Nigerian artist Folarin Falana, popularly known as Falz, has shared the reason why he puts out songs that spark controversy.
The rapper explained his reasoning in a recent interview with Arise TV, emphasising that life in Nigeria is meaningless. He stated that he was not afraid of death.
With the release of his most recent song with Vector, ‘Yakubu,’ named after the chairman of the Independent National Election Commission, INEC, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, the actor was featured on Arise TV to speak on “Music as a Socio-political Tool.”
In the song, Vector and Falz criticised INEC, its chairman, and other political parties for allegedly engaging in electoral fraud during the just-ended general elections. Falz asserts that he would rather die fighting for justice than keep silent and perish as a result of the nation’s broken system.
He joined the programme from the United Kingdom through Skype, but the rapper claimed that he was not overseas because he was terrified of conflict with state actors over the contentious song.
He said, “I knew that was going to come up when you announced that I was doing this from London. Like I said earlier on, this is not the first time, this is not the second time, this is not the third time.
“I have released tons of records that are very confrontational. And I was on ground. I’m always on ground when I released these records.It is not to say that I’m running anywhere. Absolutely not. Everyone know where to find me. If anyone wants to find me. But I have no reason to fear anything. And I always say this when people ask me ‘how do you do these things without any fear of consequences?
“And this is the same answer that I always give: the kind of life we are living already is one which we are more or less fading away already. It’s not a meaningful life what we have in Nigeria as a country.
What’s the worst that could happen? It’s death. I don’t fear death. I would rather go down fighting for a just cause. I would rather be remembered as someone that lived a life that was meaningful rather than someone that for example was walking down the road and got run over by a danfo [bus] because he was driving recklessly. Or, someone that got a heart disease and could not save himself because there are no hospitals capable of saving him in Nigeria.”
In the aftermath of the 2023 Nigerian general elections, which were, according to many, marred by gross irregularities, rappers Falz and Vector released ‘Yakubu,’ a rap song that captured the event and highlighted the irregularities.
