Nazifi Asnanic and Ali Jita on the red carpet at the Kannywood Awards 2016, 12 March 2016.
I had the privilege to attend the 2016 Kannywood Awards held at the NAF International Conference Centre in Abuja Saturday, 12 March 2016, the third incarnation of the awards organized by Sarari Klassique Merchandise and Halims Entertainment Galleria. (See my post on the 2013 awards.) I was impressed by the space, which was in a well-decorated and sophisticated auditorium. The red carpet TV presence included Rayuwa TV, Noma TV, Unity Entertainment, NTA, VOA, Voice of Nigeria and others.
on the red carpet.
I dislike taking pictures in conference settings under muddy lighting, and the flash on my camera is broken. Therefore, almost all of my photos are pretty bad. I’ve seen some amazing ones on Facebook taken by photographers like Sani Maikatanga. You can see more photographs at Kannywood Scene. I’ll post a few here, mostly for people who asked for copies.
Director of the Kano State Censorship Board, Afakallah at the Kannywood Awards, 12 March 2016. (Quite a change from Rabo…)
The awards were MC-ed by Waziri Zuaibu of NTA, and Aisha Mohammad of the EFCC (!). Memorable moments include a tribute to the late Aisha Dan Kano; a stylishly-dressed Nafisa Abdullahi’s touching speech thanking her mother after she won Best Actress for her role in Baiwar Allah, and Sadik Sani Sadik kissing the ground when he received his award for best actor in Bayan Duhu, a 20+ minute speech (I was recording) by the minister of Information, and a short and sweet speech by Professor Abdalla Uba Adamu, Vice Chancellor of the Open University, following a really fantastic little 3-4 minute documentary on the beginnings of Kannywood.
Tribute to the late Aisha Dan Kano.
I was impressed by the efforts to make this a unified Nigerian affair. Indeed the theme was “Patriotism through Entertainment.” In the musical soundtrack, I heard (pre-recorded) music by Ziriums, Sani Danja, and Jeremiah Gyang (a Christian Hausa singer.) There was an opening prayer by a Muslim and Christian, and, in addition to the various ministers and representatives of governors, there were representatives from Nollywood and even of an Ijaw youths association. Emeka Ike, the president of the Actors Guild of Nigeria gave out awards and spoke out saying that the stakeholders meeting recently held in Lagos (which invited no one from Kannywood) had been “hijacked” by outside interests. In one of the musical performances, Sarkin Waka sang “Mu Zauna lafiya, we are one,” and was joined on stage by many of the stars.
There were also performances by Ziriums, Abbas Sadiq, and Nura Bond.
Ziriums performs at the 2016 Kannywood Awards, 12 March 2016 (c) Carmen McCain
Ziriums performs at the Kannywood Awards, 12 March 2016. (c) Carmen McCain
Abbas Sadiq performs at the 2016 Kannywood Awards. (c) Carmen McCain
Three special awards were given at the beginning of the ceremony: The special Kannywood Merit Award, went to His royal Highness Malam Awwal Ibrahim, the Emir of Suleja; a Posthumous Life Achievement Award went to the late Tijjani Ibraheem; and another Kannywood Special Merit Award went to Malam Sunusi Shehu Daneji, a scriptwriter and magazine publisher who coined the term “Kannywood” in 1998.
Although certain moments like the (actually quite informative) speech by the Minister of Information dragged on, the audience kept themselves amused with photo taking,selfies, and wandering around chatting.
photo-taking (c) Carmen McCain
Abbas Sadiq working the aisles. (c) Carmen McCain
Filmmaker, author and publisher Ado Ahmad Gidan Dabino (c) Carmen McCain
Producer and scriptwriter Nasir Gwangwazo at the end of the night (c) Carmen McCain
The winners of the awards (alongside the other nominees) are as follows:
Best Film
Hindu, produced by Garba Saleh – WON
Gwaska, produced by Falalu Dorayi
Baiwar Allah, produced by Naziru Dan Hajiya
Best Cultural Film
Na Hauwa, produced by Kabir Ali Mpeg – WON
Hindu, produced by Garba Saleh
Malam Zalimu, produced by Abba El Mustapha
Na Hauwa, produced by Kabir Ali Mpeg wins Best Cultural Film. (c) Carmen McCain
Kabir Ali Mpeg holds the award for the Best Cultural Film that he produced. (c) Carmen McCain
Best Director
Ali Gumzak, for Baiwar Allah – WON
Adam Zango, for Gwaska
Ali Nuhu for Da’iman
Best Script
Yakubu M. Kumo, for Bayan Duhu – WON
Yakubu M. Kumo, for Baiwar Allah
Shafiu Dauda Giwa, for Ban Gantaba
Best Actress
Nafisa Abdullahi, for Baiwar Allah -WON
Jamila Nagudu, for Na Hauwa
Rahama Sadau, for Halacci
The Minister of Information presents the Best Actress Award to a teary Nafisa Abdullahi, 12 March 2016.
Best Actor
Sadik Sani Sadik, for Bayan Duhu -WON
Adam A. Zango, for Gwaska
Ali Nuhu, for Nasibi
Best Supporting Actress
Fati Shu’uma, for Basma -WON
Ladidi Fagge, for Da’iman
Fati Washa, for Hindu
Best Supporting Actor
Lawan Ahmad, for Da’iman – WON
Sadik Ahmad, for Nasibi
Ali Nuhu, for Rumfar Shehu
Lawan Ahmad (middle) with his award for best supporting actor in the film Da’iman (c) Carmen McCain
Best Comedian
Sule Yahaya Bosho, for Rumfar Shehu – WON
Sule Yahaya Bosho, for Gidan Farko
Rabilu Musa (RIP), for Dangas
Best Villain
Haruna Talle Mai Fata, for Farmaki -WON
Adam A. Zango, for Hindu
Tanimu Akawu, for Kasata
Best Child Actor
Maryam Baba Hasin, for Basma – WON
Ahmad Ali Nuhu, for Uba da Da
Shema’u Salisu, for Anisa
At only five years of age Maryam Baba Hasin wins best Child Actor Award for her role in Basma.
Cinematography
Mr. D’mej, for Hindu – WON
Mr. D’mej and Ismail M. Ismail, for Gwaska
Murtala Balala, for Baiwar Allah
Best Editor
Ali Artwork, for Gwaska – WON
(no name), for Mulamat
Husseini Ibrahim, for Baiwar Allah
Ali Artwork poses with his award for best editor and me.
Best Visual Effects
Muhammad Ali, for Hindu – WON
Musa Zee Moses and Muhammad Ali, for Anisa
Ali Musa Dan Jallo, for Bori
Best Sound
Suraj A. Ibrahim and Mustapha Auwal, for Gwaska -WON
Fahad Abubakar, for Fansa
Bello Minna and Mukhtar Dauda, for Hindu
Best Music
Umar M. Sharif, for Uba da Da – WON
Umar M. Sharif and Isa Gombe, for Gwaska
Nura M. Inuwa, for Hindu
Best Set Design
Tahir I. Tahir, for Hindu – WON
Muhammad Sani G., for Bakin Mulki
Saif A. Nuhu and Ishaq Ahmad Nuhu, for Halacci
Best Costume
Jibrin Cha, Sunusi Shamaki, and One Eye, for Hindu -WON
[UPDATE 24 November 2013: SCROLL DOWN FOR THE WINNERS OF THE 2013 KANNYWOOD AWARD]
[Update 4 December 2013, here are a few more links to articles about the Kannywood Award night.
My article “Kannywood Awards Seek Uplift and Unity,” in which I muse over Kannywood history and interview two of the organizers, Hamisu Lamido Iyantama and Ismail Afakallah.
Continue to scroll down to see the winners and read my original blog post.]
I recently received an invitation to the Kannywood Award 2013, which begins at 8pm tomorrow, 23 November 2013 in Kano. Unfortunately, I probably won’t be able to make it, but I thought it was worth blogging about the event and the nominations ahead of time. One of the brains behind the award is filmmaker Hamisu Lamido Iyantama (who suffered a great deal at the hands of the Kano State Censorship Board) from 2008-2010, and whom I have blogged about a lot in the past. Although Iyantama gave out some “Iyan-Tama Multimedia Awards” in 2010, this year in Kano is the first edition of the “Kannywood Award.”
