F
olarin’s ascent as an entertainer has been rapid and
unrivalled. Rapid because only 9 years into the business of
entertainment, he’s already become one of the biggest acts
out of Africa - not a very common feat. Unrivalled not because
his talents are solely peculiar to him, but because he’s simply a
brilliant and effortless genre-straddler. He has perfected the art
of meshing his different talents without losing his originality-
Today, a hit-song maker, tomorrow a comedian, an actor the day
after, Folarin cannot be put in a box.
“Falz the bahd guy is a multifaceted individual and brand, he’s
a guy with a lot of alter egos. Falz the bahd guy is an artist that
entertains, enlightens and educates. I’m an entertainer because
there’s a lot of humour in my music and my other personas, I
enlighten because music is a tool that we have to use to broaden
people’s horizons. Lastly, I educate because a lot of people don’t
know better when it comes to certain things and being that
I’m in a position of privilege, I have the opportunity to pass a
message, and so I do that with my music”. He unabashedly
admits.
Just watching Folarin take on the world, one stage at a time,
makes it rather hard to reconcile the fact that he has an LLB
honors degree in Law from the University of Reading and has
been called to the Nigerian bar. Safe to say that entertainment
has turned out to be a successful passion pursuit for him - the
wordpower being passion. “Passion is why! I’m very passionate
about entertainment and music. I always saw myself doing this
and at the highest level too. Law is something I love doing as well
but I wanted to do the one I was most passionate about, that’s
why I’m here.”
Beyond music, Folarin’s acting career has seen an upward
trajectory - He is now the first musician to have won two AMVCA
awards. On paper, it may seem like there is no relation between
his musical and acting personas, but his roles as Segun in Funke
Akindele’s popular TV series “Jenifa’s Diary” and Qwam in Tope
Oshin’s “New Money” both highlight the parasitic nature of
relationships in the society. While it may be easy to get lost in
all the humour and finely-calibrated, upbeat numbers Folarin
constantly doles out in his music and his acting, a closer look
at him and you’ll see that his genius spans beyond being just a
performer.
Folarin is currently setting himself up to become something of a
socio-political revolutionary and the best part being that he has
made music the primary outlet for his messages of “wokeness”
as he prefers to call them - quite reminiscent of Afrobeat creator
and human rights activist, Fela Anikulapo Kuti. “Socio-political
consciousness has always been in my music. Initially, that
consciousness wasn’t very pronounced because it was laced with
a lot of humour because before the time of “This Is Nigeria”, there
were tracks like “Senator”, “My People” and “Wehdone Sir”. So,
yes, consciousness has always been a part of my brand.”
Enter his most controversial hit till date, “This is Nigeria” - an
adaptation of Childish Gambino’s “This Is America”. In it, Folarin
didn’t hold back as he samples the pain points of being Nigerian
in an almost 4-minute long clip. While “This Is Nigeria” may have
racked up 4.3 million-plus YouTube views, becoming the rapper’s
second most popular video, the almost 6,000 thumbs downs
made it his most ‘disliked’ effort by a long way as well. However,
whether liked or disliked, his motive which was to conscientize
the public on societal shortcomings was glaring, confirming
that he is not at all afraid to speak out. “Everyone has a breaking
point and I think Nigerians are getting to that point - we’re quite
frustrated with the millions of problems we’ve been facing.
So, now we want to see something different, we want to see a
change which means that the perfect time to talk about it is
NOW.” he affirms.
Folarin continues to prove that his advocacy for political and
social consciousness is but a fad. A step further from music, he
launched an internet talk show entitled “On The Couch” which
he anchors alongside his longtime friend, broadcast journalist
and founder of We Rise Initiative, Laila Johnson-Salami. Birthed
out of the need to be more aware, Folarin, leveraging on his star
power, aims to use the show to sensitize Nigerian youths about
the social and political climate via informal conversations. “There
is a serious need to eradicate apathy especially with the Youth.
When you talk about politics, a lot off young folks could care less
but I feel that if we all want to see that Nigeria that we dream of
, the one with a bright future, then we can’t afford to have that
sort of mindset.” He says.
While some now argue that Folarin is fast transitioning from
universally-loved funnyman to a contentious national figure
as he touches on unpopular topics like yahoo-yahoo culture,
corruption in the Nigerian Police Force, class stratification, rape
and more, by way of his music, Folarin’s stance on these issues
remains unwavered. “People usually steer clear of these topics
because they’re quite sensitive issues and they want to be
careful. However, I feel it is important to talk about them because
if we don’t, we’re just going to keep sweeping the dirt under the
carpet. We need to talk about these things in order to let the
culprits know that they’re actions are unacceptable and that
there are consequences.” he responds without the slightest form
of hesitation.
In truth, Folarin Falana is living up to his moniker “Falz The BAHD
Guy” which really is an acronym that stands for “Brilliant and
Highly Distinct”. As his genius continues to unfold, unmasking
the comedy candy disguise, Folarin proves that far from being
just an entertainer, he is also an agent of change.
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