I was going through the comment section of someone's post today and I found a comment that I completely agreed to. It was the truth. This person was talking about wars, gardening, and stuff until he asked the author about musicians. And the authors returned to answer that Musicians are Spies. From nowhere a stranger, someone I know agreed with the author too said;
Good answer. There are always hidden messages in those lyrics
The Poor Man's James Bond Volume 3: Potassium Chlorate and some uses for it
And I nodded with a chuckle. There are songs I have listened to and I knew the owner was trying to pass a message across. In short, we have all listened to those songs too. Those that resonate with us so deeply that we could even swear the artist was talking about us.
Source
I don't even want to talk about artists who try to pass a message across about government, politicians, and any other people you could think of that have tried to enslave us in one way or the other.
If I remember correctly, my dad had told me many stories about artists who lost their lives because of the music they wrote, the lyrics directly or indirectly pointing fingers at bad people or exposing some sort of truth that they would rather have let remain a secret
So it was rightful of the comment author to say that most musicians are spies.
And there are other stories my dad told me about artists who were never afraid of what the bad blood will do to them. One such that has gone down in history is Fela Aníkúlápó Kuti. He was a legend with his lyrics. An activist as the internet calls him.
He must have been a master of everything including death because of how he could write such scary lyrics that would put him in a bad position with people of high class and power yet he gave himself the name, Anikulapo which meant "He who carries death in his pouch", and Wikipedia says it was interpreted to mean "I will be the master of my own destiny and will decide when it is time for death to take me"
The height of his boldness to me was when he sent his mum's coffin to General Olusegun Obasanjo's residence and wrote two songs, "Coffin for Head of State" and "Unknown Soldier". His music was channeled toward seeking justice for the common people. No wonder it was mostly satiric and prodigious; outrightly perceived as political commentary.
Fela Kuti - Unknown Soldier
Those bittersweet symphonies of Fela Kuti vocalized all of the violence and oppression that Nigeria had face in time past and probably still facing today. No matter how many times he was jailed, he never stopped, according to his interview he wanted people to not only listen to his song and dance but to be able to think as well. Affecting people was what he sort out to accomplish
Truthfully, people were able to relate and think as he wanted because his lyrics were the truth. Kuti, I could say was a spy for normal people. He used his music to spread the truth about what he saw, felt, and understood. And as Nigeria continued or continues to be populated by corruption and crime as a result of poverty, economic inequality, unemployment, political instability, etc., then Fela Kuti lives on.
Beast of no nation - Fela Kuti
Now, writing this post as inspired by that comment for #ttt, I had to do a few Google searches on this legend, I found he unravel a lot of secrets through his songs and I began to understand why he still lives in the heart of every African today. Parents have tried their best to remind us of this legend as my father did, and now I know I'll also tell this story to my children and they probably will do to theirs too.
For as long as my country suffers from the negativity that the government has inflicted on the country because of its corrupt nature, then Fela Kuti will live on. And even though things change for the better in the future, Fela will still be on our lips because we will remember how he fought a good fight with the lyrics of his song.
So, listen to the three songs of his that I have mentioned in this post and picked for #ttt, and enjoy yourself. As always, thank you @ablaze for the opportunity to do this every Tuesday. You are amazing 😍.
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