Lawyer-turned musician, Folarin Falana, better known by his stage name Falz the Bahd Guy or Falz, has said that some of the skills he learnt as a lawyer are now helping in his musical career.
The University of Reading, England-trained lawyer stated this during an Instagram Live session with his fans. His words: “On the skills helping me as an artiste, I would say analytical mindse, because as a lawyer, one has to critically analyse things. My lyrics usually have a lot of depth. I do not just make music, I make sure it has a lot of meaning.”
Commenting on why he was very active in the #EndSARS protests, the Karashika crooner said, “it was something that had to be done. I felt that we were left with no choice. The EndSARS hashtag is not new. It had been online for years and every time we complained about those things, nothing was done. So, I thought it was time to take to the streets.
“I had seen a tweet by Runtown saying he was going out (to protest), so I called him and told him I was interested. I put out a tweet saying that we would march on a specific date for a certain cause. We were actually expecting 50 or 100. We got out there and started marching and by the time we got to the end of the road, thousands of people had joined. It was unbelievable. I had never seen anything like that. It gladdened my heart how everyone came out,” he added.
The rapper stated that his activism was not because he wanted to go into politics as speculated. He said, “going into politics has never been the plan. I have never said to myself that I would run for any (public) office. My motive for activism is just for the sake of humanity. A lot of people asked if I am going to run for any office but I don’t have any such plans. I have never registered with any political party.
“I just believe the ‘ordinary’ citizens need to be as motivated as I am about humanity. There is no ulterior motive. I want to see that there is a certain standard of living that the ordinary Nigerian is enjoying. I want to see that there is light, food, jobs and an enabling environment.”
Born October 27, 1990 in Mushin, Lagos, to renowned lawyers and human right activists, Femi and Funmi Falana, the rapper, songwriter and actor, began his musical career while in Olashore International School, Osun State, after forming a group called ‘The School Boys’ with his friend.
He took his career to the next level in 2009, when he went professional with the release of a compilation of some of his recordings titled, Shakara: The Mixtape. He became better known after the release the single Marry Me featuring vocals from Poe and Yemi Alade.
In 2011, he became more popular with the release of Waz Up Guy, which he complemented with High Class and Currency. His discographies include, Wazup Guy (2014), Stories that Touch (2015), 27 (2017), andMoral Instruction (2019).
On November 18, 2014, he was ranked number 9 on notJustOk’s list of ‘The 10 Most Gifted Rappers in Nigeria 2014’. “Falz’s ability to maintain a thought and get his point across in 16 barz while switching accents, infusing funny punchlines and delivering all of it in a way that makes the listener follow along is nothing short of impressive,” the online music platform stated.
As an actor, his movie run include Jenifa’s Diary, Couple of Days (2015), Tinsel (2016), 10 Days in Sun City (2017), New Money, Merry Men: The Real Yoruba Demons, Chief Daddy (2018), Merry Men 2, Muna and Your Excellency (2019).
He described his style of music as ‘Wahzup music’, a fusion of comic lyrics with contemporary hip-hop in a faux Yoruba accent. He currently owns an independent record label called Bahd Guys Records, which he has complemented with a film production outfit name House21TV, which he unveiled in August 2020.
While unveiling the new film production company Falz also took to Instagram to unveil an all-new comedy series, Therapy, to air exclusively on YouTube.
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