I will try to update this post with the winners after this weekend. [UPDATE 24 November 2013, for a list of the winners, see Kannywood Scene’s list. If you scroll down, I will note the winner next to each nomination] In the meantime, scroll below for the list of nominations.
The Invitation in part reads:
INVITATION – KANNYWOOD AWARD 2013
KANNYWOOD AWARD 2013 is the first edition for “Arewa” music and movie industry (Kannywood) and is the largest gathering of Kannywood artistes, Technical crew, relevant individuals and groups. This is a must attendevent for anyone with responsibility in the entertainment industry. Attending this event is an excellent opportunity to promote Face of Kannywood.
The “Paradigm Uplift and Unity”refers to a movement which seeks not only to implement and achieve this Kannywood Award show, but to advance Arewa cultural heritage by introducing innovative methodology, new thinking and changing the perception of existing outlook of Kannywood image.
The event will feature gathering of Kannywood artistes, technical crew, who is who, yellow carpet, banquet, stage show and jamboree of special guests.
The event is scheduled take place on 23rd NOV. 2013 […]
In view of this and regarding your passion and contribution to the growth of the industry, we write to invite you to grace with your presence the occasion as Special Guest .
The event is supported by MTN Nigeria.
Thank you very for your usual understanding and cooperation .
Kind regards
Hamisu Lamido Iyantama
Chairman Organizing/Security Committee.
The Nominations, which I got from the organizers of the awards, are as follows. [UPDATE: I have filled in the winners with help from Kannywood Scene: Kannywood Scene also lists a few awards that were not on the original list: Zahraddeen Sani won the Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Fulani; Sani Danja recieved an Icon of Entertainment Award; Falalu Dorayi won the Golden Jury Award; and Alhaji Sani Zamfara and Rabi’u Haruna Al-Rahuz won an award for Best Marketers. Unfortunately, the Kannywood Scene list left off a few of the awards that were on the original nomination list. I have also heard from other sources that (my former student!) Nomiis Gee won the award for Best Hausa Hiphop Rapper, Sadiq Salihu Abubakar won Kannywood’s Best R&B Artiste, Jos-based director and producer Sani Mu’azu won a lifetime achievement award, alongside Ibrahim Mandawari, Audu Kano Karkuzu, Samanja, and Hamisu Lamido Iyantama. Thanks to Masaud KanoRiders for a lot of this information.
(Update 24 November 2013. On the list of nominations the organizers of the award provided me before the event, there was no “Best Supporting Actor category,” but that must have been an oversite. According to Kannywood Scene, Zahraddeen Sani won the Best Supporting Actor award for his performance in Fulani.)
I’m going to do something today that I haven’t done for a long time on this blog, but which is something I originally started this blog to do, and that is to put up some work in progress–a song that I am working on right now in my dissertation–and ask for help from Hausa speakers in correctly translating and transcribing it.
Zazzabi (Fever) directed by Sha’aibu Idris Belaz and produced by Auwalu Madaki (story by Salisu Buldoza) for Sa’a Entertainment in 2005 is one of my favourite Hausa films. And the first song in the movie, sung by Sadi Sidi Sharifai, Ikram Garba Ado, and Sa’a A. Yusuf, has obsessed me since 2006. Yes, that long. (I’ve mentioned and posted it in previous blog posts in November 2009 and just the other day in October 2013). It must have been pretty popular with its audiences too, because the songwriter Sadiq Usman Sale gained his industry nickname from the film: Sadiq Zazzabi.
It’s a story full of twists and turns, so I can’t talk too much about the plot here, in case there is someone who ever wants to see the film (if you can find it anywhere). But, as it becomes clear by the 6th verse of the song, it is a film about love and HIV, but it is no NGO film (thank God). HIV is one of the things that complicates the love between the characters in the love triangle between the characters played by Sani Danja, Mansura Isah, (who ended up marrying in real life) and Ibrahim Maishunku. (Because the characters played by Sani Danja and Mansura Isah are not named in the film, I call them Sani and Mansura here. The character played by Ibrahim Maishunku is named Salim in the film.)
What I LOVE about this song is the ambiguity of the word zazzabi (fever). It can be used in the metaphoric sense as a fever of love, and that is the sense in which the audience would most likely initially interpret word. In Ado Ahmed Gidan Dabino’s bestselling novel In da So da Kauna, for example, the young lover Muhammad writes that he is fleeing Kano to Kaduna
Part 1 of Ado Ahmed Gidan Dabino’s bestselling novel In da So da Kauna
because he has been separated from his sweetheart Sumayya, “Ciwon sonta ne ya sa ba zan zauna ba/The sickness of loving her is the reason I won’t stay” (part 1, 85). Sumayya sings on a cassette to Muhammad, that “In na tuna ka sai na farka daga barci na,/ Ciwon so ya sanya wannan ba komai ba/If I remember you I wake from my sleep/ The sickness of love makes it nothing” (part 1, 71). When she dreams that Muhammad has been killed in an accident she sings, “Ciwon so shi zan kashe ni/ The sickness of love will kill me“[or The sickness of love will make me kill myself] (part 1, 87).
However, the word “zazzabi” can also be used literally here, as a literal fever. Indeed it is when Sani complains about a fever that Mansura suggests he go for a medical check-up–a checkup during which he tests positive for HIV. The song thus layers a literal meaning of the “disease of love” on top of a metaphoric usage, creating a striking and disturbing image of the dangers love brings not only the heart but the body. In Verse 6, Sani comes out and says “Kanjamau cutar a jikina. Lafiya bata dawowa/ AIDS is the disease in my body. Health will not return.”
My attempts to transcribe the song (from the video below) and translate it– the transcription file on my computer dates back to 2009–however, has made me painfully aware of how much more Hausa I still need to learn. Of course, the poetic language of the song makes it a bit more difficult to transcribe than ordinary language. I’ve been sitting here with the R.C. Abraham dictionary, the Bargery dictionary, and the Hausa-Hausa dictionary published a few years ago by Bayero University, sometimes wondering if I have even divided the words correctly when I transcribed–or if the words I have written actually exist. So, I would love help from Hausa speakers and readers in checking 1) the transcription of the words of the song, 2) my translation. As I get corrections, I will try to make corrections on this post. At this point, I am not trying to be very literary in my translation–although I did translate “kauna” as “passion,” even though I know that “kauna” has a much milder connotation, because I felt it fit with the overall meaning of the song. For the most part, I just want it to be accurate. After I feel I have an accurate translation, I may try to make it sound more like poetry in English. But mainly, right now, I want a working translation that I can feel confident working with as I write about the song. At the moment, I probably don’t have the room to include an in depth analysis of the entire song in my dissertation–I’m using the refrain and chorus, which I understand fine. But I’m thinking I’d like to write a separate article on the entire song and the film at some point, and any suggestions people can give me here will help me work towards that goal.
UPDATE: 10 November 2013. Anas Musa just sent me some amazing corrections to my transcription via email, and suddenly it all begins to fall into place. I will make his corrections on the transcription here and keep working on the translation. I am so grateful. He heard words and expressions that I just couldn’t quite get like kwarjini and kamani and furucina and kudurina and burin ruhina and dimaucewa and gane batuna and jin lafazina and akwai uzurina and gurbi and kulli yaumin and hangena and the whole proverbial expression “Mai guri ya zo gurbinsa shinfidarka ka zo ka nade ta” and don in zam in ganta and kuwa ya cancanta and hawaye (instead of ta waye) and Gashi na yi biyu ko daya (rather than Ga shi na bude bako) and Wayyo kaina (rather than Wayyo Allah). As you can see he’s made a huge difference! I’m still working on the translation. It’s rough but a lot cleaner now that I can actually hear what words they are saying.
I will post the video and my transcription below that. The cinematography is rather grey and uninspiring, but the song is brilliant. Please note that the video is included in this blog post as part of fair use policies for review purposes:
Zazzabi
Fever
by Sadiq Usman Sale (ie. Sadiq Zazzabi)
Refrain:
Sani:Zazzabi ya sauka jikina, Zazzabi ciwo mai zafi, Ciwon so, ciwon kauna,
A Fever has come to my body, Fever so hot. Fever of love, fever of passion,
Salim: Zazzabi shi ne a jikina
A Fever is what is in my body
Female back up Chorus: Zazzabi ya kama masoya, zazzabi ciwo mai zafi. Ciwon so. Ciwon kauna. Zazzabi ciwo mai kuna.
