Music Video: Nigerian singer Akinwande features Naomi Westerman
A Nigerian Multitalented songwriter and singer, Adeyinka Akinwande has been talking about his newest music video for his song ‘Adura Ori: Adura Meta,’ (Three prayers for the inner head), featuring renowned British actress Naomi Westerman and Ethiopian dancer Titlail Negussie.
According to Akinwande, the music video, which is currently on YouTube, and casts Westerman as a praying mother, is to show that music is a universal language.
“My message here is to buttress what I’ve always been saying that music is a universal language. Though the song is in my local language Yoruba, the cast of the video is made up of Britons Ethiopian, French and Malaysian artists. They don’t understand the language but they were able to interpret the messages in the song well.
“I’ve known Naomi for more than 10 years now and we have worked in some places together. I know how good she is and how she can carry the message I’m trying to bring out. She cooperated with me and she’s a good actress. She’s the kind of person I like to work with. She’s everything I want in my production. I hope Naomi will just continue to like my stuff. She didn’t mind anyway. She loves my stuff.”Akinwande explained
“I want the message to cut across that music is a universal language.”
“The origin of music as I always think about it is going back to the tower of Babel, where they were building that tower and there was no language to communicate. All the instruments that were used to make bricks, mix sand, and to pour water, were the things that made music. All those sounds are put together and you will see that this is how music originated.”
“Go to the train station. Don’t let the noise distract you, just stand there and listen to the train coming (jajujigijajigi ja) and put that noise that you perceive together, all those people that are waiting, put them together that is music. To some people it is noise but to others it is music.
“The video also demonstrated Akinwande’s love for drama. In it, Westerman, who is famous for her role in the movies: Two days in the Smoke (2014) The Ashes World Tour (2021), and Run Away with Me (2015), portrays the picture of mothers’ love for their children.”
“The song is indeed a fusion of spiritual chant and drama because I narrated the completeness of God. How powerful God can work in situations when people feel they are hopeless. Even when money cannot solve some issues, God will solve it. That is why I described God as ‘Ogbagba to n gba bi tenikan o le gba’ (He passes through places where no one can pass through). This is to demonstrate the power of God in human situations.”
“It is a way to express myself as I always say that my poetry comes with drum, musical instrumentation, and drama. I cannot even call myself a musician per se. I call myself a performing artist. I like to express myself through the act of doing it.”So how did he get the foreign artists to effectively interpret a Yoruba music video?
“When you listen to Yoruba spiritualist chanting, you will see how those words come together and how nice they are. It is music. Now, let someone put them together, you will see people dancing. I want people to hear my song in Ethiopia and see them dancing to it. I want to see different races; Africans, whites, Latinos, and people of the Caribbean listen to my song and dance to it even though they do not understand the language.”
“Ethiopians have seen the video and they like it because an Ethiopian danced to it. I see music as a unifying force in a dividing world where people don’t like themselves. There is war all over the place. Bring Ukrainian and Russian musicians together, they will make music so they won’t see war,” Akinwande said.
Akinwande, who has also dropped three singles; ‘Adura ori: Agogo marun idaji’ (Prayer for the inner head at 5 AM), ‘Iya ni’ya mi.’ (My mother is indeed a mother), and Adura meta, obirin meji (Three prayers two women), this year, further explained how he convinced them to work with him.
“I spoke with them because I saw in them what others did not see. Someone told me that the project will not work, but I told him that it will work. I knew it would work because the origin of humanity is in Africa. In a time when there were not many languages, Language is disunity, but the human being is one.”
“When I see people I don’t see white, black, or red, what I see is unity. I see myself in other people. I see God in other people and oneness. I can work with anyone. In one of my videos, I used the Salay dancers of Bolivia and it worked fine.”Making the video, however, did not come without challenges, said Akinwande:
“It was challenging because you have to bring people from different backgrounds together. But they all cooperated and we had a good time. The process of doing it could be challenging, some of the characters have to teach them certain things but I’m happy it ends well.”
“As for the reception by viewers, he said: Yes I love what I do and it is new on YouTube at the moment. People are seeing my style and liking it. I cannot say I’m satisfied yet with the reception, but I will keep doing it until I achieve my dream. Adura Ori: Adura Meta is a must-listen for all mothers.”
“The song is a must-listen to for mothers. The words are prayers and no mother will listen to them and won’t say Amen to those prayers. I believe in positivity and when you listen to music like this in the morning, it goes with you all day. And when you listen to it at night, it goes to bed with you and you can wake up with positive energy. The messages bring positive energy when you are down.”
“It is a shower of blessing because when you hear it and perceive it, it looks like it’s drizzling with positive energy. That is my belief.”So, what’s next for the performer who has mastered a unique style of blending traditional Yoruba chant with spirituality and afro music?
“Definitely, I’m working with some youths now. I’m working with the Youth Fellowship and very soon we will finish the song. I’m encouraging youths to bring out the creativeness inside of them because many of them may never know they have this thing in them. I’ve done it before when I worked with C $ S Ayoni o Youth Fellowship. When I produced the song ‘Ibare Aye’ with them over 20 years ago, they were a drama group, they never knew they could do it. I took them to the studio and we did the song and I publicized them. And today many of them are still in music. Music took some of them abroad. I’m working on another Youth fellowship now and we shall see where it will take us.”
Adeyinka Akinwande is United Kingdom-based Nigerian songwriter, poet, and singer, Adeyinka Akinwande, has a unique style. He employs his local dialect during his performance.
The Nation/Oluchi.O
