Afro Beat legend Femi Kuti releases the remix to his lead single Politics naa Big Business off the album “No Place for My Dreams”, this remix features new school legends 2Face Idibia and Sound Sultan.
In the midst of the election season Femi Kutiin his accustomed fashion passes a strong message to Nigerians. With the hopes of making them aware that the welfare of the country lies in their hands and that they should make informed decisions in choosing a leader who will put the people first and in the long term eradicate corruption.
2face and Sound Sultan show solidarity and share the same message in what they have highlighted to be a landmark to both their careers. They rebuked the trend of voters choosing their preferred candidates on the terms who gives them a brown envelop or bags of food and encouraged more informed decision making in casting their votes.
Politics naa Big Business remix is uniquely composed and sees the best of both worlds as Femi Kutidelivers an Afro Beat masterclass with 2Faceand Sound Sultan surpassing expectations composing their verses. This is Femi Kuti’s first release since penning down an exclusive management deal with Chocolate Citylast November.
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Politics Na Big Business: How Femi Anikulapo Kuti strikes
his chords against corrupt politicians
“The most common way people
give up their power is by thinking that they don’t have any”- Alice Walker
To look away from a woman sitting beside an open gutter, carrying
one child on her back, and holding two others on each hand is a painful choice
that most of us make because we think there is nothing else we can do. However,
in Femi Anikulapo-Kuti’s new song, Politics
na big business he wants you to know voting honestly, counts as an effort
towards healing a Nigeria that has been hurt by bad leadership. As someone born
just 2 years after Nigeria’s independence, it must be disappointing for Femi
Kuti to look out of his window to still see an uneasy balance of hopelessness
and helplessness in the eyes of beggars on the street, or even worse, the
violent hunger that most of us translate as “ambition” or “hustle.” Usually, when
I hear my cousin’s loud voice saying; “Hmmm, you have to hustle in this Lagos
oh! Na beans?” the words come out with an energy that makes the Nigerian hustle
sound common sensical- like I have no other choice.
I agree that it isnot beans. And, yes, I do understand that the hustlers are the survivors in Nigeria. Yet, I still do not understand why this hustle has become the norm. Obviously,
everybody has their own definition, but if the word “hustle,” has to be a
separate word from “earn” (i.e to be duly worthy), why should the survival of a
new born Nigerian baby depend on the hustle game of his mother or father? Why
do I have to push someone-roughly for that matter- to attain the happiness that
we have been promised for 54 years?
Instead of finger pointing the culprits of corruption, Femi Kuti
uses a passionate and strong vocal outcry to appeal to the masses who seem to
have given up on the Nigeria of their dreams. His new song, Politics Na Big Business, reads like
those old cautionary tales I would hear from my mother as she begged me to be a
good girl on my own integrity while unsubtly warning that unwanted pregnancy
would be a sure consequence if I fail. Bathed in cool and sprightly
instrumentals, Femi Kuti repeats “Politics na big business;” these four pidgin words
sink into the mind as friendly but elderly advice as he begs Nigerians to hold
on to the worth of their votes.
Luckily for us, Femi Kuti’s concern goes beyond commentary: With all
honesty, he calls Nigerians to action; “Abeg
open your eyes open your ears, when you see politicians you better beware. Most
of them they don’t really care. Na the groundwork of their business dem they
prepare.” On the record, Sound Sultan also drops some sound advice for the
Nigerians that are infamous for selling their votes for a bag of Garri or a box
of Indomie noodles. Sultan wants you to “tell
them you are finding food for your soul.” So, next time Chief A or B approaches
you with a bag of parboiled rice, you can use Sound Sultan lyrics to bind and
cast those political monsters.
One of the major problems with Nigeria’s corruption is that it has
found a home in the everyday culture of the common Nigerian. The truth is that
corruption has a boomerang effect: Most times, many of us see the act of
corruption as it happens but we cannot recognize the depths of its
implications. It usually feels harmless until we become victims of the same
corruption, held hostage by someone deprived by the same system. Femi Kuti’s
song calls us to reflect: How do we allow the leaders fail us time and time
again? Are the leaders failing us or do we sell our votes to failures? Femi
Kuti, Tuface and Sound Sultan have teamed up to warn Nigerians of the lucrative
political business. Without a doubt, those three understand that it is the
emptiness of the stomach that stretches its hand to collect the tubers of yam
we are offered. But the poetic Sound Sultan uses his words of encouragement to remind
us of our human dignity: “Never let your
mouth get in the way of your mind,” Sultan
sings.
"No Revolutionary movement is
complete without its poetic expression. If such a movement has caught hold of
the imagination of the masses, they will seek a vent in song for the
aspirations, fears, and hopes the loves and hatreds engendered by the struggle.
Until the movement is marked by the joyous , defiant singing of revolutionary
songs, it lacks one of the most distinctive marks of a popular revolutionary
movement; it is the dogma of the few and not the faith of the multitude."
-- James
Connolly, 1907
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