A fever has caught the lovers, A fever so hot,Fever of love, fever of passion, A fever that burns
Mansura: Zazzabi ya sauka jikina, Zazzabi ciwo mai zafi, Ciwon so, ciwon kauna, Zazzabi shi ne a jikina
Fever has come to my body, Fever so hot.Fever of love, fever of passion, A Fever is what is in my body
Verse 1
Sani: A gaskiya ciwon kaunarki, a tuntuni shi yake kamani.
Truly, lovesickness for you captured me long ago.
Female backup Chorus: Zazzabi ciwo mai zafi
Fever so hot
Sani: In na zo, wurin ji a gareki. Kwarjini shi yake kamani.
If I come to hear it from you. I am overcome with shyness.
Chorus: Zazzabi ciwo mai zafi
Fever so hot
Sani: Ina tsoron furucinki, shi ya sa jinkiri a gareni
I fear what you will say, that’s what made me delay
Chorus: Zazzabi ciwo mai zafi
Fever so hot
Sani: Kin ji, dai, dukkan kudurina, ya a bar burin ruhina
Hear my great passion for you, oh my deepest soul’s desire.
Chorus: Zazzabi ya kama masoya, zazzabi ciwo mai zafi. Ciwon so. Ciwon kauna. Zazzabi ciwo mai kuna.
A fever has captured the lovers, A fever so hot. Fever of love. Fever of passion. Fever of scorching heat.
Verse 2:
Sani: Ki amince da ni, don Allah, kar ki sa ni na dimaucewa.
Trust me, for God’s sake, don’t let me lose my mind.
Chorus: Zazzabi ciwo mai zafi
Fever so hot.
Sani: So da kauna abin girmamawa, kin ga shine tushen kowa….
Love and passion is an inestimable thing, you know it is the root of us all…
Chorus: Zazzabi ciwo mai zafi
Fever so hot.
Sani: Na nutso kogin kaunarki ko dagowa bana yowa
I am drowning in a river of your love, I can’t come up out of it.
Chorus: Zazzabi ciwo mai zafi
Fever so hot.
Sani: Nai jiran amsa a gareki don kuwa duk kin gane batuna.
I wait for your answer, so that you understand all that I’ve said.
Chorus: Zazzabi ya kama masoya, zazzabi ciwo mai zafi. Ciwon so. Ciwon kauna. Zazzabi ciwo mai kuna.
A fever has caught the lovers, a fever so hot. Sickness of love, sickness of passion, Fever a sickness that burns.
Verse 3:
Mansura: Na ji dukka batunka bayani, to, tsaya don jin lafazina.
I’ve heard all, all of what you’ve said. To, stop now and listen to me.
Chorus: Zazzabi ciwo mai zafi
Fever so hot.
Mansura: Tun ada, tun tun na fahimta kai kana kauna a garena.
For long, I’ve understood that you love me
Chorus: Zazzabi ciwo mai zafi
Fever so hot.
Mansura:Gaskiya ni da kai soyayya, ba na yi don akwai uzurina.
In truth, I have my reasons not to agree to love between me and you.
Chorus: Zazzabi ciwo mai zafi.
Fever so hot.
Mansura: Babu gurbi cikin ruhina sam… Salim shi ne a gabana
There’s no place in my heart. Salim, hes the one in my future now.
Chorus: Zazzabi ya kama masoya, zazzabi ciwo mai zafi. Ciwon so. Ciwon kauna. Zazzabi ciwo mai kuna.
It’s a fever that captures lovers, Fever so hot. Sickness of passion. Sickness of love. Fever a sickness that burns.
Verse 4
Mansura: Alkawari, ni da shi mun dauka duk wuya bama canzawa.
It’s a promise he and I have made each other. No matter the difficulty we won’t change.
Chorus: Zazzabi ciwo mai zafi.
Fever so hot.
Mansura: Son Salim, shi ne a gabana, kulla yaumin na ke ta tunawa
My love for Salim is before me, I’m always thinking [of him].
Chorus: Zazzabi ciwo mai zafi
Fever so hot.
Mansura: So da kaunarsa ke ta bugawa zuciyata suke rayawa.
Love and passion are throbbing my heart to life again.
Chorus: Zazzabi ciwo mai zafi
Fever so hot.
Mansura: Son Salim shi ne hangena har ke loda harkar ganina.
Love for Salim is what I see from a far, it fills my vision.
Instrumental Interlude
Refrain
Salim: Zazzabi ya sauka jikina, Zazzabi ciwo mai zafi. Ciwon so, ciwon kauna, zazzabi shi ne a jikana.
A fever has entered my body, A fever so hot. A sickness of love, a sickness of passion. A fever, that’s what’s in my body.
Mansura:Zazzabi ya sauka jikina, Zazzabi ciwo mai zafi. Ciwon so, ciwon kauna, zazzabi shi ne a jikana
A fever has entered my body, A fever so hot. A sickness of love, a sickness of passion. A fever, that’s what’s in my body.
Chorus: Zazzabi ya kama masoya, zazzabi ciwo mai zafi. Ciwon so. Ciwon kauna. Zazzabi ciwo mai kuna.
A fever has captured the lovers, a fever so hot. A sickness of love, a sickness of passion. A fever of scorching heat.
Verse 5:
Salim: Mai guri ya zo gurbinsa shinfidarka kazo ka nade ta
The longing lover has met his fate. Here’s your mat, come roll it up.
Chorus: Zazzabi ciwo mai zafi.
Fever so hot.
Salim: Ga ni gefen abar kaunata, in tsaya don in zam in ganta.
See me here by the side with my heavy love, I’ve paused here to stay and see her.
Chorus: Zazzabi ciwo mai zafi.
Fever so hot.
Salim: Zo mu je lambunmu na kauna, mu shige, don kuwa ya cancanta
Come let’s go to our garden of love, let’s enter it, because it is befitting.
Chorus: Zazzabi ciwo mai zafi.
Fever so hot.
Salim: Kai ku sai ka tsaya, bisa nan gun ke da shi, ku yi bankwana
You just have to stop all the familiarity you have with him, you must say goodbye
Chorus: Zazzabi ya kama masoya, zazzabi ciwo mai zafi. Ciwon so. Ciwon kauna. Zazzabi ciwo mai kuna.
Fever has captured the lovers. Fever so hot. Fever of love, Fever of passion. Fever of scorching heat.
Verse 6
Sani: Yau ina kuka da hawaye sai takaice nake ta tunawa.
Today I am weeping hot tears, I keep thinking of my loss…
Chorus: Zazzabi ciwo mai zafi
Fever so hot.
Sani: Ga shi na yi biyu ko daya babu rayuwata nake tausayawa
See, I have nothing, I pity my life.
Chorus: Zazzabi ciwo mai zafi
Fever so hot.
Sani: Kanjamau cuta a jikina. Lafiya bata dawowa
AIDS is the disease in my body. Health will not return
Chorus: Zazzabi ciwo mai zafi
Fever so hot.
Sani: Rayuwata tana watakila mutuwa ko yau a wurina
I face the end of my life, maybe even today.
Chorus: Zazzabi ya kama
Fever has captured
Sani: Wayyo kaina,
Chorus: masoya, zazzabi ciwo mai zafi.
Lovers. Fever so hot
Sani: Wayyo Allahna
Chorus: Ciwon so. Ciwon kauna. Zazzabi ciwo mai kona.
Fever of love. Fever of passion. Fever that burns.
Refrain
Mansura: Zazzabi ya sauka jikina, Zazzabi ciwo mai zafi. Ciwon so, ciwon kauna, zazzabi shi ne a jikana.
Fever has come to my body. Fever so hot. Fever of love, fever of passion, Fever is in my body.
Sani: Zazzabi ya sauka jikina, Zazzabi ciwo mai zafi. Ciwon so, ciwon kauna, zazzabi shi ne a jikana.
