The thorned rose. BISI KUTI.
"I FEEL LIKE I'M MORE COMFORTABLE WRITING ABOUT PAIN BECAUSE I DON'T THINK I KNOW WHAT HAPPINESS FEELS LIKE."
I randomly texted him and I asked if he would like to have a little interview thingy with me and he randomly said yes, we ended up having a very random conversation. Talking to him felt like talking to a long-lost childhood friend with whom I had recently come back in contact. Giving off the same beautiful aura his songs give, Bisi Kuti tells me his tale.
The genius who started making rap music transitioned into the Altern-Afro genre and has soon made a name for himself. "Where I am is nothing compared to where I want to be," he says.
Ahmed Abdumalik Adebisi, professionally known as Bizzonthetrack is an independent Nigerian singer, graphics designer, and creative director, who grew up in Oshodi, Lagos. He started his music career professionally in 2016 and released his first project "Limbo" in 2017.
When did you decide to give music a try?
My earliest memory of doing anything musically related is when I was in primary school, I auditioned to join the school's drumming team and honestly, I was horrible, so, back then they use to give a time frame that you have to work with when delivering your performance and that's like 1 minute or so, but 15-20 seconds in they sent me off the stage cause I was drumming rubbish, but back then I thought I was the worst drummer.
I've also always been interested in music, listening to it. My elder brother got me this Mp3 when I was younger and it had really good songs on it, it had songs by Palm wine, Tuface, a couple of other artists and I enjoyed it, I also use to write songs, but professionally as a career path, it was in 2016.
Why did you start?
I was keen on being productive, I was 20 and I was genuinely tired of just sitting down so I needed a way to pass time. I had a passion for gaming, so I thought why don't I just make my games and I tried computer programming, but that thing was hard, I just couldn't do it, so since I used to write songs, I just tried music instead and honestly I'm happy I sucked at programming.
What was your childhood like?
I don't have a lot of memories from when I was younger, but one thing I vividly remember is the 2002 Ikeja bomb blast, we stayed at Oshodi and we felt the impact because buildings around us were falling and there was a stampede, cell reception was bad, everywhere was just chaos so I, my mom and my siblings trekked from Oshodi to Mushin to stay with our relatives, our dad was going there (Mushin) from work, but when we got there we found that my dad got there before us and since we told him that we were going there earlier, when he didn't see us, he went back Oshodi to look for us, so we had to trek back to Oshodi to meet my dad. Omo, things were hard.
What was your educational life like?
I didn't like school, I attended a boarding secondary school at Agege and when I was younger was scrawny, so to avoid getting bullied I had to make friends with the big boys and if I'm being honest, I became a bully, but it was strictly for survival, bite them before they bite you. The school was fun though, we use to sneak out at night, like "scale" the fence to go and buy things because they wouldn't allow us to leave. In university, I used my tuition to pay for a studio session and I dropped out, but my parents didn't know cause I still stayed at Oyo.
What did you study in school?
Crop production, my dad was a farmer so I wanted to carry the legacy, I'm joking. I just studied it. But my dad was a farmer.
So, what is your relationship life like?
Okay, I had my first relationship was when 21 and I've been heartbroken a lot, my song "Shoda" which means "Is it good?" was written about my ex, it was originally a love song and she had heard it before, but after she served me breakfast I wrote the second verse and that truly reflected the state of mind I was in at that point because it dealt with me. But I still believe in love, I'm a hopeless romantic, but right now I'm currently in love with my music and I don't want to waste anybody's time.
What is your creative process like?
For music, I don't think I have one. Everything inspires me, when I hear a good beat or we could have a conversation and something you say would just put me in that zone and I'd create, to me, music is therapy.
Creative directing? I've directed a couple of music videos and there are scenarios where I don't like the song at first, so I listen to it repeatedly till it clicks, and if the artist has an idea of what he what's for the song, cool. If it doesn't I prefer that cause then I can fully delve into bringing out the best version of what my mind can see when listening to the song.
So when should the fans be expecting something new?
I recently dropped Canabizz, and my single "Savings or current" will be out by the first of December, my next project Cannabizz and Trips is also dropping soon, after that I'll probably disappear.
Quick question before we wrap this up, why did you choose to go by the name Kuti?
I like Fela a lot and I feel I resonate with him, cause he gives voice to the voiceless. I've also changed my surname to Kuti.
The last question, if you were any flower or tree what would you be?
I would want to be a Rose, I want to receive admiration, but I also need people to understand that I have thorns and I'm capable of making mistakes and causing harm.
Words by Ojuromi Rachel
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