A Conversation with Somi – HuffPost 2.27.15

Mike Ragogna: Somi, after speaking with your Uncle Hugh Masekela, you decided that you wanted to go to Lagos, Nigeria, that trip inspiring your new album The Lagos Music Salon. Did you have any idea of what was going to happen after that or were you just going to Lagos for discovery?

Somi: I was definitely just going to discover. I had always been interested in seeing what it might be like to live and work on the African continent. How it might impact my lyrical and musical inspiration. It was really Uncle Hugh who gave me the courage and reminded me of the global citizenship of musicians. We shouldn’t overthink something in terms of a move, and then we start thinking of the logistics, the production, the finances. He said you can go and just decide to spend time with a part of your audience and a part of the world and then always come right back if and when you feel ready. I decided to stop talking about it and just go. I had this soft landing through the extension of a former graduate advisor of mine at New York University, a professor there by the name of Awam Ampka, who is also Nigerian and has been in the US for a number of years, now tenured at Tisch. He was starting an international artist residency program and I took him up on the offer to go for a minimum of 7 weeks. I used that time to kind of explore the city, the country and my heart to see if it seemed like the right place for me to be at that time. I decided once I got there that I would stay through the end of the following year. I moved there in September 2011 and the plan was to stay until December 2012. Once I was there, I stayed for 18 months until 2013.

MR: So you were deeply affected by and loved your trip.

Somi: I did, I really fell in love with Lagos. I went there with no agenda and just to see how it would inspire me.

MR: Your album is made up of sound snippets and original material that was inspired by your trip to Lagos. How did the music and the lyrics come together? What was your creative process?

Somi: It was a really organic process and I really wanted it to be that. Because I had no agenda, I decided to, at the very least, just capture the sounds and the energy of the city the best I could. I had this pocket digital recorder that I would take out whether I was at the airport, in the streets, in the club or with my friends and just try to document and archive a ‘sound diary’ of sorts. I wasn’t really clear about what music might come out of that. It started there and then I would journal quite a bit through my travels. I was really just reflecting on everyday experiences, whether they were tragic or magical. As a result, sometimes these reflections came out as songs with melodies and some of the chord structure. Other times they would just be ideas and then I went back later to try to develop it as a song. Coming to the concept of the salon really took me some time. I was there and probably 6 months in I started to have a little bit of a panic attack like “What did I just do? I left New York? Did I just throw my career in the toilet?” I wasn’t sure why I was there anymore, but then suddenly I saw a thread through the songs that I had written up to that point and realized that it was really about creating this room of conversation and having a chance to become intimate with the city of Lagos. I wanted to share that and tell the truth because Lagos always tells you the truth. In this way it was a really organic process and somewhat ethnographic. Also I was fortunate to meet a handful of wonderful musicians, the producer Cobhams Asuquo, and also a person that collaborated quite a bit, Ré Olunuga, a Nigerian artist who I met early on so that was a great opportunity. They both taught me a great deal about the local energy, music, culture and tradition of the scene.

MR: You mentioned “Lagos” in terms of “the truth.” Did you learn any new truths while you were there or maybe did some of the other truths you believed in previously, get shifted a bit?

Somi: Well, that is a fantastic question. I always say that Lagos is very much like New York in the sense that it is a hard city but if you show up for the city it has deeper rewards. It really can show up for you as well. If there is anything to take away, I learned about the privilege that I was given just by being born as an African women on U.S. soil and what that citizenship gives me. I found a deeper understanding of what it means for African artists who are born and raised on the continent with the limitations of resources, or visas, or immigration, then still manage to find themselves on the global, cultural stage. I think I just have a deeper respect for what it means to make it to that stage as an African artist. It was humbling in that way and allowed me not to take for granted some of the things that can easily be taken for granted when you are here in the West. But if anything, it taught me to always try to move outside my comfort zone. Maybe it was a reminder of that. We can all be reminded to challenge ourselves in new ways and explore other sides of ourselves and put ourselves in uncomfortable positions. For me, it allowed me to find a new way of telling stories and hopefully make the work stronger. I always want to take risks, be brave and be honest.

MR: With “Four African Women, ” it’s obvious you really did have to be there to understand not just intellectually but also emotionally, what was going on with these women.

Somi: Well, thank you for that. Interestingly enough there were two artists that I listened to while I was in Lagos. One of them being, Fela Kuti because its Fela and it gave me an understanding of his work; an understanding that Lagos is the only place that could actually create his sound. The other artist was Nina Simone. Something about her honesty, her raw beauty, her truth telling and her commitment to justice. All of these issues really seemed to mirror the honesty of Lagos and I wanted to celebrate her and pay her homage while also including some of my reflections of the plights of African women. This is not specifically about Nigeria, but it is a song about some of the issues women across the continent survive. I wanted to honor her in this way and it makes me really happy that you found some truth in that piece.

