Kani |
Kani Williams,
a contemporary hip hop artiste whose songs inspire its listeners in an
interview with ADA DIKE, among other riveting issues revealed why he abandoned
Electro/Electronics Engineering to do music.
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Unlike many
people’s claim that they started singing from their mother’s womb, Kani Williams
has a calling to write and sing songs that motivates and inspires people.
The genre of
his music is a contemporary pop because it is a fusion of hip hop and African
inspirational and motivational mix.
Born Akanimo
Williams, Kani, who hails from Akwa Ibom State has professionally been singing
for over seven years, though many people noticed him after he made a guest
appearance on Olu Maintain's hit song, Second Chance.
Signed under
Newschool Entertainment, he released his first single, ‘Swaka Swaka’ in 2006
and later released an 11-track-album titled ‘Talk Ur Mind Unlimited,’ which has
hit songs including: Man Be God, I Can’t Stop Loving You, Mr
Junkie, Feel Masef.
Among all the tracks in his album, Man Be God recorded a tremendous success.
There are other inspirational and love songs in the compact disc (CD). Some of
the songs try to motivate and encourage people whose lives or relationships are
not going the way they want it. He used his personal experience to write some
of his songs. Also, Impossibility is not the Reality is another beautiful song
in his album. “People who are looking forward to realise their dreams should
listen to it. I love You is another track which tries to tell people that there
is up and down in every relationship but how you go about it matters,” he
explained.
Since he was not in any relationship when he
released the above track, one may wonder how he could advise people through his
song. “All relationships have the same principle, no matter the kind of
relationship you are into, be it boyfriend and girlfriend or husband and wife.
We are talking about how people will love each other and live in peace,” Kani
explained.
He tells what Man Be God is all about: “In
life, human beings capitalise on every opportunity they have to bring somebody
down or oppress him. So if man were God, you can imagine what would happen. In
fact, the world will not exist in the first place. The world still exists till
today because God is on the throne. A lot of people have helped me
in the past and many others have hurt me, which proves that man is not God.”
Many things
inspired him to do Man Be God. “When I came to Lagos in 2005, I had no idea
where I would sleep. I entered Lagos with just my dream with faith that God
would take me to places. I got to Lagos around 7pm. As the clock was ticking, I
was wandering about, having nowhere to enter. In the course of that, my luggage
was stolen. Then I decided to go to Ikeja. I reached Allen Avenue tired without
knowing where I was because I have not been there before. Luckily for me, I
found my helper, Mr. Deola Otukpe of blessed memory who took me in as his
godson and introduced me to a studio called Heavy Metal where I recorded my
songs although, he initially advised me to go into sound producing and
engineering.”
Kani was doing
music in school while studying Electro Electronics in Cross River State
Polytechnic, Calabar where he graduated in 2003. “I studied the above mentioned
course to please my parents but I actually wanted to be a musician.
Music was
inside of me from the onset. I was composing songs while in school and was doing
music with a three-man group called Soul and Dreams.
Later on, the
first song I did titled ‘A Tear Drop to Happy Days’ which I did with the help
of a Cameroonian, Sergio Marcelo was dedicated to my mother because my mother
and I are quite close. She believes in me and has been supporting me from
inception. My father is a nice person and a disciplinarian but he did not
encourage me to do music. It was lately he bought my album from a market and
told me that he loved all my songs. In fact, he did not know that I have this
talent.
He revealed
his plans for the future. “My plans for the future begin now because I see
myself as the future. I have an annual show known as ‘The Kani Show,’ where
achievers are appreciated. It is an avenue or a platform where people hear the
success story of stars in the entertainment world. I use this annual event to
inspire the youths who have lost hope because I almost lost hope in life. It is
an avenue to hear a story that will inspire everyone because everybody that has
made success today has a story to tell. Learn from other people’s success story
and discover your talent. Believe in yourself.”
He aimed to
use his songs to reach out to people who smoke Indian hemp, street urchins,
clubbers and everybody. “I use Man Be God to send messages to people from
different strata or race.”
It is not easy
for artistes to release songs that appeal to large number of people. Kani said:
“It is not easy for every artiste, especially, inspirational artistes’ song to
be a hit. They always believe in the industry that you have to record a club
song before you will be celebrated. One of the challenges inspirational artistes
have is how people can accept their songs and dance to it. I tried to overcome
this challenge by harnessing my talent and recording inspirational songs many
people love. I can do a club song tomorrow, though it will be inspirational to
pass a message across to people in the club. You don’t do fiction these days
but a song everybody can relate with.”
Kani looks
up to some artistes as his role models due to their music. I used to listen to
Bongos Ikwue when I was growing up. I am a lyrical person, I like good lyrics.
In our generation, I like 2Face because he is talented and his lyrics have
strong messages. Internationally, I love R. Kelly, Paul Simon and Tracy Chapman.”
Concerning
his relationship, he said he does not want to reveal it to avoid distraction. “Definitely,
I am a responsible person. When you bring your relationship into showbiz, it will
become a topic of discussion though some people bring their relationships in
order to be famous.”
In terms of
fame and fortune which showbiz brings, he said the kind of music he does brings
popularity. “For the fortune aspect of it, I will die of hunger if I can’t make
money to satisfy my needs.”
As a young
man, he has a goal and strives to make sure he fulfils his purpose on earth. He
advised the youths to be focused in life. “In a church one day, after playing
my song, one man walked up to me and told me he loved my songs, saying that
after listening to it, he changed his mind from doing what he wanted to do. I
am happy when my song makes somebody to repent. That is my calling. I know that God will be angry with me if I
relent. I want the youth to discover themselves so as not to lose direction. Dreams
are free but achieving it is the price to pay.”
1 comment:
Wow, this is so great
I love the words spoken by Kani
We've worked together and he is a amazing colleague.
We did a track together in the studio we both worked, it's a love song. Titled Forever. It's on Audiomack for now. Forever by Zion_boi feat. Kani 💞
Here's the link https://audiomack.com/official_zionboi/song/forever
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