A lot of people may have asked what a lawyer and the son of a legal luminary is doing in music, how do you react to this question? It is a thing of passion for me. Whatever you are passionate about you find that you always want to do. Say, for instance, you are passionate about fashion and for some reason you find yourself in a medical school. You will realise that you won’t practise medicine with all your heart, because you will always get attracted by fashion and style and all that. I decided to follow my heart fully. If you are the first son, I guess you will have some problems, how did you manage to convince your father, for instance? I am the first and only son. Well, I wouldn’t say it was a problem. It was, in fact, a surprise. Neither of my parents had any background in music. It was a surprise because they were like, “Where is this coming from?” I spoke to them. After a while they began to appreciate the fact that I was passionate about it. I have had their support ever since. I should say that my parents are my number one fan. Do you still practise Law? I still practise Law, but my schedules these days have not given me enough time for Law. I still give legal advice and do other petty legal duties. Is your stage name, Falz the bahd guy, working for you? It is. When you hear Falz the Bahd Guy, you want to know who he is. Who names himself the bad guy by the way? I actually have a positive connotation to my stage name. Bahd stands for Brilliant And Highly Distinct. I like to differentiate myself from everyone out there because I don’t think there is anyone who is doing the kind of music that I do. What kind of music do you do? From what I have seen, Nigerians do not pay much attention to lyrical content, which is what should be important. But most people prefer nice beat to good message. So, we are trying to change the nature of things. I pay a lot of attention to lyrics and I think a lot more artistes should do that. Would you say most Nigerian artistes churn out this kind of songs because they rely on shows and not royalties, to make a living? The structure of our music industry in this regard is a valid concern of any artiste in Nigeria. The way our music is structured, I mean the activities of pirates and everything make it difficult for any artiste to survive without shows and deals. It is definitely a valid concern. But we have to find a balance. You have to be able to do your beat with a message. I think it is about finding a balance. How are you finding the balance? I am making danceable beats that people would love and at the same time getting vital message across. What in your childhood prepared you for the music world? Childhood was interesting. I had my primary school education in Lagos. I went to Osun State for my secondary school, a boarding school. It was while I was in the secondary school that I developed passion for music. I think that was when I started to nurture my talent. It definitely prepared me because I had the time to, sort of, lay the foundation of what I have become now. Let’s talk about how you came by this glassless spectacle you wear, is it your signature? Sort of, yes. It is the thing that goes with the brand. Falz the Bahd Guy is a musician with a lot of intriguing aspects. It was first a mistake and I found that it could sell, because when people see it they would be like, “What is wrong with you?” And that is the effect I want to get. I wear glassless spectacles for the effect. What have you been doing lately? I recently released a single called Ello Bae. The video will be coming up soon. After this, I have another single coming out with the video. I will be dropping singles up until the end of the year when I will officially release my second album. How do you intend to maintain this tempo in the music industry? Relating and constantly interacting with my fan base is very important to me. And that is something I continue to do. I think my brand has a humour side of it that keeps my fan base. That is one of the things that has made me to stay up there. Every now and then I release a funny video. It has been drawing people to my side. That will hopefully continue to work for me. You have worked with Yemi Alade, who do we see you working with in the future? I want to work with different people. My next single is very likely to feature Reminisce. I like to work with Wizkid. I think Wizkid is very talented. What major challenge are you facing in your career at the moment? Sincerely, one of the challenges I am facing right now is trying to break out of my father’s shell. You know, there is already a reputation. People know that I am the son of a prominent lawyer. A lot of responsibilities follow that name. But I think I am gradually making a name for myself. I want people to say, “This is Falz’s father”, I don’t want to be known as Femi Falana’s son. How do you feel about your recent endorsement deal with WebMall? I am excited about it. I feel fulfilled. Our visions align. It has been a great working relationship. My brand has an aspect of humour to it and with it I have been able to draw more following on the social media. I believe I would be able to use my growing fan base to promote WebMall. How do you handle your female fans? I show them love as they should be shown. Are you in a relationship? I am single. Is anybody in the picture? I am not really focused on that. I want to be able to achieve a number of things before thinking in that direction. What are you looking to achieve? I want to be at the pinnacle of the Nigerian music industry. I want to establish my record label to a level where I can begin to mentor young artistes. What would you be looking for when you finally want to settle down? I will be looking out for intellect in any lady I want to get intimate with. I have to be able to connect with you on a psychological and mental level for us to relate well. I am not really concerned about the looks. Why are you not concerned about looks? The reason I said I am not concerned about looks is because there are a lot of beautiful women out there. So, that is not what I am looking for. I want to be able to connect with my woman on a mental level. This interview was carried out on May 29, 2015 ………………………………………………………………………………………….. Fazlz Current Music and life style Artiste or Comedian? – A comparison of Falana Falz ‘How far’ and ‘Marry me’… You might not have seen of his music videos or heard any of his songs but you may have heard about the Instagram (or YouTube) star who is a lawyer and the son of Nigerian legal practitioner, Femi Falana. Falz is a distinct artiste not because of his genre of music but because of his alter-ego with a deep and hilarious Yoruba accent who says Shnardine, Comerbeef, Hegg-yoke and Shin-gum…. If Falz ever thought of leaving music (his first love), he would probably make a better killing at comedy. How else did he get hismany brand endorsements? Definitely from his comic performances on Instagram, YouTube and Facebook called #Bants. See, Falz is a very smart man. He knows there are a lot of rappers (very good rappers) – there’s Modenine, Terry tha Rapman, Vector and a lot more of them with very serious and punchy stage names. However, Falz figured early that he had one thing the others had but probably won’t – the typical Yoruba – English accent, which he has used so well that it’s become exclusive to him. Strategy or not, he’s making waves with it. A comparison of his popular music video Marry me (featuring Poe, Yemi Alade) and How far (featuring Dauda) show that Nigerians (or the world) will take his comic tongue over his rap talent. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxSiSqQwUtc&feature=youtu.be On the one hand, How Far, Falz is ‘serious’ as discusses the struggles of Nigeria. In this song/video, there is no point where he uses his Yoruba accent. This video got 51,196 hits. On another hand, Marry Me borders on how society treats courtship and marriage. Here, Falz speaks in the language in which a lot of Nigerians understand. He quotes the most common pick-up lines from men and usual excuses women give when they want to get married. This video got 1,598,530 hits. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UzlN0AbPgQ&feature=youtu.be This is a consumer insight into content preference in Nigerian music. It’s no news that Nigerians would watch/listen to comedy rather than tragedy. Falz is a good case study for upcoming artistes and how they can make hit songs. Big up to Falz..]]>