Age Beeka’s
entrance into the café was unassuming; as he apologised repeatedly for
his lateness, it was immediately apparent how humble he is. Born in
1975, the soul/rock musician’s foray into music started early,
performing on stage at the young age of ten. By the time he was 13, he
had written more than 20 original songs. He has a diploma in mass
communication from the University of Jos, and later underwent music
training at the Dahaju Music Institute in Jos.
Age can be
described as a self-taught instrumentalist. The well-rounded musician
can play the guitar, piano, drums and other percussion instruments
fluently. After several years of being off the scene, Age Beeka is set
to release a three-in-one third album. He speaks briefly to X2 on his
upcoming album.
Tell us about the new album
The title of the
album is ‘Civilization: Age of Possible 333’. It is a triple CD, with
33 songs in one album. It took me six years to perfect its contents. It
took that long because of what I have to say; there are many issues I
couldn’t just bypass. My first album, titled ‘Captivated’, was released
in 2002 and the second, titled ‘Collecting Flowers’, was [released] in
2005. The latter was not released to the public; only at few private
concerts.
When I was working
on this new album, I was in the Los Angeles Music Academy; I came back
because of the interesting nature of Nigeria, which unavoidably sparks
my creativity. There is so much to always say in Nigeria. I went
through so much; to me, Nigeria is a place of my inspiration.
Everything I went through these six years is an extraordinary message.
I am a practical
person with real issues; I don’t fake what I write. Whatever I sing is
what has or is still happening to me. I don’t create messages, I
present it the way it happened to me. In one of the tracks, “Fast
Walking”, I talk about life situations, the things that happen in a
fast way no matter how hard we control it, while “Life Salvation”
describes how every life needs saving somehow and “Green” talks about
the state of mind that is positive, a mind that understands the seasons
and the times.
‘Civilization’ is
about modern technology. For me this is a huge album; I don’t know
about others. If I have my way, I will probably have released a
hundred-song album because of the volume of things to say. In my
studio, I have over 2000 songs. This is an extraordinary season so
there are extraordinary things happening.
Can you be called a ‘gospel’ artiste because of your spirituality?
It will be wrong to
call myself a gospel musician. For me, every man is a spiritual being,
we are more than what we have materially: the cars, clothes and so on.
I have a song, “More than This”, that talks about how material things
are not who we are. In this present world, we have many things that
seek to put us in a mold, physical things that try to define who we
are. Like I used to tell people, “I am not the limousine I ride, nor
the house I live; I am a spirit.”
I can say I’m
spiritual, but I’m not a gospel musician. My view about spirituality is
that my spirit being must be fed before I satisfy the physical cravings
because it is my spirit that connects to the higher source. This is a
spiritual journey which is so practical; I am not religious at all.
This new album is neither a religious nor a gospel album; it is a
journey, a progressive one which everyone that listens will be able to
identify with.
With the album, I am not trying to preach to anyone, it is about discovering the essence of our lives.
Is your new album made for a Nigerian audience or cut for the international scene?
I am already on the
international scene so it is for both. I don’t see myself as a Nigerian
musician; I am a global musician which inevitably defines my market.
For instance when I was in California, a man heard my songs and was
amazed at the contents; he could not believe it is from Nigeria. Many
people outside the country do not know that people could actually speak
good English. This is what I choose to change with my music.
Life goes beyond all these Pidgin-ridden songs in Nigeria. I don’t
want to be known as a man that sings Pidgin but a man that knows why he
is in the world. It is not just about the hype but about offering
content to the world.