Fever has come to my body. Fever so hot. Fever of love, fever of passion, Fever is in my body.
Chorus: Zazzabi ya kama masoya, zazzabi ciwo mai zafi. Ciwon so. Ciwon kauna. Zazzabi ciwo mai kuna.
This fever has captured the lovers. Fever so hot. Fever of love. Fever of passion. Fever that burns.
Now Ziriums has released online his own album, “This is Me,” named for the track he released as a single music video about a month before. I think Ziriums may be the first Hausa hiphop musician or even contemporary Hausa musician to have released his album for sale online. (There is a sampler of other Hausa hiphop and popular music available for free at dandali.com, put together by the brilliant and prolific Hausa popular culture scholar Professor Abdalla Uba Adamu, which includes songs by Billy-O, Soultan Abdul, Abdullahi Mighty, Menne, Lakal Kaney, Neba Solo, and the “traditional” musician Dan Maraya Zamfara [actual name is Babangida Kakadawa].) Ziriums’ album, This is Me, is available for purchase (for those with credit cards) on on itunes, myspace, and amazon (UPDATE 10 September 2010, the amazon link I originally included is for the U.S., but you can also buy the album at amazon.co.uk and I imagine other national amazon sites. Just search for “Ziriums”). I bought the album from Amazon.com and it downloaded just fine (though very slowly on my internet here in Nigeria. You can also listen to a clip of and buy “Vamoose,” the song he performed with Yoye and Sunny Man from the “Take Over” mix album. It is track 10.)
When I asked Ziriums how those in Nigeria, without credit cards, could access the album, he told me he is planning to soon release it on cd in Nigeria, but hoping to make capital from the online purchases before the pirates can get a hold of it. He also told me that he released the album online, because no one could censor material online, as they had censored “Girgiza Kai” from the radio and later banned it, unless they literally blocked the website from every browser in Kano. The songs can be listened to in their entirety on Zirium’s myspace album page. (Ziriums noted that several of the songs were by other musicians, but, as he had featured in them, he had gotten their permission to include them on his album. This includes one of my favourites, track 3, “Murja Baba” by Alfazazee, featuring Ziriums, Murja Baba, and Maryam Fantimoti; the songs in Fulfulde Ziriums sang with Tasiu;the song “Muyanata” by Osama bin Music, Zirium’s younger brother, on which Ziriums featured alongside Abdullahi Mighty, Shaga, and Ontos. “Kano ta Dabo,” was sung by Ziriums, Billy-O, and Adam Zango, when they formed the group Northern Soldiers)
During a July 2009 interview with Saman Piracha and Alex Johnson, where I was also present, he talked a little bit about the album he hoped to release and his struggle with censorship in Kano . I was given permission by the filmmakers to transcribe and post on this blog what he said:
“Maybe they are going to ban it as well, but I’m sure it is going to be on internet, my myspace address, my facebook address, and it is going to be on Bluetooth […] Bluetooth is the fastest way we use to spread our message. Because they will not air our songs on their radio stations. I can remember the time I finished “Girgiza Kai, the one they banned. I took it to radio stations; they played it once, you know. From the censorship board, they wrote a letter to them, you should not play this song again, you understand? And they stopped airing it. And from that day, no one aired my song again and later now they banned it. I think Bluetooth helps us a lot because I can put it on my phone. My friend will listen to it and say oh give me and I’ll push it to him. Then through that, it will go all over, all over, not even Nigeria, not even Kano, not even Nigeria, itself. It can go anywhere. Because now if I put it in your handset you carry it to the US. […] I’m going to release my album. I’m working on it. And when I finish it, maybe probably it is going to be sold in Kano. We’ll see how I will go behind the national constitution. I’ll go there and stand and use it. Because I am a Nigerian as well. Since Timaya and P-Square can sell their album in Kano, why not I? Why? Why can’t my album be sold in Kano? I must censor it? Who said so? I will not do that? I’m looking at myself as Timaya and P-Square and any damn artist in the country. I’m looking at myself as the same thing as them. We don’t have any differences. The only difference is that they have their albums outside. People know them. You understand? They have the opportunity that we couldn’t get. If I have the opportunity or the chance they have, I could have reached or I could have passed their level. So my album is going to be sold in Kano insha Allah. With censors or without censors.
I may include more analysis of the album at a later point, but for now, so that readers can get a taste of his music, I will include Zirium’s hot new music video “This is Me,” including the lyrics and a translation, partially by me, partially by Ziriums, and partially by Professor Abdalla Uba Adamu. I will also include the complete lyrics to “Girgiza Kai” and the translation I did with Ziriums back in February 2009. Ziriums’ “twisting” in Hausa has a punch that isn’t quite comparable with anything else in contemporary Nigerian hiphop, and I suspect it will take him far.
Enjoy
[NOTE that this video is embedded in this post under Fair Use laws for review purposes.]
(Thank you to Ziriums for providing me with the lyrics in Hausa of the first two verses. He and Professor Abdalla Uba Adamu did the translation of the third. I’m also grateful to Osama bin Music, Zirium’s brother who helped me correct a few of the lines My translation is very basic and flawed, and corrections are welcome. )
[UPDATE: 26 April 2012, Ziriums has sent a few small corrections to the translations, which I have made here. It is now vetted by him.]
INTRO:
ASSALAMU ALAIKUM – ASSALAMU ALAIKUM
Peace be upon you – Peace be upon you
YARA KU FITO HIP HOP,
Kids come out to the Hiphop
MANYA KU FITO HIP HOP
Big guys come out to the hiphop
YARA KU FITO HIP HOP,
Kids come out to the Hiphop
MANYA KU FITO HIP HOP
Big guys come out to the hiphop
CHORUS:
THIS IS ME –ZIRIUMS X4
NINE NAN – ZIRIUMS X4
(This is me, Ziriums)
RAP 1:
BA’KO BABU SALLAMA MUGUNE KU BIYO SHI DA ‘KOTA,
The guest who does not greet with sallama is evil, chase him away with a stick.
NI NA AJE GARIYO DA ADDA NA DAU ‘KOTA TA MIC,
I dropped my javelin and my machet, I took up the mic (stick)
DA FARI SUNANA NAZIR
To start with my name is Nazir
BN AHMAD HAUSAWA LUNGUN KWARGWAN
Son of Ahmad Hausawa from Kwargwan neighborhood
YAYAN OSAMA BN MUSIC
Big brother of Osama bin Music
AH’ SHUGABAN TALIBAN NA HIP HOP A K-TOWN
Head of the Taliban of Hiphop in K-town
REVOLUTION ZAN NA MUSIC NA ANNABI SAY ALRIGHT (ALRIGHT x3)
It’s a music revolution. All who know the Prophet, Say Alright (Alright x3)
NINE INNOVATOR NA RAPPING DA ZAURANCE TWISTING DA HAUSA
I am the innovator of rapping with twisting in Hausa.
NINE MAI SUNA BIYAR TSOFFI SU KIRANI DA ‘DAN TALA
I am the one with the the five names, the old folks call me Dantala (a person who’s born on Tuesday)
MANYA SU KIRANI MUHAMMADU HAJIYATA TA KIRANI TACE NAZIR,
Other grown-ups call me Muhammadu, Hajiya (my mom) calls me Nazir
NIGGAS SU KIRANI DA ZIRIUMS
The Niggas call me Ziriums
SANNAN ÝAN MATAN GARI IDAN SUN GANNI SUCE NAZIRKHAN
Then the girls of the town if they see me, they say Nazir Khan
TO DUK KU KIRANI DA ZIRIUMS (ZIRIUMS. NI NE ZIRIUMS, ZIRIUMS)
TO, all of you call me Ziriums. (Ziriums. I’m Ziriums. Ziriums)
SUNCE WAI BA ZAN IYABA LA’ÁNANNU MASU HALIN TSIYA
They say I “supposedly” I can’t do it, that’s what the spiteful gossips say.
‘DARA ‘DAIRI YA ‘DIRU ‘DAIRA HATTA ZANANTU ALLAN YA HURA (BALA)
I through my kite up and up i cant even see it- it falls down (Arabic)
KOMAI NISAN JIFA ‘KASA ZAI FA’DO KAJI TIIIIIIM
Everything that goes up, will come down, you hear me (Tiiiim- a sound of falling rock)
YAU GAREKA GOBE GA SOMEBODY,MAI LAYA KIYAYI MAI ZAMANI-AH
Today it is your time, but tomorrow somebody better will come along.
