Vor einigen Jahren ist mir eine Platte namens "one day everything change" in die Hände gekommen. Fasziniert von den musikalischen Visionen und politischen Botschaften dieses jungen, aus Afrika stammenden und in den USA lebenden, Künstlers - suchte ich den Kontakt zu ihm um mehr zu erfahren. Es war mir bis zu diesem Zeitpunkt unerklärlich, warum die Öffentlichkeit diesen Rohdiamand bisher nicht wahrgenommen hat bzw. warum man in der Presse nichts über ihn finden konnte. Ich bin heute, drei Jahre später, immer noch der Auffassung, dass sein (bisher einziges) Album mehr Hörer finden sollte. Darum hier noch mal das Interview...

1. Please introduce yourself. Where did you come from?

What’s going on, people. For those that don’t know, I’m Wale Oyejide (known to some as Science Fiction). I’m a musician who was born and raised in Nigeria, West Africa, and now lives in the US.

1. In spite of your young age (23) you are very deep into music and productions. When did you start making music?

Ha. Well, I wasn’t that great at sports at a teenager. And I figured out pretty quickly that girls loved musicians. Once I found that out, I was hooked.

1. How important was the influences of Afrobeat?

For me, it’s very important because not only is Afrobeat great dance music, It is a vehicle for social commentary. It forces you to look at the world around you, and try and come up with solutions for the things that are wrong, while celebrating the things that are right.

1. The track “Ever after” shows one a massive weird soundtrack tune. It could be a tune from the 60s. What are you main influences? According to your sampling-choice you must be a fan of soul and funk music from back in the days.

Wow, it’s hard to say. I have many various influences. Ever after was probably inspired by James Brown, or the Doors. A lot of the music from the 60s and 70s was very soulful, and hit you right in the chest/heart. That’s what I try and do with my work. Anything that makes people feel is a good thing.

1. I heard you did a fine remix job for Berlins jazzanova boys? How did that work?

Yeah I was very fortunate and honored to be asked to remix “Glow and Glare’. Unfortunately it didn’t end up on the final cut of the remix album, but getting to work with them was still great. Basically, I had sent some of my earlier demos to ropeadope records. The demo cd had some remixes on there. Mos Def, Jill Scott, Bjork and some other stuff. I guess they liked it, because out of the blue they contacted me to remix Jazzanova who had one of the best albums of that year. So I was honored.

1. You produced a track “There is a war going on” with Slum Village’s J.Dilla on the mic. (I would use that vocalsample from Mobb Deep). It is a political statement.

Are you conscious about the fact now you are working on the heritage of Curtis Mayfield and Gil Scott Heron?!

Ha, Yeah, I actually had the same idea. When I do live shows, my dj scratches the Mobb Deep vocals in there. As far as being political, I don’t really think I’m any more political than the average person. I just feel like any artist has a responsibility to speak honestly about the world around him. Unfortunately, war and injustice are a big part of the world we live in right now. Also, I feel like there need to be more artists like Curtis or Marvin right now. The world needs that. I would never compare myself to them, but if I can come close to touching people the way they did, then I’ll be happy.

1. African moods and laid back beats make one able to dive into your records. Was that your idea of that record?

I wanted to make a concious effort to do music that would be more accessible, and easier for people to understand. Some of my older stuff has been more abstract and taken people a few listens to really understand it. That’s not really a bad thing, but this time I really wanted to get my message to the people.

1. You are a multi-instrumentalist. Is that the best way to make the music in a deeper direction? You have to search a lot to find a record which has that special warm vibe like old Hancock or Ayers records.

I have so much respect for legends like Ayers and Hancock. I definitely feel like in this day and age, while there are still many great ways to flip a sample, In order for us to advance, we have to return to playing instruments. I prefer to use a combination of live instruments and samples to convey my musical ideas.

1. Would you agree that the Americans have only been looking to their own music-scene for the last years? Mainly hiphop artists ignore e.g. the European music. What do you

   think about that? Isn’t music still a movement?

Well unfortunately, Music in America is big business. If it can’t be sold and marketed to the masses, most major labels aren’t interested. It’s hard enough for a lot of talented/original artists to get heard here in the US, so you can only imagine how difficult it would be if you were coming from overseas. I think things are slowly changing though. A lot of european artists in different genres have been breaking through because they are just too talented to be ignored.

10.”One day everything changed” – the name of your new lp sounds

   a little bit autobiographically? Tell us something about the   

    record? Detroit Lacks is on it. And there is a feature of MF    

     DOOM!?

