Fela Inspires Me – Seyi Shay

Seyi Shay is not playing.

The singer is changing the nature of her art to lean heavily on Cuban Salsa.

Her latest record ‘Bia’ takes from the hallowed genre of Salsa, mixing it with the Igbo word for ‘come’ to create a hybrid. The general message of the single is an invite from a lover “to come and have fun.” She sees this as the latest iteration of her art, exploring the connection between Nigeria and Cuba.

“When I made Yolo Yolo, what was on my mind was the Fela Kuti sound,” She says. “I read somewhere that it was a part of his inspiration. Certain parts of Africa have adopted this sound as their own. Nigeria is one of the inventors of the Salsa sound.”

Seyi Shay plans to merge Salsa and Afrobeat, and by doing that, carve a new niche for her music. She says it’s a part of Nigeria’s DNA to blend sounds from numerous cultures. “I think most Nigerians experiment a lot, we have taken the different element, which is the rhythm, and pretty much just injected all types of flavours into it.”

“With help from my team, we realised that it would be a good idea to be consistent with one sound, and own it, but still remain Seyi Shay. I really want ‘Bia’ to open the doors for more new sounds to come through.”