CHORUS:
THIS IS ME –ZIRIUMS X4
NINE NAN – ZIRIUMS X4
(This is me, Ziriums)
CHORUS
RAP 2:
IM HUSTLING TAMKAR ‘DAN ACA’BA DARE RANA HAR SAFIYA
I’m hustling like a d’an achaba (motorcycle taxi driver), night and day, until the morning
DAMINA SANYI DA RANI DA DARI HIP HOP NI NAKE SO
In the time of the cool rains and in the hot season and in the night, it’s hiphop that I love
I WILL NEVER RETIRE NEVER GET TIRED,COS IM ROLLING LIKE A TYRE
I will never retire, never get tired, cause I’m rolling like a tyre
GABA DAI GABA DAI MAZAJE NA HIP HOP(SAI MAZAJE NA HIP HOP)
Go on go on all you hiphop guys (you hiphop guys)
DUKIYA MAI ‘KAREWACE,MULKI MAI SHU’DEWANE,HANYA MAI YANKEWACE
Wealth comes to an end, power passes away, the road is cut off
SAI MUN HA’DU CAN FILIN ‘KIYAMA ANAN NE ZAKACI ‘KWAL UBANKA
Let’s meet there in the place of Judgment, there you’ll suffer like you’ve never suffered before
BA ÝAN SANDA BA JINIYA-GA ‘DAN BANZAN GO-SLOW
No police to escort you, no siren, you’ll see a terrible go-slow
CAN GEFE GUDA WALAKIRI DA SANDA MAI ‘KAYA KAI MISTAKE YA TUMURMUSAKA
There to the side the angel of hell with a rod of thorns, if you make a mistake he’ll beat you stiff.
Then all the joints of your body, all of them will give testimony
RANAR BABU P.A DA LAWYER BALLE ÝAN BANGAR SIYASAGGA MASU
That day there will be no P.A., no laywer, much less those gangsters of politicans who
SHIGA GIDAN REDIYO SUYI ‘KARYA DAN ANBASU NAIRA,
Go into the radio house and lie to get naira (money)
INZAKA FA’DI FA’DI GASKIYA KOMAI TAKA JAMAKA KA BIYA
If you’re going to say something, tell the truth, in everything walk in the way of your forebearers
ALLAH BAIMIN KARFIN JIKIBA BALLE IN TAREKA IN MAKURE
God didn’t give me a strong body, I could have attacked your neck,
AMMA YAIMIN KAIFIN BAKINDA HAR YA WUCE REZA A KAIFI
But he gave me a sharp mouth, sharper than a razor.
YES I’M SAYING IT.
Yes, I’m saying it.
CHORUS:
THIS IS ME –ZIRIUMS X4
NINE NAN – ZIRIUMS X4
(This is me, Ziriums)
Third Verse
(translated by Professor Abdalla Uba Adamu (to the part about Dala Rock), after that it is translated by Ziriums, himself. Both Ziriums and Prof sent the translations to Alex Johnson and Saman Piracha for a documentary on Hausa hiphop, Recording a Revolution. Translations used by permission of filmmakers. I’ve made a few very small edits to both translations for a more informal feel)
CAN NA GANO FACE MAI SIFFAR LARABAWA
Then I saw a face like an Arab beauty
NA CE MATA ZO TA TAKA
I said to her, come on let’s dance
TA CE BA TA TAKU DA TAKALMI
She said she doesn’t dance with her shoes on.
SAI DAI IN TA TAKA A SANNU
But she will dance slowly
TATTAKA A SANNU
(Go ahead) dance slowly
AMMA KUMA KAR KI GIRGIZA
But don’t shake your body
DOMIN IN KI KA GIRGIZA
Because if you shake your body
RUWAN KOGI ZAI AMBALIYA
There will be a flood
SAI BARNA TA WUCE TSUNAMI
More destructive than Tsunami
HAR DUTSEN DALA YA TARWATSE
Which will destroy Dala Rock.
(From here translation by Ziriums)
TATTAKA KI TAKA RAWAR DON TAKU KI TAKE TEKU,
Dance, Dance my type of dance, so light you dance on the ocean-top
TAKE TAWA KISA MUSU TAKA TAMU AKE TAKAWA TAKA
Step like me ‘cause it’s our type of step they want to dance.
TATTASAI TANKWA DA TUMATIR ITA TASANI TONON TANA
Chilli pepper soup and tomatoes make me dig for earthworms
TATTABARU TARA NE NA TARE TUN RAN TALATA MUKE TAKAWA,
I gathered nine doves. We’ve been stepping out since Tuesday
(The following stanza is an old Hausa poem (according to R.C. Abraham’s dictionary) sung for a “children’s game of prodding heaps of sand to find things hidden there.” Zirium’s brother Osama bin Music explained that the game includes catching the hands of one on whom a twig falls. Ziriums left it untranslated, but I’ve translated the latter part, which I think I’ve understood correctly. If I haven’t please correct me!)
GARDO GARDO –GARDON BIDA
ATTASHI BIRE –KAMANIMAN
GYARAN FUSKA –DA WUYA YAKE
ZAN KAMA KA –
(I’ll catch you!)
KAMANI MAN
(Catch me, then)
KAMANI MAN
(Just catch me then)
CHORUS
THIS IS ME –ZIRIUMS X4
NINE NAN – ZIRIUMS X4
(This is me, Ziriums)
Shout outs:
Ziriums Intersection, giant beatz, Pro Okassy,Dekumzy, Solomon, Korex, Solar
In the house man You know what I’m saying?
Osama bin Music, Pastor Dan, Yo, this is Intersection,
Giant beatz K-town, baby.
Daga Kano, Bahaushe, Yeah Ziriums kar ka manta da sunan
From Kano, a Hausa, Yeah Ziriums, don’t forget the name
The interview opens with an introduction that I will not directly translate. I have directly translated the rest of the interview, but keep in mind that I likely have made at least a few small errors. I welcome corrections. If you have any, please leave them in the comments section, and I will fix the translation. In the introduction, Bashir Yahuza Malumfashi, the interviwer, talks about how as time brings new types of music the old is not left behind. The new music, too, can give sermons and teach lessons.
Malam Nazir, idan za mu fara tattanawa, zan so jin amsar cewa, wane ne Nazir Ahmad Hausawa?
Kamar dai yadda ka ambata, sunana Nazir Ahmad Hausawa kuma an haife ni a ranar 5 ga watan Fabrairu, cikin shekara ta 1980, a Unguwar Hausawa da ke cikin karamar Hukumar Gwale, Jihar Kano. Na fara karatun share fagen shiga firamare a 1983, a Galadanchi Nursery School. A 1984 ne na fara karatun firamare a Gwale Special Primary School, inda na yi shekara biyar na dauki jarabawar zuwa sakandare. A cikin shekarar 1990 ne na je Gobernment Junior Secondary School Warure, inda daga nan na dauki jarabawa zuwa Senior Secondary School Gwale. Bayan na gama a 1997, na tafi Kwalejin Share Fage Shiga Jami’a ta Kano a shekarar 1998. Na yi shekara biyu a nan, inda bayan na kammala, na fara karatu a Kwalejin Kiwon Lafiya (School of Hygeine), inda bayan na yi shekara biyu, ban kai ga yin jarabawar karshe ba, sai na bar makarantar, saboda na samu gurbin karo karatu a Federal College of Education, Kano. Na fara karatu a can, daga shekarar 2001 zuwa 2003, inda na kammala. Wannan shi ne dan takaitaccen tarihina.
Malam Nazir, if we may start, I’d like to hear you answer this question: Who is Nazir Ahmad Hausawa?
