Jazz-not-jazz proudly presents an interview with Beautiful Nubia in the wake of the review to his recent album Awilele.

Q: How does it feel having had a great success with your last album Jangbalajugbu, which sold over 250,000 copies in Nigeria. And how important is it for you that this happened in your home country?

Beautiful Nubia: It fills me with a remarkable sense of achievement especially since our music is not really what you’d describe as popular music. Early on in my career, some self-styled experts in the Nigerian music industry told me I needed to soften and reduce my words if I wanted to make headway in the industry since Nigerians don’t want to hear too many serious words. Well, I am glad they have been proved wrong now. Nigerians are loving this music more and more and the quantity of copies sold per month hasn’t slowed down at all (it sells at an average of 25,000 per month). Since January this year, we have sold another 60,000 copies and I believe that is how it will continue to sell for many years to come because the message is timeless, new and younger generations will discover it as they grow up, it’s going to become part of the rites of passage to adulthood for generations to come. What more can a creative artist ask for? There’s a lot to celebrate in these modest numbers because most albums produced in Nigeria do not reach such sales marks, either as a result of poor distribution or piracy. But then when you look at the huge market (140 million people!), well, this is just a tip of the iceberg.
More importantly, though, is the fact that we are getting across to large numbers of people in a land where our message of individual and group rebirth is urgently needed to inspire change, hope, and courage. Every day I receive, on the average, fifty e-mails from people around the world, especially from Nigeria, thanking us for the uplifting words and the pride with which we project our culture in the music. This is worth more than a million sales.

Q: Please describe where do you see your development as an artist with the release of Awilele compared to its predecessors.

Beautiful Nubia: Every new album is a platform of celebration for me. Awilele, my fourth album, represents another level in the evolution of the music of Beautiful Nubia. With the acceptance of each album, our voice gets stronger, bolder and more focused. In the unprecedented success of Jangbalajugbu we found greater strength to remain on our chosen course and with Awilele, we hope to prove to everyone that we are here to stay, we are for real, and we actually believe in all the strong, positive messages we have been churning out over the years.

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