Fela Taught Me Never to Forget Marijuana - Fela's Ex-Messenger, Rasta Tee
While his mentor
always had his saxophone and marijuana within stretching distance, in similar
fashion, he also carries his guitar and marijuana wherever he goes. The only
glaring difference is that while his mentor, Fela Anikulapo Kuti passed on many
years ago, he is very much alive and continues to propagate his Rastafarian
gospel; constantly struggling to break the chains of penury that stagnates his
musical progress and consequent prosperity.
Speaking with Simply SAMAD, Rasta Tee, a popular
guitarist within the Iju-Ishaga axis of Lagos State
revealed how he was musically groomed by late Fela Anikulapo Kuti. Gripped by
an apparent fever of nostalgia, Man Tee averred that he would never forget his
life changing encounter with the late Afro-Beat king.
A few minutes
before this interview, the Rastafarian was visibly in his elements while
performing at a recent wedding ceremony in Lagos. Thrilling guests at the event with his
energetic display, he easily attracted the attention of curious passers by who
gradually formed into a crowd at the venue of the wedding.
However, following
his powerful performance, he delved into his unforgettable encounter with Fela
and the many lessons he learnt while working for him at the shrine.
According to
Rasta Tee, one of the greatest lessons Fela ever taught him was how not to
forget the inspiration that comes from smoking marijuana.
“I met Fela in 1984. He was very nice to me
and even after his death, I have always referred to him as my father.”
Rasta Tee also disclosed that his
relationship with Fela helped him realize that in every aspect of human
endeavour, there is always an enemy around then corner.
Still on the inspiration he gets from
smoking marijuana, Rasta Tee added that the late Fela also taught him that the
true inspiration of marijuana can only be achieved when the smoker does not
allow the marijuana take total control. “Oh! Fela wanted to kill me with
marijuana,” said Rasta Tee bursting into a fit of prolonged laughter and
continued, “After our encounter in 1984, I still come back to him, one year
after; precisely in 1985. This time around, I came to serve as a messenger in
his shrine and I left the shrine after his death. I remember that when he died,
I was the one taking people who came to pay condolence visits to his main house
because the condolence register was kept at the shrine. Some people who came
straight to the shrine did not know his main house,” he said.
Just as one begins to wonder how the Akwa-Ibom
born Rastafarian got into reggae music, he tells the story of his family. “My
parents were lovers of music. They all sang and danced during their youthful
age. That perhaps explains why I started playing the guitar right when he was
in secondary school. “When I was in secondary school, I was a guitar boy. I
must tell you the truth, I went into music a long time ago; at least my PMAN
membership card can testify for that.”
Rasta Tee as he is popularly known was bold
enough to admit that poverty had caused him a good number of set-backs as
regards his musical progress. “Poverty has been one of my major set backs to my
love for music.”
Speaking on his dreads hairstyle, Rasta Tee
lamented the alleged atrocities some of his counterparts commit under the guise
of being Rastafarians. “My dread is natural but you see, many of those you see
today with dread are not Rasta men but they parade themselves as such and use
that to commit crime. They are nothing but criminals who use their dread to
commit many atrocities in our country. Some of them are even drug dealers. Just
look around and you will see what I am talking about,” he said.
However, despite his wife’s disaffection
for marijuana and her constant complaints, the father of three still affirmed
his love for her. “
I am thanking God everyday of my life for
making this lovely woman who fights me everyday my wife. The only reason why
she fights me is because she does not like the marijuana I smoke but she
understands my lifestyle. She fights me all the time because she wants me to
stop smoking marijuana and to remove my dread hair. One day, she just got tired
of the whole thing. I thank God she has been able to cope with my lifestyle all
these days unlike before but I have told her several times that my inability to
stop smoking marijuana was as result of my encounter with Fela.”
Don't forget to follow me on Twitter @simplysamad for more exciting gist, photos, interviews, reviews, jokes, quotes and other entertaining content | BB pin: 267F2633
Heya superb website! Does running a blog similar to this require a large
ReplyDeleteamount of work? I have virtually no knowledge of programming but I had been hoping to start my own blog in the near future.
Anyway, should you have any ideas or tips for new blog owners please share.
I know this is off subject however I simply had to ask.
Thanks a lot!
My web-site; outstanding how to breed golden retrievers content
Hurrah! At last I got a web site from where I know how to truly obtain helpful facts concerning my study and knowledge.
ReplyDeleteHere is my web page victorinox Swiss army watches For Women