As you have mentioned, my name is Nazir Ahmad Hausawa. I was born on 5 February 1980 in Hausawa area, Gwale Local Government Area, Kano State. I started school in 1983 at Galadanci Nursery School. In 1984, I started primary school at Gwale Special Primary School where I spent five years before I took the exams to go on to secondary school. In 1990, I went to Government Junior Secondary School, Warure, which is where I took the exams to go on to Gwale Senior Secondary School. After I finished in 1997, in 1998 I went to University preparatory College of Share Fage. I did two years there, and after I finished, I started my studies at the School of Hygiene, where after I had spent two years, I left the school before I did my final exam. This is because I had gotten admission to Federal College of Education, Kano. I started my studies there from 2001 to 2003, where I finished. This is a brief recap of my life.
Ga shi ka yi fice a fagen shirya wakokin zamani, ko yaya haka ta faro a rayuwarka? Ka san cewa mutane sun ce ita waka baiwa ce, to lallai ni na amince da haka, cewa baiwa ce. Na fara waka ne a sanadiyyar yawan sauraren wakokin da nake yi, haka kuma mahaifina shi ne Sakatare ko kuma a yanzu shi ne Odita na kungiyar Usha’un Nabiyyi, masu wakokin yabon Annabi (SAW). Su ne suka fara kafa kungiyar mawakan yabon Annabi a Jihar Kano, inda suke tara mutane suna zama suna rera wakokin yabon Annabi, kodayake su ba su hadawa da kida, wakar kawai suke yi, sai dan tafi da hannu da suke dan yi a wani lokaci. Tun ina yaro, mahaifin nawa kan tafi da ni wajen da suke wannan zama na bege, kuma tun daga lokacin nan harkar waka ta fara shiga raina.
Ok, so you’ve come out as a modern musician? How did your life bring you to this?
You know, they say that singing is a gift, and I agree with that—it is a gift. I started singing because I was always listening to music. My father is the secretary or actually now he is the Auditor of the Usha’un Nabiyyi Group, those who sing in praise of the Prophet (PBUH). They were the first ones in Kano State who established a group of praise singers to the Prophet. They would assemble people to sit and sing praises to the Prophet. They didn’t combine it with drumming, they would just sing acapella. Every once in a while, they will wave their hands around [?]. Since I was a child, my father would go with me to the place where they would sing of their longing. And since that time, the love of music entered my soul.
Za mu iya cewa a harkar waka, kai dan gado ne ke nan?
To, haka din ne, amma shi mahaifina wakokin yabo yake yi, ni kuma na zamani nake yi. Daga baya ne sai muka kafa wata kungiya ta mawaka, ni da abokina Ali Jamilu a nan unguwarmu, Hausawa. Mun samu wannan kwarin gwiwa ne saboda yawan sauraren wakokin Turai da muke yi, wanda haka ya sanya muka kafa wannan kungiya, wacce muka sanya wa suna ‘kungiyar Nigogin Yabon Ma’aiki.’ Muna yin wakokin yabon da salon nan na Rapping, amma wakokin addini ne, ta salon kwaikwayar wakokin da suka yi fice a kasashen Turai. Kamar akwai wakar Boyz II Men, mai taken End of the Road, wacce muka canza ta zuwa wakar yabon Manzon Allah, inda ake yi mana kida da mandiri, mu kuma muna rerawa. Da farko sai aka rika yi mana dariya, ana kushewa, cewa wane ne zai ji irin wannan wakar yabon, ta salon Turanci? Amma dai ni daga nan zan ce na fara waka sosai. Daga nan ne na hadu da Alhaji Hamisu Iyan-Tama, inda na je ofishinsa, inda na kalli wani fim mai suna ‘Badakala’ wanda su suka shirya shi. Daga nan na fara sha’awar harkokin fina-finai da sauran harkokin nishadantarwa irinsu. A nan na hadu da su dan’Azumi Baba Cediyar ’Yangurasa da su Ado Ahmad Gidan Dabino da sauransu. Ni a lokacin, na yi sha’awar in fara fitowa a matsayin jarumi a fina-finai, amma saboda kankantar jikina a lokacin, sai aka ce ba zan iya fitowa a wannan matsayi ba, sai idan ana bukatar fitowar yara, za a sanya ni. Daga nan na zama dan aike a ofishin Iyan-Tama, inda ake aike na kamar sawo abinci ko daukar janereto idan an je daukar fim, da sauran hidindimu irin wadannan. Muna cikin haka sai dan’Azumi ya rabu da Iyan-Tama, ya bude nasa ofishin, wato R.K Studio, ni kuma sai na bi shi. A lokacin ne ya sayi abin kida na zamani wato Piano/Yamaha. A kan wannan na’ura na fara koyon kidan zamani da kaina, har ma na fara iyawa. Daga nan muka samu matsala da shi dan’Azumi, na bar wurinsa, na yi zaman shekara daya ba tare da na yi wannan harka ta kida ba. Na koma makaranta ne sai na hadu da su Salisu Mu’azu, lokacin sun bude ofis din Lenscope Media a Kano. Ya kira ni ya ce in je in fara koyo, inda na je na fara koyon kidan kwamfuta a wurin Ibrahim Danko. Ni ne Bakano na farko da ya fara koyon kida da kwamfuta a lokacin. Da tafiya ta yi tafiya ma, sai aka bar mini kamfanin Lenscope Media na rike shi ni kadai. Ka ji yadda aka yi na fara waka kuma na shiga harkokin kade-kaden zamani.
Could we say that you have inherited your music?
You could say that, but my father sings praises [to the Prophet] and I sing modern music. After some time, we started a singing group, me and my friend Ali Jamilu, in our neighborhood, Hausawa. We did this because we were always listening to Western music,,which is what made us establish this group. We named it “The Nigga’s Who Praise the Messenger.” We were doing this Islamic praise-singing in a rap style. But although they were using the style we learned from Western music, they were religious songs. Like the Boyz II Men song, “End of the Road,” we changed to become a song in praise of the Prophet of God. The mandiri beat would be done for us, and we would sing. At first, everyone was laughing at us and didn’t have any use for us. They said who has ever heard this kind of Islamic praise in a Western style. But from this time, that’s when I really started singing. After that I met with Alhaji Hamisu Iyan-Tama, when I to his office because I had seen a film named “Badak’ala” which his company had produced. From there I became interested in the film industry and the rest of the entertainment industry. This is where I met with ‘Dan Azumi Baba, Ced’iyar ‘Yangurasa, Ado Ahmad Gidan Dabino, and others. At the time I was interested in being an actor in films, but because I was very small then, they said that I couldn’t appear as an actor unless they needed children, then they would cast me. After that I found employment in Iyan-Tama’s office. They would send me to buy food or carry the generator if they went on a film shoot, and other services like these. I was going along like that, when ‘Dan Azumi left Iyan-Tama and opened his own office, R.K. Studio, and I followed him. At that time, he bought a new kind of instrument, the Yamaha piano. It was on this machine that I started teaching myself how to produce beats, until I started being able to do it. I ended up having a problem with D’an Azumi, so I left his place and spent about a year without doing anything with music production. I returned to school until I met with Salisu Mu’azu, when they opened the Lenscope Media office in Kano. He called me to come learn, and this is where I started learning how to produce music with a computer together with Ibrahim Danko. At that time, I was the first Kano-man who started learning music production on the computer. As time passed and people left Lenscope Media company, I was left alone holding on to what I knew. [?] So now you have heard how I started singing and how I entered the contemporary music industry.
Wace waka ce ka fara yi a rayuwarka? Tirkashi! Kana nufin tun ina yaro ko kuwa dai bayan na shiga harkar? Lokacin da na yanke hukuncin cewa na zama mawaki, wakar da na fara ta farko ita ce, ‘Kano Ta Dabo Tumbin Giwa.’ Na yi wannan waka ne tare da Adam A. Zango da kuma Billy O.
What is the first song you did in your life?
Tirk’ashi! Do you mean since I was a kid or after I entered the industry? When I made up my mind that I had become a singer, the first song I started with was “Kano ta Dabo Tumbin Giwa.” I sang this with Adam A. Zango and Billy O.
Maganar alabe ko faifai fa, ya zuwa yanzu ka shirya alaben wakoki guda nawa? Ina da alabe guda daya da na gama shiryawa, wanda na sanya wa suna ‘Kyandir’ amma ban kai ga sakin shi kasuwa ba. Yana dauke da wakoki ne a kan soyayya ta matasa sai kuma waka guda daya da na yi kan Arewa. Na yi kokarin nuna cewa mu ma a Huasa muna da salon wakoki, wato ba kwaikwaya muka yi daga Turawa ba. Wato muna da su tun da dadewa, a yanzu dai mun zamanantar da su ne kawai.
