by Folarin ‘Falz’ Falana

”I looked so lost on that particular stage (at the time, I had just begun performing), so I was asking myself can I really perform? I had doubts and I began questioning my ability. It was encouraging words from people that helped me, when they would tell me ‘’Go mehn, you can do it’’

The name ‘’ Falz’’ is something I picked up in school, its like the short form of my last name – Falana. The name just stuck because in the university people used to call me Falz, the bad guy. I decided to make some good out of it and make it mean something; so my spelling of the bad is BAHD, that’s Brilliant And Highly Distinct. I think it’s a great and apt definition of my musical persona as well. It’s very distinct, it’s very different; when you hear that sound, when you hear that razz on the song, you know yeah that’s Falz and that’s what my musical persona is about.

It’s not like I just woke up and started singing; actually a friend of mine used to write short raps & verses and I found it very cool so I just approached him; ‘’Dude, lets form a group or something’’ and he agreed. Together, we started writing rap songs and rapping to groups of friends within school. This was back in secondary school. I must have been in SS1 at the time. Gradually, we progressed to rapping on stage in front of teachers and all that.

It was fun. People really enjoyed what we did and we had some lil’ groupies amongst the girls. That’s how it all started, and then in my music, I just evolved. It’s been an evolutionary process. There were some key players in the industry that influenced my decision to go into music professionally- the likes of M.I and Tuface Idibia. Their music helped me decide to take music as my profession and I went on to release a mixtape. I also released some singles and my business has been growing since then.

When I was in school, I wasn’t fully focused on music. Though I was involved in music-related stuff, I wasn’t a full-time musician but I still stayed in people’s mind. What I kept in mind was that you need to get educated first, that’s the way I was brought up. That’s why I still thought it was important to get educated, get a degree and then I became a lawyer and now I’m a barrister. I still practise at the moment, though it’s not major practises because I’m obviously busier on the music scene.

I may not be the kind of rapper with punch lines and everything, but I’ve come with a different twist. And that’s why my music has a certain vibe, a certain taste; it’s funny, it’s razz, it’s hip, it captures people. When they hear that razz on the song, they are attracted like ‘Who is that?’ and then they listen and then we correlate. I also make music that has a serious meaning, but I try to attract people with the less serious and then I get them to hear the serious side of me.

The kind of image I’ve established for myself is that young, cool, hip, interesting person. I think there’s a market for that because everyone wants to be yuppie and cool. My album is called ‘Wazup Guy’, so I brought in that hip coolness which a lot of people will be able to relate to and that’s the angle that my album takes.

In music, there are bound to be highs and lows. A major low point was a horrible performance I had when I was still studying in the UK. Actually, in the university, sometimes, I went to perform at shows in other cities. I looked so lost on that particular stage (at the time, I had just begun performing), so I was asking myself can I really perform? I had doubts and I began questioning my ability. It was encouraging words from people that helped me, when they would tell me ‘’Go mehn, you can do it’’. That was what brought me back up, words from people and words from fans.

Surprisingly, a lot of people think my father would be against my music career but no, my family finds it interesting and they’ve always been intrigued by the fact that I’m able to do this. They never saw me having any background in music and it’s an interesting new twist to the family. They’ve been supportive so far.

I’ll end this on a light note, and share an awkward moment that comes to mind, it was with a fan. I was going to buy something at a retail store so I was looking very ordinary, and a fan walked up to me and said, ‘’Hey you’re Falz, right? Why’re you looking so ordinary?’’ and I found it weird that he asked and I responded, ‘’ Dude, I’m just chilling, not going to perform or anything, so that’s it’’. Now, that was really awkward, lol.

—————————–

Folarin ‘Falz’ Falana is a Nigerian rap artiste. His stage name is Falz, the bahd guy.

30 Days, 30 Voices series is an opportunity for young Nigerians from across the world to share their stories and experiences – creating a meeting point where our common humanity is explored.

Op-ed pieces and contributions are the opinions of the writers only and do not represent the opinions of Y!/YNaija