The truth always hurts
Transcription of the interview with Nakaaya Sumari
Music has much more than what a journalist could write. People listen. And when they listen, and it is coupled with music, they relate to that, it sinks into them so much more than someone standing there in suit, lying about things that they will do. Everybody really pays attention to music, and that is why music is just huge in East Africa — although we don't have a system to support it — we don't have a proper system to support music, but even so, music is the biggest form of communication in East Africa. People really listen to music...
Music has so much power. People just relate to it. People respect it, because the musician, the artist, say it like it is. You see, journalist try to rosy up things and try to make you see how much they know, and how educated they are, so they write things in a certain fashion, and politicians with their style of trying to steal from you, they talk in a certain way, that put that little lie in every other second, but artists, they speak from the normal persons perspective. And then they couple it with music. And so people relate. And when people relate, and it is the truth, they respect it much more, and they are more loyal to that than to politicians or the journalists.
The truth will always be unconfortable
As long as you have an uneasy political situation in your country, when you have so much corruption, speaking the truth will always be unconfortable. Not speaking it will also be unconfortable. So what do you do? You really have to figure it out. Because if you don't say anything, your kids are going to have a much worse situation than you, because the more the problem persists, the more the problem roots itself. It is going to be even harder to solve the problem. So why don't you solve it when you still can? Even if you don't solve it a hundred per cent. Just hoping that you are going to succeed in solving it a hundred per cent. Something that can allow the next generation to even fix it. Not only the next generation, but just everybody, you know, mobilize people! Mobilize people! Make people aware. Just deal with it. Either way, it is dangerous. The truth always hurts, and that is why they say ‘Truth hurts’.
Fear... is just fear
For a long time I was afraid of expressing myself, saying what I felt. With the fear that nobody would probably feel what I feel. And that is why, I think, I started my career very late. But, I think you kind of get sick and tired of it. You get sick and tired of being treated in a certain way when you really know that things could get better. You know what I am saying?
A very good example is when I was writing 'Mr Politician', and I recorded it, and I went home with it, and my mother was very... "Oh no! No, you can't release this! They would want to take you out. And you say Amina's name... Oh God, oh no!", and my dad was saying: "Yes, you should release this! It is about time! We are tired of this, we are tired of that!", and I would make people listen to it before I released it, my friends, people around me, and I got a very high percentage of people saying: "You know, you should release it, because somebody needs to say the truth! Somebody needs to tell them something!"
And so you realize that fear is just what it is: fear. Nothing really. It is just fear. And even if I die today or tomorrow, my song is going to be out there. The message still lives on. It is just flesh, like, she was burried, so what... This is just flesh. And so, you taking it away, it doesn't mean anything. If the song is out there, it is out there. And if you take me out, the song is even going to be ten times more out there.
Respect comes with silence
And so... yes, I was very afraid. Because we are raised in a certain way, you know. We are raised to respect our older people — which is not a bad thing — but then again, respect comes with silence. You know: “Don't say what you think. What you think is you. But I am older than you. I am in government. Don't say anything to me. Don't say anything to me, just because I am in government. You are younger. You don't know what you are talking about. I know better.”
“But you are stealing!”
“No no no! I know better!”
You know...
So it is a very tricky situation. But I think it has to do with how we were raised. Just not supposed to say anything. And to couple it with the fact that I am a girl. Tsch... You just don't really say much. It comes across as disrespectful, when indeed, it is not. When indeed it is just human:
"I am human and I know my rights. And I am suffering. I am smart. Why can't I get employment? Why are you giving somebody else... Why are you giving a cousin a job when he doesn't have the same capacity as I do? Why are you giving your brother a job when he can't really do what my sister or my other friend can do? — and they are very good at what they do!"
So it is a very very messed up situation, and at some point you just get enough of being strangled. You just want to breathe. And that is what I am fighting for: a breath. Just fresh air. Something to just say... "Hhhhhuh! This feels better!". That is what I am fighting for.
The interview was recorded on 4 December 2008 by Mik Aidt for Freemuse
|
|
Nakaaya
|