So, let’s talk about your album or record. How many albums have you produced?
I have one album that I’ve finished producing, named “Kyandir” but I haven’t released it to the market yet. It’s comprised mostly of songs on love, and then there is one song that I did on the North. I tried to show that we Hausa have a style of singing that we didn’t copy from Europeans. We’ve had this music for a long time and now we are just modernizing it.
Cikin wannan lokacin, masu sana’ar kade-kade da wake-waker na fuskantar wani kalubale ko kuma abin da wasunku ke ganin kamar takurawa daga Gwamnatin Jihar Kano, me za ka ce game da wannan rashin jituwa da ke tsakaninku da hukuma? Wannan badakala dai tana faruwa ne saboda wasu mutane da suke ganin kamar sun fi kowa ilimi, sun fi kowa sani, kai ba ka iya ba. A matsayinka na mai basira, mai fasaha, shi sai ya zo ya yi maka jagora, ya nuna maka ga yadda yake son ka yi abin da ke cikin tunaninka.
So during this time, musicians are facing pressures or what some of you see as restrictions from the Kano State Government. What can you say on the lack of harmony between you all and the [censorship] board?
These problems are occurring because some people think they have more knowledge than anyone else, they know more than anyone else—[saying] you aren’t able to do this. In your position you are talented and skilled. Then he comes and says he will guide you and show you how he wants you to do what you already know. [?]
Ba ka ganin wannan kalubale daga gwamnati zai iya dakushe muku azama? Sosai ma kuwa, wannan abu ya dakushe mana azama kwarai da gaske, domin idan ka kalli harkar, da dama daga cikinmu mun dauke ta sana’a, mun dauke ta a matsayin hanyar cin abinci, wasu kuma sun dauke ta a matsayin kamar wani abu na iskanci. Ni ba na cikin wadanda suka dauki wannan harka a matsayin iskanci. Ni na dauke ta ne a matsayin sana’a, domin kuwa albarkacinta ga shi na zama Injiniya mai sarrafa sauti (Professional Sound Engineer). Na yi kwas a birnin Paris na kasar Faransa, na yi kwas a Ingila, ga shi kuma a yanzu ina aiki tare da BBC. Na samu wannan daukaka ne duk albarkacin wannan harka da wasu ke ganin kamar iskanci ce, mu kuwa muka ce sana’a ce.
You don’t think this pressure from the government could hinder your progress?
Sure it can, this thing has really, truly hindered our progress. Because if you look at the industry. It is the opportunity that some of us have to take up a profession. We take it as the path to earn our daily bread. Others take it as a way to live immorally and get into trouble. I’m not among those who are in the industry to be immoral. I take it as a profession. I have been blessed to become a Professional sound Engineer. I have done a course from Paris, France, and I’ve done a course from England, and now I’m working with BBC. I have found opportunities and all the blessings of this industry that some see as mere immoral living. But we say it is a profession.
Me ne ne sakonka ga al’umma dangane da wannan sana’a taku ta kida da waka? Kirana ga al’uma shi ne, ka ji, ka ki ji, ka gani, ka ki gani. Duk abin da aka ga matasa mun taso muna ta yi, a yi mana kyakkyawar fahimta, a daina yi mana kallon cewa mu ’yan iska ne, wai muna bata tarbiyya, wai muna kaza-kaza. Ko ana so ko ba a so, idan mu an hana mu wannan harka, an danne mu ta karfin tsiya cewa ba za mu yi ba, to fa sai an sayi wakokin Timaya a Kano, sai an sayi wakokin P-Skuare a Kano, sai an sayi wakokin Dbanj a Kano, wanda lalatar da ke ciki ta ninka sau dari fiye da namu na Hausa, balle ma wakokinmu na Huasa babu wani abu na lalata a cikinsu. Wasu na cewa ai su wakokin su Timaya da Turanci suke yinsu, to a tuna fa, wadanda ke saurarensu a Kano sun je makaranta fa, suna fahimtar duk abin da suke fada. Ga shi kuma ba a hana sanya wakokin nasu a gidajen rediyon da ke Kano ba, har gobe ana sanyawa. Amma wai namu saboda da Hausa ne, ga shi nan ana hanawa. Don haka, ina kira da cewa, ya kamata a bi mu a hankali, ba a yi mana karfi-karfi ba.
What is your message to the readers about your music profession?
What I have to say to the readers is this: whether you hear or you refuse to hear, whether you see or you refuse to see. Everything that is seen as a profession, we have introduced it and we are still doing it. Understand us very well and stop looking at us as if we are rogues, or that we are spoiling the upbringing of children, or we are doing this and that. Whether you like or you don’t like, if we are kept from this industry, if we are weighted down into destitution by those saying, we aren’t allowed to do it, well, then people will buy Timaya’s music in Kano or they will buy P-Square’s music in Kano , or Dbanj’s music in Kano, which are a hundred times worse than our Hausa songs. And there is not anything bad in our Hausa songs. Some are saying, oh, that Timaya’s songs are in English, but remember, those who are listening to them in Kano have gone to school, they know what’s being said in them. And those songs haven’t been banned from the radio stations in Kano. Until tomorrow they will keep playing them. But ours, supposedly because they are in Hausa, they ban them. So, I am saying that they should take care how they treat us and not be too hard on us.
Last night I wrote a post about a story my friend told me about some musicians being arrested for playing at a wedding “without permission.” However, since the case is still ongoing, I have decided to take down the post until things are a bit more settled.
[UPDATE: 16 March 2010: Abdulaziz A. Abdulaziz has just published a story in Leadership on the Alliance Francaise episode that mentions the incident I am referring to here:
Meanwhile a six-man band known as Police Band who perform at weddings in the state was equally smashed by agents of the board on allegation that they were performing without a permit of the board. The band is led by one Solomon alias Solo, an emerging entertainer.
Members of the band were mopped up and taken to a court which subsequently sentenced them to six months with an option of fine of N20, 000. The group was thrown behind bars but was later released after paying the fine.]]
When I first heard about this story, my friend told me that the Police Band was registered with the Kano State History and Culture Bureau….
Today’s Punch carries an update on the recent cancellation by the Kano State Censorship Board of KAMFEST, the annual music festival hosted at the Alliance Francaise. [It took my browser a long time to open the Punch link. If you can’t get it to open, you can also find the article by Oluwole Josiah at Online Nigeria, unfortunately not credited…]:
The French Embassy has said it would not accept the conditions given by the Kano State Film Censor Board for lifting the ban on the annual music festival known as KANIFEST.
It also said it was unsure of staging the annual festival this year or next year, as the position of the Kano State Government would determine the fate of the festival.
French Ambassador to Nigeria, Jean-Michel Dumond, told our correspondent in an exclusive chat on Monday that discussions with the officials of the censorship board revealed that they were targeting one of the participating singers who was said to have criticised the board for banning music within the state.
He said the board wanted the singer to be withdrawn from the concert, but that condition was not acceptable to the embassy.
“We don’t want to be involved in that kind of situation where it has to do with this person or that person. Ours is to ensure that we promote culture and get the festival to benefit the people.
“If it is reduced to an individual or dealing with one person or the other, we are not interested in that. We have been discussing with the officials of the government, and we do not really have anything to do with the censorship board,” Dumond said.
He noted that the Kano State Governor was not aware of the decision of the censorship board and would be seriously disappointed at the turn of events.
To keep reading the Punch article, follow this link.
When I heard about the closure of the event on Saturday, I was told by filmmakers the rumour that the reason the event had been shut down was because popular Hausa singer Maryam Fantimoti, called the “the box of songs” by Hausa comedian Ari Baba (as cited in FIM Magazine, July 2009, p.41) was slated to perform. (Maryam was also one of the finalists in Partners in Transforming Health in Nigeria in 2009). In a July 2009 interview with Fim Magazine, Fantimoti responded to a question about registering with the Kano State censorship board (my translation in italics):
Ana ta zuwa ana rijista da Hukumar Tace Finafinai ta Jihar Kano. Ke kin je kin yi kuwa?
