Folarin Falana, the famous Nigerian rapper known as Falz, has spoken about how his upbringing influenced his attitude to activism.
The musician, who led the #ENDSARS Protest in Lagos in 2020, clarified that his activism did not begin that year.
In an interview with the Menisms Podcast, he ascribed his activism to the influence of Fela Kuti and his father, Femi Falana.
“Apart from Fela records, my dad has been an activist for over 40 years so having someone like that as a father, everywhere I went, someone had a story about what my father did for them. So that level of selflessness played a part in who I became.
”That was always at the back of my mind so with everything I was doing with my record, I drew inspiration from everything around me.
“I have always been conscious. So it’s not like I woke up one day. 2020 was a time when so much was happening that we needed to take further steps from just talking and walking the walk. Of course, I was going to be in front because I had been talking the talk anyway.”
In related news, Falz, a Nigerian rapper, has admitted that he has never been in love and has never told somebody, ‘I love you.’
Speaking on a recent interview with the Menisms Podcast, the rapper stated that he has not reached the phase in his relationship where such declarations of love are made.
He said, “I’ve never really said I love you to anybody. I’ve never been in love; I have never gotten to that level of emotional commitment and they’ve not said it to me sha. You know there is a level in a relationship where it’s like, ‘Oh, I love you, baby, I love you too’, I’ve never gotten there.”
Falz added that he prefers to be open about his feelings and goals from the beginning of a relationship.
“I’ve just not made the commitment,” he continued, “I’ve always been upfront about my feelings and my disposition and commitment early on, so we’re usually on the same page. That way, nobody is going to run off on their own tangent because we know what’s going on. Also, from time to time, I feel like these conversations need to be revisited every now and then.”
“At the end of the day, it’s not like I’m not expressive, maybe I’ve just been consistently true to the cause and I’ve now become accustomed to the mindset of always guiding,” he concluded.
During a previous interview, Falz revealed that he had been single since 2008 for several reasons.
“My last relationship was in 2008; I was 18 years old precisely. It’s not like I’m running away; it’s just been like a rollercoaster, a couple of different things for a couple of different reasons. It keeps changing, and I just haven’t felt ready.”
