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Worried by the state of the nation, Kerae Records music act, Akachukwu Emmanuel Uche known musically as Mmzy, has sent out a message to the government in his new single Animal. To drive home his point with a touch of activism, he had Afrobeat artiste Seun Kuti, a widely known music activist, on the single.
“I want to be one of the voices that speak the truth about the state of the nation. I want to be the voice of the voiceless and the disadvantaged people for both the young and the old. It is high time we made the government know we know the truth and call them out to change their ways. We should let them know we are not going to keep calm anymore,” he said.
On why he featured Seun Kuti, he explained, “I think he is the best person to interpret the message of the song. Again, he has a long history of activism. He is unapologetic about his stand on social justice and good governance. He is a voice of the oppressed and a thorn in the flesh of the government because of their history of bad leadership. Another reason I featured him is his mastery of the saxophone; I wanted a feel of sax on the song and Seun Kuti was the perfect answer. I think for the song to get the Afrobeat sound right I needed someone like him. Another reason I featured him is his family’s long history of standing up to the government. The fight against oppression, maladministration and corruption in the land is in his DNA as the son of the legendary Fela Anikulapo Kuti who created Afrobeats. It was great working with him.”
Mmzy revealed that he recorded the single right after the #EndSars protests and the Lekki Tollgate killings, saying it was impossible not to be disturbed by the state of the nation at the time.
“The tollgate killings and the bad way our government handled the situation spurred the inspiration for the song. But what really got me going was when I heard a beat by my producer, Cracker Marley. I was in the hotel room with him. When he played the instrumental I knew we could work out something special with it. When I heard the beat the first thing that came to my mind was Fela’s song Beasts of No Nation. The personification of ‘Animal’ in the song sparked a fire in me; it aptly described the situation in the country at that time.”
He continued: “We immediately started recording. The situation in the country is so bad that it is only someone that is not in Nigeria that would not feel it. Everything happening in Nigeria inspired the song; bad leadership, bad governance and corruption in government. One day you read in the paper that Animals swallowed money. A monkey was said to have gone into a heavily guarded office and took away millions of naira. Another day, you heard of a snake swallowing another millions.”
Uche hails from Bende Local Council of Abia State. His stage name, Mmzy, was derived from his name Emmanuel and the name of his secondary school days’ group known as Zy. He attended the University of Lagos where he studied French and Integration Studies.
The song Amoureux was his first official single in 2012; the video was shot in Cotonou, Benin the same year. In 2015 he dropped Something to Show and it was everywhere in Benin Republic and his university. In 2017, he released Tonight.
In 2020, he dropped Social Distance, a collaborative effort with Citiboi, Aboki-ibile and Sevn. Social Distance has been enjoying rave reviews and impressive streaming numbers since its release. He followed up with Wildin, before his latest work Animal.
