Young Nigerian artistes sing foolishness, nothingness — Ras Kimono

Renowned reggae artiste, Ras Kimono, is an angry man at the moment. And the source of his bristling anger is nothing other than young Nigerian artistes holding sway at the moment. Ras Kimono isn’t pleased that none of the artistes is singing ‘reality’ songs.

In an exclusive chat with Showtime, the ‘Rum-Bar Stylee’ master thundered, “None of the new crop of artistes now are doing real reggae. They are afraid to sing reality. They’re all about bum-bum and such mundane things. They’re all singing about foolishness and nothingness. Look at what is happening in the country today; the president is also doubling as the Minister for Petroleum, and nobody is talking about it. I’m angry.”

On which of these young artistes he would like to work with, Kimono retorted: “Which of them would I like to work with, or which of them would like to work with me? Anyway, none of them is doing real reggae, so I’m confused and paranoid about working with any of them.”

Kimono however refuted the claims that reggae music is dead in Nigeria. In his words, “As long as Ras Kimono lives, then reggae is still alive in Nigeria. If reggae is dead, you won’t come and talk to me now.”

Sharing a bit of what he’s up to at the moment, the reggae veteran said, “I’m in the studio working, and I’ll be coming out with a brand new tune before the year runs out.”