlighting on this blog. Joseck Asikoye, the band’s leader agreed to my request and graciously walked me through a timeline of the group’s rise to international stardom. Jabali Afrika is a dynamic musical quartet made up of individuals who hail from Kenya, Cameroon and Swaziland. Their award-winning, innovative mélange of traditional spirituals and rock-reggae arrangements have made them an attraction at many world music festivals and college concerts worldwide. Below is a distilled version of the many hours of interviewing I held with Joseck.
Thank you for granting me this interview. Can we begin by having you telling us a bit about who Jabali Afrika is?
Jabali afrika is a high energy afro-beat jam band from Kenya with their own unique mixture of african fusion that they call Rootsmusic. Jabali Afrika is an Award winning band that has been touring worldwide; a multi-faceted group with many dimensions in their music. Not only are they accomplished singers and instrumentalists, they are activists and use their music for such meaningful causes.
When we make music we want you not only to dance but also to listen to what we are talking about in the music. We generally tend to make music for people to dance and feel good about, but most of the music is telling a story or highlighting a situation. It is basically edutainment. We gather a lot of our inspiration from musicians like Fela Kuti, Manu Dibango, Osibisa etc, and if you combine all these artistes together that’s what our sound is. To sum it up, it’s like the revolutionary aspect of Fela, the smoothness of Manu Dibango, and the high energy and percussive sound of Osibisa.
What, if anything, has influenced the band’s career the most?
Our tenacity. The music business is a hard road and on any given day, sometimes we simply wanted to give up but we never did because we know we’re good and God wouldn’t have given us these gifts if He didn’t want us to use them. You just have to be creative and continue to find new outlets for what you do.
Do you have any favorites from songs that you’ve written…from the current album Mayosi?
Some are more fun to sing than others but our favorites are the ones that the audiences keep requesting. The favorite songs that we have written on Mayosi are as follows:
Number #1 “Peoples Voice" a song that was banned on radio and T.V. Its’ message was very clear and yet the government got it wrong...It basically said respect the voice of the people through the ballot. It was educating the electorate about the choice they make basically telling them if you plant maize (corn) be ready to harvest maize.
Number #2 "Train To Burma" was about the forefathers who went to fight in the Second World War and never came back. A war they did not understand and when they were taken there they were told they will be bearers only to end up in the battlefield fighting for the colonial masters.
Number # 3 Njelele a song about my Dad’s story when he was going back into the village after retirement. The troubles he went encountered with my uncles trying to resettle in his own farm that the uncles thought was neglected. This is a familiar story to a lot of Africans who migrated from the village in search of opportunity and when they retire and try to get back to the village, they undergo similar challenges including land boundaries etc.
What will surprise your readers to know about Jabali Afrika?
That we are a Hip-Hop Generation that loves hip hop and reggae and are up to date with the cultures, but are strictly rooted on the African vibes.
What’s the biggest obstacle the band has had to overcome?
The biggest obstacle we have encountered is making the adjustment from the African music scene into the western one....When people see African artistes they have this notion that everything African is exotic. Just because we compose music using traditional African instruments doesn’t mean that the music is traditional, it’s simply original music. It is just like the same way they use guitars and pianos in creating music. That has been a big obstacle for us being looked upon like exotic musicians who represent a culture not necessarily telling stories like other mainstream musicians. African music has definitely evolved. Who would have thought an African will have a number one record in the genre of hip hop/ or an African song will be number one in over 16 countries world-wide? K’naan just did that!
What are some of the changes that the success of Jabali Afrika has brought ?
People especially in East Africa don’t look at Afro-centric oriented music the same anymore. We made afro vibes cool instead of putting musicians playing traditional instruments at the entrances of music venues; they are now headlining shows on the main stage. I remember they would put a musician playing traditional instruments at the entrance of a music venue and have a cover band play on the main stage, which changed as soon as Jabali Afrika came onto the Kenyan music scene.
Every band that is coming up now in East Africa especially Kenya where Jabali Afrika traces its roots is taking a rootsmusic-oriented approach and they are branding themselves like Jabali Afrika.To us, it is a big achievement coz our dream was to inspire generations and to let them know that the African culture or music is not inferior. Africa is the beginning and also will represent the future and to sum it all, music originated from Africa.
What do you like to do in your spare time…if you have any?
In our spare time we make music if not making music, some of us are in the gym working out or playing sports and spending time with the family coz we are parents too.
Switching gears, what is your opinion about contemporary African music? What is your opinion on the use of auto tune music by some African musicians?
I think we are taking it too far and instead of people learning how to play an instrument they are taking short cuts. Not all contemporary African music is bad but with what’s going on now the future of finding African youth playing instruments will be a rare thing. In the West even though Hip-hop is controlling the charts, they still have other forms of music that’s not computer based like rock etc. They have kids still learning how to play instruments while in Africa every kid wants to be a rap star with no musical background.
About Auto tune what I would say is the first instrument that you have in music is your voice and it’s the main thing that differentiates artistes from each other why would you like to sound the same. As long as we embrace technology in making music let’s not abuse it, too much of anything is dangerous. I don’t see why African musicians should use auto tune coz the African is a natural performer we are raw people that purity is the beauty of our music e.g. the soukous bass was invented to give the music a thumping kick like sound and that’s what makes African music beautiful and sophisticated.
How can the band help the African continent take advantage of its’ big reputation as an ambassador of the African culture by bringing clear messages to our corrupted leaders?
By illuminating the good things about the continent coz there’s too much disaster pornography in the western world about Africa...and as Fela said 99.9 percent of what they say about Africa in the west is not true and we all know that...and some of the people responsible for misrepresenting Africa are the Africans themselves e.g. people who’ve made disasters in Africa, their hassle and mode of survival. We know there are homeless people in the west but we’ve never seen the westerners in Africa asking for help in such a situation. The problem of Africa is leadership and that’s what has to change. How can the richest continent in natural resources in the world be the poorest? The moment we get good leadership Africa will be emancipated forever. We need visionary leaders like Kwame Nkrumah, Patrice Lumumba, Tom Mboya, Dedan Kimathi, and Nelson Mandela etc and if you go through our music catalog those are the issues we are talking about...Look at Ivory Coast now, the people voted and the loser is clinging to power. Similar situations are occurring in Zimbabwe and Kenya. It is as though the power sharing deal is the new dictatorship trend in Africa. The messages are clear to the corrupt African leaders. We are still illuminating what Fela and the musicians before us said, and we will not be the last. There are more of our kind who are born every day.
Do you find that different countries different cultures react differently to your music?
Yes, they do they react differently but mostly on the positive side. Some see similarities in what they now know as whatever name they call their music. All I can say it’s all about being positive.
What can we expect from Jabali Afrika in the future?
More music that will reflect well on where we come from, uplifting, revolutionary, inspiring and educative what would we like the impact of our career to be. We want our career to represent courage and pride of the African peoples’ way of life...We want it to inspire the future generations of African children to know that they are not inferior.
Lastly, what advice would you give to young artists and songwriters who are trying to break into the music business today?
One word: Originality, originality! Be yourself! Don’t try to be anybody else.
Mr. Joseck Asikoye, thank you very much for granting me this interview. It is a pleasure and an honor to talk with you about your group! I wish your band continued success in all its' endeavors.
Jabali Afrika can be reached via their website http://jabaliafrika.com/ .
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