In a way, it is. Not necessarily autobiographical in the sense that every song is directly about me…but every song shows a little bit of my influences from different cultures. The first half of the album has more of an Afrobeat feel to it, while the second half is closer to American soul music. It’s my way of showing people that even if a message comes in a different language or accent, if the music is good, and the message is honest, the people will understand. As far as working with Lacks, and DOOM, it was an honor. Both of those guys are extremely talented, and I learned a lot from them.

1. Are the track “Riot & Revolt” on your new album a uptodate

   version
   

   of Bob Marley’s “Get up stand up for your right”? What is the aim

   of your political attitude? The elections are over now. Bush makes

   it once again…

“Get up, stand up” is a true classic. I think that “Riot…” is bigger than George Bush. And by that, I mean there have been many questionable leaders before him, and sadly, there will probably be many more after. Things won’t change until people start to take notice of what is going on. I guess the point I was trying to make, was that people shouldn’t sit idly and let things happen to them. If you want change, make change yourself.

12.Chuck D’s said: “Make the people dance than you will be able to

  make em listen to your lyrics". Do you absoultley agree with the    

  Public Enemy Mastermind?

Yeah, I completely agree. A lot of people don’t like to feel as if someone is preaching to them, or forcing them to hear a message they may not agree with. But if you package that message with some dope music, something that they can move to…they will be more likely to listen. In a way, you have to trick people to get them to listen.

1. What are your very favourite records of all the time?

Oh there are so many classics…Fela Kuti’s “Zombie”…Sly & the Family Stone’s “Fresh”…Nas’s “Illmatic”…Radiohead’s “OK Computer”…Coltrane’s “Giant Steps”. There are too many to name.

1. In the web one can read the discription “young soul rebel imported from nigeria brought the world a fresh kind of broken jazz”. It is applicable?

I would say so. I find it hard to describe the kind of music I make because the style varies so much on different songs. As long as people listen, and realize that it’s good, honest music, then I don’t care what they call it.

1. Do you listen to the eclectic stuff like New Sector Movement, Jazzanova or Domu in

   your freetime?

   Definitely. I’ve been listening to the Bugz compilation. That “Booty La” track is incredible. I think

        slowly but surely, all that stuff is going to invade the American scene. For some reason, the    
   
       American audience is slower to pick up on a lot of stuff that originates over seas. The DKD   
   
       album is sick too by the way. I'd definitely like to work with those guys.
   

2. Canada has always been having great influence from Europe. Do you think there are too little African influence in the American culture?

I think there are plenty of African influences in American music, but people just don’t realize it. A lot of the drum patterns and rhythms that are used in Western music, hip hop especially, originated in Africa.

1. With which artists would you work gladly? Any wishes?

Hm. Common, Mos Def, Bugz in the Attic, Amp Fiddler, Quantic, SA-RA. The Roots. There’s a long list. There are a lot of really talented people out there right now.

1. I’m very impressed by the new De la soul Lp “Grind date”. In my opinion it is a good combination with legends on the mic and young dope cats on the beats (Madlib, 9th Wonder). A lot of the kids out there don’t know De La Soul any longer

   and they have no knowledge about the history of the hiphop

   culture, doesn’t consider jazz, soul or funk! What’s your opinion?

Knowing your musical history is extemely important. That’s one of the sad things about the music industry. Most artists are given like 2 or 3 years, then they become memories. That’s why legends like De La Soul should be respected, espeically if they can still put out one of the hottest hip hop albums that was released this year.

1. Should an artist try to create a timeless production to be still heard in 10 or 20

          years?
   

I think every artist would love for that to happen, but when you start worrying about things like that, you’ll never make anything good. Music isn’t something you can think too much about, you have to just do it. The fact is, even though life has changed, we still have many of the same.problems now, that we did years ago. Some things never change. The same with good music, it’s always timeless. Look at the Beatles or Bob Marley. I can still put on Illmatic today, and listen to it as if it just came out.

1. What will we hear from you in the next time?

Well, I’m not sure myself. I’m still trying to develop my sound and I have so much to learn. Hopefully it will be an improvement from this album. I plan on fusing a lot more live instrumentation to get a more authentic afrobeat/70s sound. But I’m still going to keep the raw jazz/hip hop elements in there. Like you said, you have to keep it funky and keep the people dancing.

1. What is your personal jazzriot?

To me, the term jazzriot means complete freedom of musical expression. Being brave enoiugh to create the kind of music you want to make without worryiing about what people think, while speaking about things that matter in peoples lives. Anyone can sing a song, but to sing a song that actually means something to someone, or changes someone’s life, is a different story.

Thank you very much.

Interview: Peter Hagen (Jazzriots)

Photos: Angry Robot Records