Meet X-Project, Africa’s cross-border collaboration

Who and who make up X-Project and how did you meet?There is Akinwumi Akinwoye (Nigerian) a.k.a Majeed, Azeez Camara, (Sierra Leonean) a.k.a. Aziz and Saliu Umar Sindi (Sierra Leonean) a.k.a. Saal. We make up Extreme Project better known as X-Project. We met in 1999 in Lagos and came together as a group in 2000 and […]

Who and who make up X-Project and how did you meet?
There is Akinwumi Akinwoye (Nigerian) a.k.a Majeed, Azeez Camara, (Sierra Leonean) a.k.a. Aziz and Saliu Umar Sindi (Sierra Leonean) a.k.a. Saal. We make up Extreme Project better known as X-Project. We met in 1999 in Lagos and came together as a group in 2000 and 2001 we decided to call the group X-Project.
How has X-Project fared in its ten years of existence?
The fact that we are from different backgrounds was a major challenge in the early years. The orientations are different and trying to harmonise our cultural differences and ideas to give us the kind of music we want proved a tough task for us.  In a nutshell, we have experienced it all; the good, the bad and the ugly. It’s been a rough and sometimes smooth ride on the trip up the ladder.  Lucky for us Sam Kagbo Productions (SKP) came into our lives early and worked with us like his children. He lived up to his promise of doing all he could to see to the success of the group. This saw us releasing our first and second albums under the record label in 2003 and 2007 respectively.
With the language diversity, how do you arrange your songs in local dialects?
The basic thing in composition is talent. You don’t have to speak a language to sing in it. As Africans, it’s easy to inter-communicate.  As Sierra Leoneans we can’t speak Yoruba but Majeed can just as he can’t speak our language. After we have decided the focus of a song and written it in whatever language, we all make combined efforts to sing it. So the problem of language barrier is non-existent.
What was your mission for coming to Nigeria Saal and Aziz?
We came as refugees here due to the conflicts back home. But we were artistes before we left Freetown. On coming here we discovered opportunities and fate was generous to us and we moved into the industry.
What was the experience of the success of your first album like for you?
Oh! It was a huge success. For everything one does in life, if there is no success or profit, you’ll likely quit. But if you continue with it, that means you are succeeding and the same thing applies to us. That first album was a great teacher and an eye opener so the subsequent ones have been an improvement of every previous effort, which is obvious if you make a comparison.
What is your music genre?
We see ourselves as an all round group because we do Afrocentric, Reggae, Blues, R & B, among others. Aye mi was blues which made many people think of us as R & B artistes. Then we diversified and came out with Tumba, the Yoruba version, then Lorile. The mark of a good artiste is versatility, which we possess.
What inspires you?
Experiences shared with others give us inspirations. Also the environment and things in it that catch our interest could give us a great song. As a group, inspirations come from any one of us on any topic of interest. It could be on the way people treat others which inspires us to do a song.
Do your songs have a central theme?
Not really. It depends on the kind of music we decide to go with. We all know that Reggae is all about conscious vibes and the message has to be as such. If it is dance hall, that determines the message.
How do you regard songs with meaningless lyrics and should music be based on vibes and instrumentals?
Hmm, good question. We see music as a combination of sounds which produce melody. It doesn’t always have to be fast or for dance. Unfortunately, people prefer to go with trend in this part of the world rather than originality. Music is more than just singing and should convey a message regardless the rhythm
Your group combination is probably the only one of such; does that pose any challenge?
Not necessarily. We have challenges as every artiste; the major one being the fear of not being accepted. Every musician thinks big; when they are trying to put a song together, you believe that when you go to the studio and come up with this song people will like it.  At every growth stage, there are challenges. If you are a fresher, you may be discouraged if your first release doesn’t get any recognition but when you persevere and persist, you are likely to succeed in the end. Piracy is another issue for us. Our society promotes it and artistes a lot of times don’t get to make anything out of their songs. It is becoming a norm with people just waiting for you to put efforts into an album for them to go and pirate.
How have you been able to stay together?
We work as a family under a record label. That label took us up as children and has brought us this far. We can’t, but encourage such a person at every point.  Also, as you know even the teeth and the tongue usually have problems despite their closeness and it is the same way with us. We tolerate each other’s shortcomings and excesses. It’s impossible to avoid having differences but we try to settle them amicably as they come and with the help of Sam Kagbo it has been easier to really get along.
