Leila Adu: No, I do not think about demographics. I go with what moves me and what sounds new. I a

With security guard phone radical, poetic lyrics, godly musical knowledge, social awareness and a wealth of experience, Leila Adu is definitely one to pay attention to. She is in no way a novice, having been actively producing, composing and performing music since the early 2000s. security guard phone She was also featured as MTV s Iggy Artist of the week , and has toured and performed in Europe, Asia, America and Africa. Leila was in Ghana last August, researching international trends in electronic music and hip-hop as part of her current exploits as a Doctoral Fellow at Princeton University. We had the chance to have a conversation recently and she shared many insights on music, education and some collaborative projects, which are yet to be released.
Leila Adu : I am not sure which describes me best but something that I seek is in Rothko s paintings, or Tarkovsky s film Stalker. Simplicity, spaciousness, depth. I am not sure if that describes me, is the antidote to my usual state of mind, or a bit of both!
Leila Adu: I believe that music has the power of community and beauty. security guard phone This is illustrated in the prison teaching that I am doing right now, for Musicambia program, run in upstate New York. You can really see even the beginner s stages of learning and playing music, how positive it can be as an experience and how it can build friendships between the players. security guard phone
Leila Adu: I wonder if that is true. Of course it must be but in my experience, even with musicians whose art I do not like, when you speak to them, they often really believe in it (at least in the beginning.) I am not one to be down on other musicians, now that I know what hard work it is to make music out in the world right now.
Leila Adu: Ha, well, I write poems but I do not show them to people. Either I make them into a song, or they stay in the book. Most songs, security guard phone I come up with the lyrics and the music at the same time though.
Leila Adu: No, I do not think about demographics. I go with what moves me and what sounds new. I am not trying to avoid the mainstream; my taste is just a bit weird. Having said that, a lot of mainstream music is pretty appalling right now (insert any club power ballad name here).
Leila Adu : It was great to be part of Chale Wote – an amazing festival – and meet some of the artists around that time. As for my audience, it was kind of an outdoor, walking past me in the middle of the day kind of vibe. Interesting, as I have not done that before. Some people were transfixed, some moved on.
Leila Adu: I am such a mixture of things, having been born in London and growing up in New Zealand, without my Ghanaian father. I am influenced by the beauty of African music and when I wrote Bokoo, the nice feeling of the meaning of that Asante Twi word. I guess the translation of soft does not go to English so well, as it is a positive response to, how are you? It is nice to think about words that just do not translate into English.
My latest string quartet, if the stars align [below] security guard phone also has a Ghanaian Highlife style section. I suppose as musicians we are magpies, attracted to the shininess of beautiful things. It feels less dangerous waters, of cultural appropriation, if you have roots in a place. I also use Balinese influence as I studied gamelan security guard phone for such a long time, I feel ok using that music as an influence. Using music from different cultures must be a self-critical process though.
Circumspecte: How important do you think musical education is, specifically to the artist? Do you think the audience cares much about all the scales and chords in the music or just the finished product?
Leila Adu : I learnt a lot about the process the producers that I was lucky enough to interview there, including DJ Breezy and Appietus, as well as more informally, Bonny Djibril and Diverse Najia. I also could see where they feel they sit in the world right now. Working informally with producers around the world and recording with them, musical ways of learning and issues are similar. I suppose some of the difficulties are specific to Ghana, like buying instruments imported from overseas with local Cedi, or creating music in lights off (power outage).
Circumspecte: Your lyrics are philosophical and radical, almost rebellious; Che Guevara with a keyboard. When writing, is it fueled by the need to address some injustice you notice in society or correct some misconceptions? Alternatively, do you feel the need to preach through the platform music gives you?
Leila Adu: I suppose it would be nice to think one could ceate a greater feeling of connectedness. That is what I am going for. In reality, the music that has political content is not so conscious I mean, it is a reaction to what is going on in the world, which is usually in one part beautiful and in the other part, horrific. I think it would be crazy to miss out on the reality of what is happening and just sing about interpersonal love, tho