MR: Somi, “Two Dollar Day” reflects on a domestic worker you met during the Occupy Nigeria protests. Can you talk about that song and its creation? And how did you relate to the worker who was going through her ordeal?

Somi: I would watch it on the streets, seeing people protest, and when you have the opportunity to actually meet someone who is living the repercussions of changes it humanizes the story. I really just wanted to tell her story and to help relay the fact that there is humanity in those choices and that there is dignity in the people who live through that as well; dignity in those that are living on two dollars a day in a country that is still very wealthy but unfortunately these resources are not shared. It was about acknowledging the dignity of that woman and celebrating the people that took to the streets to recognize the power they hold and their impact. People often talk about Nigeria as a sleeping giant, and when you see it awaken in the streets in such a dynamic and popular way, it is very moving.

MR: How do you not get swept into the passion of it all, wanting to commit yourself on a full time basis to issues you become involved in?

Somi: I think as artists, we are committed. At least I would like to believe that I have committed in a full time way and every time I get on stage I’m telling the story. I always tell the story that led to that story. I try to participate in whatever way I can. The stage and the microphone are powerful things, so I am always honored to have the opportunity to bring light to these issues.

MR: In addition to the salon environments you were creating, you also were performing in Europe during this time. So you basically were bringing your experiences out to the world through your performances, educating and spreading the word on Lagos even before the release of the album,.

Somi: I really hope so. I was also playing in salons in Lagos because I really wanted to make sure the people of Nigeria were endorsing it. I am an East African woman and my family is originally from Rwanda and Uganda. There is always that idea of “are you really of this place? Can you really take ownership of this story and tell our story to the world without being exploitative or having a foreign lens?” That is what was so important about spending so much time there. Those salons in Lagos really allowed me to get a response from the Lagosian and gave me the confidence to go out into the world and share the stories. Hopefully the Nigerian audience is happy.

MR: Was this an eternal link that you have established with Lagos?

Somi: I would say so. I haven’t been to Lagos in several months but I miss it dearly. I am reminded of it every time I share this music. I’m hoping to be back within the next four months. It’s definitely one of my proudest moments in my journey to have just taken that time and taken that risk and to be given the gift that Lagos and the Nigerian people gave me.

MR: It seems the more people that talk about segmented issues occurring on the African continent, the more America and the rest of the world can be educated in Africa. I think we look at it as one giant land mass. We don’t really understand the cultural divisions, histories, and each country’s issues as well as we should.

Somi: Absolutely. I think right now it’s such an exciting time on the continent. The African voice is beginning to be heard in a different way and we are all beginning to appreciate those nuances. There is so much work that we need to do on the Western side of things in terms of understanding the subtleties, large and small, but it is also such an exciting time because for the first time, you are seeing more and more African artists actually participate on the global cultural stage and really tell their stories in an honest, authentic and exciting way. I am happy to contribute in whatever small way I can to really help people understand more about what the African experience is today.

MR: Somi, what advice do you have for new artists?

Somi: I would say probably that same that Uncle Hugh said. We should try to understand that we are global citizens. We should try to be of the world and tell stories of the world, for the world. Just be honest with our hearts and with those around us.

MR: After Lagos and visiting Europe, is there or any other location you’d like to visit for a project?

Somi: Absolutely! I definitely want to go to my homeland, East Africa. I have all sorts of things that I would like to share, think about and research in Uganda and Rwanda. One of the projects that I am working on in Europe is with Ibrahim Maalouf, a Lebanese trumpet player in Paris. We have been exploring the conversation between African and Arab jazz traditions and the role of women in the movements of the Arab spring. I am really interested in spending time in that part of the world and North Africa. The thing is, as an artist I’m in Los Angeles right now but there is always something that you can take away from a place. I definitely have my hotspots and things I am thinking about. We will see what happens.

MR: What was the culture shock like coming back to New York after 18 months in Lagos?

Somi: I think there a few different things. As difficult as it can be, it can also be idyllic. It can have tropical beauty and paradise and also a different appreciation. In other cities outside of the West, I feel that people have different sense of appreciation for balance. Its not just moving in the same way New York is. In African cities, I have more time to do the work while also having the time to enjoy living. It could’ve been the creative process that allowed me to be so still but I guess the biggest culture shock was not being so still.