Did you face objections from family when you decided on music?
Majeed: For me, not really. Their concern was for me not to get into any trouble in the course of doing it as I have always been a good son. They feared that showbiz would make me lose my head to drug, fraud and all such. My success caused them to start thinking differently. I also found it easier to get my things done and move around because I was doing a Diploma course in Lagos State University at that time. When they finally discovered that doing the music was not such a bad idea, they allowed me. But between my parents, there was more resistance from my mother as my father never had a problem with it but I was able to convince them that it was for good and I will not go out there and be the son they did not want me to be. I’ve kept that promise.
Aziz/Saal: There was no resistance at all especially as we were on our own in Nigeria then.
At the time, was music a passion or just something trendy for you to do?
The truth is that I, Majeed never knew I would become a musician and I owe big thanks to my late friend Scott who was a rapper and made me realise my talent. I used to hang around him and his friends during their rehearsal sessions. I thought I could rap bt it was only after I began attending studio sessions with them, I realised that I had a good voice and the compliments from others made me decide to do music. It started with writing songs and singing before I found a new love, music.
My meeting with Aziz and Saal also helped me to make up my mind and consider it a career. We are very passionate about what we do which is one of the things that has kept us going as a group.
What’s your take on artistes using their songs as quarrel avenues?
It’s unhealthy for the industry. But in an industry with a lot of gossip, hatred, jealousy such things cannot be isolated from it. Even as far back as the King Sunny Ade’s era, if you are familiar with their music, they also had their quarrels, and their songs were their instruments a lot of times. It still exists in our time and may not be good but at the same time necessary for the show business.
But more importantly, we should see ourselves as ambassadors and when we begin to do such things, we give a different impression to the world outside showbiz.
Could you tell us about your nominations and wards?
Our first award was the Presidential Award from Ahmed Tijjan Kaban for best song of the year in 2004 in Sierra Leone for Tumba Dance.  It is a song done in Creole which we translated into Yoruba. The second award was for best hip hop in the Nigerian music award which Lorile won. In 2008 we won the Afro Nollywood award in the United States for outstanding group of the year. Before then we had been nominated for AMEEN Awards as best group of the year. We were also nominated for KORA Awards as best group in the last edition which was supposed to be last year if the ceremony had taken place. 
What’s your opinion about the influx of Nigerian artistes in the Diaspora coming back home?
Nigeria is unquestionably blessed with abundant talents which are highly appreciated in the outside world. They realise now how unnecessary it is trying to be a star in another man’s land when they can be greatly celebrated in theirs.  The good thing is they are coming back with a lot of ideas which they out into the industry to help it grow. We see this as a good twist for the industry because on the long run it will change the mode of operations.
Agreed there is a strong law on piracy but how strong is it in combating it?
Also the industry suffers mediocrity which hampers growth especially when you can’t afford to pay DJs to play your songs.  DJs expect to get paid to play your song. This is a new trend in the industry. Many people believe musicians make a lot of money; yes, they Jay Zs do because they are paid realities before their songs are played in a club, radio or TV. But that’s not the case with their Nigerian counterparts. The industry is being contaminated with the ideology that there is money in music but if care is not taken, that may take a down turn in the least expected way leaving artistes with hardly any choice.
We have a lot of talents in Nigeria but what is important is to do good music. From the look of things however, we are beginning to promote people who are less talented at the expense of those who want to do good music which can really promote the industry.
Who are your role models?
Aziz: All Fuji artistes, King Masco an old musician in Sierra Leone and R. Kelly.
Mojeed: My parents; I am thankful for the education they gave me without which I will not be here today. I also respect the man SKP who is a brother and a father to me. I will always respect Fela Anikulapo Kuti. He was a true African musician and I give it to him anytime.
Saal: Salif Kaita, the Malian Musician.
What’s your word to those who look up to you?
We have come so far because of the support, belief and acceptance of all of you out there and we say thank you.  For upcoming artistes, perseverance and persistence should be your watch words. It is not an easy road to get there and you should be ready to get your desired destinations with a lot of hard work.