Consume #1
From No Brow by Linus N, (Johannesburg: No Brow Press, 2023):
The most annoying yet interesting aspect of capitalism is that it rewards several key qualities: fluidity (or flexibility), prolificacy (or high output), and the ability to co-opt or synthesise (meaning everything is up for grabs). People have eventually realised that the more resources you acquire, the easier it becomes to say and maintain No.
Look at your boy, quoting himself. I usually try to write a post by Sunday or, at the latest, by Tuesday—that’s if I had a busy weekend. Unfortunately, this week I couldn’t meet that self-imposed deadline because I had to deliver a song yesterday before 10 AM. Let me add a bit of context: Until just under two months ago, I knew zilch about how to make a record myself. I couldn’t, and still can’t, play any musical instrument; can’t sing for food and can’t dance to boot. That doesn’t mean I’ll stop dancing, even when I know that I suck at it. I can, however, whistle, clap my hands, and also snap my fingers—surely those must be considered instruments. A few hits have been built around those. Bobby McFerrin’s ‘Don’t Worry, Be Happy’ (1988) starts with the artist whistling and snapping his fingers. So, there’s hope. I often tell people that I only have two regrets in my life: not taking my music and French classes seriously in high school. I naively thought they wouldn’t be useful in the future. I believed I didn’t need to learn French to visit France, and besides, mastering the English language was a hassle on its own—my subject-verb agreement was always disagreeing. Music, on the other hand, was a different case. Until a decade and a half ago, if you told your Nigerian parents you wanted to be a musician, there were a couple of possible outcomes: you’d either have the music flogged out of you, be laughed out of the room, or, if you came from a wealthy background, your parents—usually your father—would probably threaten to disown you. People from disadvantaged backgrounds weren’t typically threatened with disownment. If you think about it, that threat only carries weight if you have something to lose. There actually weren’t many options for social mobility in those days, so all potential courses of action had to be coldly calculated. Back then, the Nigerian music industry—if there even was one—was nothing like what it is now. It wasn’t just parents who felt that way about their children becoming musicians; society as a whole shared this view. 🎹
It’s interesting how things can flip in a short time. Anyway, the prospects for a career in music were, and still aren’t, that great. If you want to make a lot of money, music isn’t really the way to go. The Matthew principle still applies: the top 10% make 90% of the money in the industry. The likes of Taylor Swift, Drake, and Beyoncé will continue to earn an inordinate amount of money. With over 100,000 songs released daily, how new musicians will break through is anyone’s guess. Anyway, for some inexplicable reasons, parents would allow you to sing or play instruments in church but not explore music as a profession. My father wanted me to be a doctor, but look how that turned out. I remember one day, my brother, who was probably less than a year and a half old, picked up a towel and put it on his head. My father, in his inimitable way, said, ‘He’s going to be a lawyer, or he might become a judge.’ I choked on laughter because I sensed he didn’t know what was coming. Although music wasn’t considered a profession, I suppose my school at that time didn’t feel that way. I was a shy kid, and that hasn’t changed much as an adult. My parents thought it would be interesting for me to join the children’s choir. Did I enjoy it? Sometimes. Our kid’s choir represented our church in competitions. They used to put me in front, but I’d end up staring at the floor while singing. Instead of kicking me out of the choir, they just put me in the back. My behavior used to annoy my dad to no end, but my mom always found it funny. She was in the ‘adult’ choir, so she understood her boy’s pain. My father had a large music collection, and I sense that at a certain stage in his life, he aspired to be a musician. I never heard him sing or dance, but he’d just keep nodding his head to whatever he was playing. I read somewhere that a reader is a secret writer. 🎧
I think the same applies to people who listen to a lot of music. They find themselves drawn into the music industry in various capacities, whether it be music journalism, criticism, production, or the business side of things. This is, of course, a generalisation, because not everyone feels this impulse, but you get the point. After years of listening to an inordinate amount of music, it was natural for me to try my hands at making it. Making music is no different from painting or collaging. For me, it’s just a continuation of the visual art practice I had already started. Consider a DJ: they are like artists who create collages by mixing different songs together to create a delightful experience for the listener. The same thing with a music producer – all they do is orchestrate and organise sounds. I have noticed in my life that when I deeply enjoy something, I eventually reach a point where not contributing or creating in that domain feels almost parasitic. It’s just an inexplicable sense of guilt. Whether my contribution or product will be of any good is a matter for another day. I still believe that the best way to critique something is to produce your version or a better version of it. So, if there’s a specific type of music you wish to hear and it doesn’t exist, go ahead and make it. The distance between consuming and producing is like the distance from Johannesburg to Honolulu – far as hell. You also have to decide in which spaces you want to be a producer and in which to be a consumer. I have an issue with the word ‘consumer.’ I hope we find an alternative soon, as the term ‘consume’ evokes images of fire ravaging a forest. A few years ago, if you had told me that I’d one day make music, I would have given you a firm ‘No.’ It’s a frustrating and time-intensive endeavour with little payoff. I still stand by that opinion. Anyway, one must differentiate between making music for pleasure and pursuing a career in music. These are two different paths, each with its own requirements and consequences. 🎸
Just like in the visual arts, do you want to paint for your own joy and comfort, or do you want to have a career as an artist? Sometimes, these goals are not mutually exclusive. I often laugh when career artists say, ‘We are not interested in the money.’ Have you checked out the cost of art supplies recently? Music-making is no different. To ‘master’ an instrument, you’d probably need to play it two hours daily for a really long time. The question then is this: How much is your hour worth? I haven’t even added the cost of musical instruments or the cost of setting up a studio. I know it sounds quite calculating, but there will always be economic and social considerations. Things cost money, something that many artists – both in the visual and performing arts – struggle to comprehend. That’s why I think there should be more wealthy patrons or more institutions subsidising the arts, so people can have the freedom to create. For artists who have bought into the corrosive idea that artists should starve, be depressed, and in a state of constant anxiety to make great art, I send you love, peace, and light. Art can also be made from a place of joy. Artists should reflect the world around them. The world is not just a sad place; it's also a very beautiful place. We often expect artists to have a tragic back story before we can buy their work or consider them talented. I am no Van Gogh, so I am not chopping off my ears for anyone’s amusement. So goodluck with that. Now, artists have no choice but to come up with complex narratives about the meaning behind their art. But what if the inspiration is as simple as, say, a fart during dinner with a friend? Where’s our humour or sense of play? Oh Lord! I went out on a rant and didn’t end up writing about the song I made. 🎶
Thanks for reading. If there’s anything you’d like to chat about, or if you have any questions, feel free to shoot me an email. I’d love to hear from you. 🍿