Following the footsteps of his biggest mentor, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, budding Nigerian singer, Akachukwu Emmanuel Uche, popular as Mmzy has called out the Nigerian government over bad governance in his latest single ‘Animal’ released on January 15.
What is most beautiful and powerful about the single is that to make it original and in the spirit of his mentor, Fela, he featured the son, Seun Kuti.
According to him, “I think he is the best person to interpret the message of the song. Again, he has a long history of activism. He is unapologetic about his stand on social justice and good governance. He is a voice of the oppressed and a thorn in the flesh of the government because of their history of bad leadership.
“Another reason I featured him is his mastery of the saxophone. I wanted a feel of sax on the song and Seun Kuti was the perfect answer. For the song to get the Afrobeat sound, I needed someone like him. Another reason I featured him is his family’s long history of standing up to the government. The fight against oppression, maladministration, and corruption in the land is in his DNA as the son of the legendary Fela Anikulapo-Kuti who created Afrobeats. It was great working with him. He brought a whole new dimension to the single,” he explained when asked why he featured the activist Afrobeats singer.
Mmzy, who is signed to Kerae Records revealed that he recorded the single right after the #EndSARS protest and the Lekki Tollgate killings, saying it was impossible not to be disturbed by the state of the nation at the time.
He said, “I actually recorded the song after the #EndSars protests. The tollgate killings and the bad way our government handled the situation spurred the inspiration for the song. But what really got me going was when I heard a beat by my producer, Cracker Marley.
“I was in the hotel room with him when he played the instrumental and I just knew we could work out something special with it. When I heard the beat, the first thing that came to my mind was Fela’s song ‘Beasts of No Nation.’ The personification of ‘Animal’ in the song sparked a fire in me. It aptly described the situation in the country at that time.
“We immediately started recording. The situation in the country is so bad that it is only someone that is not in Nigeria that would not feel it. Everything happening in Nigeria inspired the song; bad leadership, bad governance, and corruption in government. One day you read in the paper that animals swallowed money. A monkey was said to have gone into a heavily guarded office and took away millions of Naira. Another day you hear of a snake swallowing another million.”
Mmzy made his debut with the song titled ‘Amoureux’ his first official single in 2012. The video was shot in Cotonou, Benin the same year. In 2015, he dropped ‘Something to Show’ and it was everywhere in Benin Republic and his university. In 2017, he released ‘Tonight’. In 2019, he dropped a song under his label titled ‘Amoureux’.
In 2020, he dropped ‘Social Distance’, a collaborative effort, featuring Citiboi, Aboki-ibile and Sevn. ‘Social Distance’ has been enjoying rave reviews and impressive streaming numbers since its release.
After ‘Social Distance’ he dropped another single ‘Wildin’ in 2020. His latest is ‘Animal’ featuring Seun Kuti.
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