People are going to be registered with the Kano State Film Censor’s Board. Have you gone?
Ban je ba, kuma ban yi ba, domin ni dai ba kamfani ne da ni ba, koyaushe ina gidan mu; in ka ga na fita an bugo waya ne ana nema na sannan in fita.
I haven’t gone, and I haven’t registered, because I am not with a company. I’m always at home. If you see me go out, it’s because I have been called [to work], that’s when I go out.
Ai ba kamfani ba, wai a matsayin ki na mawakiya tunda mawaka ma duk su na zuwa suna yi.
Not that you are a company, supposedly it’s supposed to be done because you are a musician, since all the other musicians are going to do it.
Ni ban sani ba, domin ban ga takarda a rubuce ba, kuma ni komai nawa cikin tsari na ke yi. Kai, ni tun da na ke jin mawak’a, na ke jin labarin su, ban tab’a jin an ce Shata ko Garba Supa ko D’ank’wairo ko Hassan Wayam da Barbani Choge sun yi ko suna da rijista ba. Shi kenan kuma don mu aka raina sai a ce sai mun yi wata rijista?
Me, I don’t know, because I haven’t seen anything written on it; everything I do is done properly and in order [NOTE: the translation of this last sentence could be off.] Kai, ever since I have listened to singers and heard news about them, I’ve never heard that [a list of older “traditional” Hausa musicians] Shata or Garba Supa or D’ank’wairo or Hassan Wayam or Barbani Choge were registered. So, now we are held in contempt unless we go and do some registration?
[Note, that on the question of individual registrations for musicians, writers, or filmmakers, Director of the Kano State History and Culture Bureau (a Kano state government agency which helped plan the music festival), Ali Bature opined, when I asked him, a few days ago, that there was no such specification in the Kano State censorship law. The entire censorship law can be found in the library of the Kano State History and Culture Bureau for those interested in looking through it. If this interpretation of the law is correct, Maryam’s understanding that it was only companies that were supposed to register with the censorship board would be correct.)
Although Maryam Fantimoti was not able to perform at the music festival that was shut down by the Kano State Censorship Board, you can hear her singing along with DJ Yaks on his song “Rukky,” one of the songs featured (timecode 12:09) during the recent 26 February interview VOA did with DJ Yaks. ” (The link to the sound file is here–the written interview here.) “Rukky” can also be found on DJ Yak’s myspace page. (Please note that DJ Yak’s music is not for sale in Kano.) I will link to any other of Maryam Fantimoti’s music I can find online, as I find it.
She is also the female voice in the songs featured in the Hausa film Zo Mu Zauna
In an update to my last post, I spoke briefly today with Alain Service, the director of the Alliance Francaise in Kano, and he confirmed that the Kano State Censor’s Board sent a letter to the Alliance Francaise about two hours before the three-day KAMFEST music festival, an annual event that has taken place at the Alliance Francaise for the last 6 years, was to begin. Service said the letter told them to stop the festival. He claimed that the letter gave no other reason for cancelling the event other than saying that they had no right to hold the event without informing the Censor’s Board.
There were also brief articles in the Daily Trust and by AFP about the cancellation of the three-day event, which was to feature artists from Nigeria, Niger, Chad, and France.
Sharia police ordered the closure of an annual music festival funded and organised by the French embassy in northern Nigeria at the weekend, local officials and diplomats said on Monday.
“We have banned the music festival for the reason that we were not notified and our permission was not sought,” Abubakar Rabo Abdulkarim, head of the film censorship board in the northern Kanoregion, told AFP.
The French embassy said they had been told they could not stage the event at the local French cultural centre as they did not have prior authorisation.
“Following a notification by the Kano state censorship board, the Kano festival of music is cancelled” the French embassy said in a statement emailed to AFP.
The embassy has organised the three-night KANFEST music festival for the past six years through its cultural centre in Kano, featuring performances from Nigeria and other African countries as well as French musicians.
It seems strange to me that the Kano State Censor’s Board had the power to halt the event, when another Kano State agency, the History and Culture Bureau had helped in planning the event. One person I spoke to at the Alliance Francaise said that she thought the Censor’s board was limited to censoring films, but that since the event was cancelled at the Alliance Francaise she had heard that the censor’s board is saying that even performances at weddings have to gain permission from the censorship board ahead of time. When I asked the director of the History and Culture Bureau, Ali Bature about the relationship between the two state agencies, he said that the History and Culture Bureau had a “cordial relationship” with the Kano State Censor’s Board and had in fact been instrumental in helping to found the board in 2000 as a way to protect filmmakers and allow them to continue making films after the establishment of shari’a law in Kano State. He did, however, note, when I asked him, that there was no legal basis in the Kano state censorship law, for the individual registration of artists. He said the expectation was that guilds would be registered with the censor’s board but that individual artists were the guild’s responsibility. A copy of the entire Kano State Censorship law can be found in the Kano State History and Culture Bureau, for anyone who would like to peruse it. According to film industry practitioners I have spoken to, censor’s board workers on multiple occasions(one such occasion is described in one of my March blog posts) have visited locations of films being made in Kano to check whether each member of the cast and crew is individually registered with the board. Although I was not able to confirm this with Mr. Service, the rumour I have heard from multiple sources is that part of the reason the Censor’s Board shut down the event was because Maryam Fantimoti, who is not registered with the Censor’s Board, was slated to perform at the event.
French Ambassador to Nigeria, Jean-Michel Dumond, told our correspondent in an exclusive chat on Monday that discussions with the officials of the censorship board revealed that they were targeting one of the participating singers who was said to have criticised the board for banning music within the state.
He said the board wanted the singer to be withdrawn from the concert, but that condition was not acceptable to the embassy.
“We don’t want to be involved in that kind of situation where it has to do with this person or that person. Ours is to ensure that we promote culture and get the festival to benefit the people.
“If it is reduced to an individual or dealing with one person or the other, we are not interested in that. We have been discussing with the officials of the government, and we do not really have anything to do with the censorship board,” Dumond said.
He noted that the Kano State Governor was not aware of the decision of the censorship board and would be seriously disappointed at the turn of events.
Josiah also reports that:
The French Embassy has said it would not accept the conditions given by the Kano State Film Censor Board for lifting the ban on the annual music festival known as KANIFEST.
It also said it was unsure of staging the annual festival this year or next year, as the position of the Kano State Government would determine the fate of the festival.]]]
Today, I passed by a roundabout near the government house several times, and the banner advertising KAMFEST was still there, flapping abandoned in the breeze.
I was told the following information by several people I will not name. I cannot, at this moment, verify the details of this report, only that it is oral testimony (over the phone) from several people who were involved in the event. I hope to talk to someone in the administration of the Alliance Francaise tomorrow to get more concrete details.
Apparently, yesterday, 26 February 2010, the three day Kano Music Festival, being hosted at the Alliance Francaise in Kano was shut down on the first day of the event by representatives of the Kano State Censorship Board and not allowed to continue with the rest of it’s scheduled events. According to one person I talked to, the festival was closed down because Hausa musician Maryam Fantimoti was to perform and she was not registered with the Kano State Censorship Board.
The organizers of the event had brought musicians from other parts of Africa and Europe to perform at the music festival. According to one press release on the Guide 2 Nigeria website:
There will be performances from several musical groups from across the globe including the famous Soubyana Music from Chad, the Dangana group from Niger, the Nassiru Garba group from Nigeria and the Trio Belhumeur from Upper Brittain.
Another source told me that over 20,000 euros had been spent on the cultural event, which did not end up holding, as it was closed by representatives of the Kano state government.
The Alliance Francaise has hosted the Kano Music Festival (Kamfest) for six years in a row. The event had the support of the Kano State History and Culture Bureau.
Happy New Year to all of my Muslim friends in commemorating the 1431st year since the Prophet’s Hijra. Allah ya ba da zaman lafiya.
And in other topics, here is my song obsession for the day. Nazifi Asananic’s “Dawo Dawo” (“Come back, Come back”) as featured in the Hausa film Garinmu da Zafi. (Forgive me for not italicizing. My laptop mouse is broken and I have a hard time highlighting things anymore…)
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A Tunanina... 