Page 72 - Msingi Afrika Magazine Issue 4
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ucated audience and still make What do you guys have as
There are lots of young a living out of it. It’s growing. advice for young guys like
people walking away from you on how to deal with the
the Afrikan aspect of arts, Art with our forefathers circumstances and situa-
performances and all that. didn’t begin with a thought tions that come with being
What do you guys think towards rewards. They did an artist and being a poet,
about that? arts, poetry, music for com- based on your own experi-
Warris: I am a deep follower of munity unification. Would ences?
music, of Afrikan culture. What I you say that the quest for Moses: I would just tell them,
think the problem is that a lot of payment has watered down trust your instincts, whatever
people want to embrace what’s the originality of Afrikan happens around you, just try to
hot, what’s going to sell them in- arts? keep the real you, don’t let these
ternationally, erroneously being Warris: The landscape changed situations change you.
told that what is Afrikan doesn’t a lot. Economically before these Quentin: Art is something di-
sell. A lot of people want to have people came, we were stable, vine, music is something divine,
a style that brings money fast, so someone could afford to do so you always have to be in the
they do not want to conserve art as entertainment, but even zone and if you go out of the
what is ours they want to go with then there were musicians, zone it’s because of your own
what’s popping: sex, nudity and people who were doing it as a doings, find your way back.
obscene language which is not standing thing. I always like to Mark: You have to believe in
Afrikan. say, if your art is based on origi- yourself. You will get messag-
Spoken word is pretty new in nality of passion, not just money, es that you can’t do this… but if
Kenya, people who are doing it is going to make you money. you’re going to fall for that mes-
it are few and the money is not The world we live in, you need sage that you can’t do it… it will
that much. Spoken word is a money to reach more people. never work. And one thing as an
very conscious form of art, and Maybe there are people who are Afrikan, Quentin told me, in any-
there’s a threshold for you to do going overboard but there are thing you do you must incorpo-
spoken word, you have to have still artists who are really about rate culture in it.
a message that is strong, that is the message, who are about be- Mark: Believe in you, embrace
packaged artistically. ing an artist for the calling of it, culture. Believe in God!
for the spirit and that’s who we Quentin: Culture is the back-
I believe spoken word is try to be in Affiliated. bone of us as Afrikans, so the
not new in Afrika, it always Quentin: Commercialization of moment you let go of culture is
existed in the form of oral art to me is something I can’t the moment you lose yourself,
arts, though maybe now it refuse, that’s where we’ve got- you lose your Afrikanism. It’s not
has been reintroduced in a ten to as a society. I need mon- just about color, it’s about the
new form but is something ey to produce the songs, so I things you do, the things you
have commercialized my art be- practice so in anything you do,
we always had.
cause I have invested in it, but man, let culture be the rubber-
Warris: I think you’re right be-
the money should never be the stamp. Culture should be the
cause you see recently for us
those who were born after inde- priority in the first place. If what base of whatever you’re doing.
you’re selling is good, I believe
pendence we found poetry that
it will sell itself you don’t even
was written, but before that there
have to go down with the hype.
were narratives. I was in drama
How deep does this fire go, or is
in high school, you go to tell a
story with actions and emotion it just a passing phase?
Quentin: We are planning on
and deliver it to people like the
taking this full time, but that
old form of storytelling. I think
doesn’t mean letting go of other
that is what is being rekindled by
things, you can multi-task, but
poetry but now we’re bringing it
mainstream where I can pack- art is the core.
age it and sell it to a western ed-
