Latest / Black Business Live Podcast / Legacy in Motion: Baba Kuboye | From J.J. Ransome-Kuti to the Afroverse

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Legacy in Motion: Baba Kuboye | From J.J. Ransome-Kuti to the Afroverse · Black Business Live Podcast

• 0:00
  Baba Kuboye: JJ Ransome-Kuti is my great great grandfather.
• 0:02
  Tolu: Your grandfather.
• 0:03
  Baba Kuboye: He's Belva's grandfather. He was his birth to put out music, gospel album in the nineteen twenties.
• 0:07
  Tolu: You actually worked in the IT industry. So how did you find your way back to music?
• 0:12
  Baba Kuboye: I went to The UK to study electrical and electronics engineering as my first degree. I did that because my parents insisted that, you know, music is a passion, but not have a plan b, do something else as well so that you can diversify your mind. And diversity is something that's very important in this world of entrepreneurship than anything you do in life. Yeah. You know, my grandmother used to say, rest and soul, variety is a spice of life.
• 0:37
  Entrepreneurship for diversity is is a spice on the pocket. I knew that I wasn't gonna do it forever. It was to give me the foundation to raise the capital needed to be able to start the music. Legacy or it's not something you inherit. It's why you choose to grow.
• 0:50
  But I'm inspired by the legacy I'm born into, and that's what has given me the passion, the fire, and the power to actually take it to their heads.
• 1:01
  Tolu: Welcome to the Black Business Live Podcast where we are amplifying black innovation, culture, and excellence. We do this because we believe that representation drives aspiration. So when you see someone who has walked the same path as you have, you will be inspired, but also you'll be challenged to do the same, but you will have the confidence to take that step as they have. And today in the studio, we have the privilege of having somebody who has treaded many waters. I mean, he's got a backlog of history behind him.
• 1:31
  He he has he has held a family legacy that has gone well over a hundred years, if I'm not mistaken.
• 1:36
  Baba Kuboye: This is true.
• 1:37
  Tolu: Yes. His grandfather was the the first person to release an album in 1925 in Nigeria, and his family has played a prominent role in shaping the socio economical culture in Nigeria as well. I have with me none but the infamous, Babba. He's a recording artist, and he's also has been nominated for the Grammys in 2023. So, Babba, it is a pleasure to have you in the studio today.
• 2:09
  Baba Kuboye: Likewise. And this is all true, what you said. JJ Ransome-Kuti is my great, great grandfather. He's Belva's grandfather. He was his first put out music gospel album in the nineteen twenties.
• 2:20
  But it's a pleasure to be here. Thanks for having me.
• 2:22
  Tolu: Yes. And I didn't actually mention that his grandfather, so his great great grandfather had the album, and then his grandfather obviously is a famous Felakuti that everybody knows.
• 2:32
  Baba Kuboye: He's my grandmother's brother, Fela, so he's more like a grand Grand uncle. But, yes, it's in the blood. A lot of people know Fela because he is a genre creator of Afrobeat, so African classical music, as he calls it. But, yes, he's so JJ Ransomekuti is my great great grandfather, Israel Olu Doten is his son, and Fela is the son of Olu Doten, so two generations.
• 2:57
  Tolu: Two generations. Wow. That's a wonderful family tree. And, you can always trace that history to one person, right? And, you know, that's still, as you said, your great great great grandfather, and it almost and that legacy has stayed in the family multiple formats.
• 3:12
  Baba Kuboye: It sure has. Even though JJ is known for the album, his father was the drummer for the cabbie scene at Belva Town.
• 3:20
  Tolu: Imagine that.
• 3:20
  Baba Kuboye: That's the earliest, like you said, Diatrix is back that far. But it's the family legacy. It's something I was born into. Something that I'm very passionate and honored to be part of. Legacy is not something you inherit, it's why you choose to grow.
• 3:32
  There are many great community servants in our family, from a liar and some kutis, someone as well known, she helped champion women's rights. Some of her kids, like my grandmother was a nurse, she helped with the Salvation Army, she helped with goodwill. Beko and Olikoye. Olikoye was the minister of health in Nigeria. Beko was a civil rights doctor and activist.
• 3:52
  My mother, with my father, had lots of NGOs to help children in terms of trees, rights, environment, empowerment. So nongovernmental organizations suggest to use for community service and spread messages. Mhmm. I do the same with my music. I wasn't always in music.
• 4:09
  It's part the adventure journey.
• 4:11
  Tolu: Yeah.
• 4:11
  Baba Kuboye: I've always been in it, but in terms of a full endeavor to do it fully was something that happened more recently. But I'm inspired by the legacy I'm born into, and that's what's given me the passion, the fire, the power to actually take it to their head. So I'm glad to be here for a few reasons. One, I love what you do with your platform.
• 4:31
  Tolu: Thank you.
• 4:32
  Baba Kuboye: And two, not many people have come before me in what I've been doing, and it's a great place for me to be able to share what I know with those coming behind. Or if anyone chooses to, dispel any thoughts, ideas, or misconceptions, that's what I'm here for. So I'm actually glad to be here to speak to the next generation of artists
• 4:52
  Tolu: and creators. Absolutely. And it's such a pleasure. I've been so excited to have you, just for the same reasons as you've articulated. And and for me, it's the whole package.
• 5:02
  It's the whole thing, and and I'd love to for us to start
• 5:06
  Baba Kuboye: Yes, sir.
• 5:06
  Tolu: From that. So, let's let's go back, like, to the '19 whatevers.
• 5:10
  Baba Kuboye: Let's let's go it
• 5:11
  Tolu: Let's go give it out. Yeah. So, I I I know you grew up in Nigeria like me, right? So, we know how it is. I I remember when I was in secondary school, we would go to this place called was it called Jazz?
• 5:24
  Is it Jazz?
• 5:25
  Baba Kuboye: Jazz thirty eight.
• 5:25
  Tolu: Jazz thirty eight. It was right by it was it was all the way in somewhere
• 5:30
  Baba Kuboye: In Ikoyi.
• 5:31
  Tolu: In Ikoyi. Yeah. And and I never knew that it was owned by your family.
• 5:37
  Baba Kuboye: I didn't know you were there. I see me thinking that you were not part of that world in a sense. But, yes, we were we both grew up in Nigeria. I grew up in Lagos. Ikoyi is like a Dallas.
• 5:47
  It's a city. It's a suburb. My parents had a nightclub there. Well, it was a multipurpose venue. Mhmm.
• 5:53
  My home was at the back, but in the compound where the cars would be parked, there was a stage, there was an arts gallery, there was a dental office. My mom was a surgeon. There was a bar. There was a video store. He wanted to rent videos like a blockbuster.
• 6:09
  There were my dad was into studio work, so he would have film and sound engineering services there as well. There was a lot going on, but at night on Fridays and Saturdays is when the magic started with the music live. They would rehearse during the week. But weekends, you would have the heavy Ednas, the Black East, the Mike Oakrees, the RMDs, everyone and anyone who was into this on the scene, both visually or sonically, were there. And fella, my uncle, will come and perform as well just before he goes to start his show at the shrine.
• 6:42
  And fella will come in back just with 50 people, a big entourage Uh-huh. Do his set. I was very young at the time, so I wasn't always allowed to be outside with everybody, but I would hear from inside. And even when I was not playing video games or when I was sleeping, I would hear the music. I would hear fella.
• 7:01
  I would know when he comes. I would know who's coming, how how long his set was, and it was just a great place to grow up with. Looking back now, jazz thirty eight is very pivotal in Nigeria's history of music, and I'm just honored to be part of that.
• 7:14
  Tolu: Absolutely. What a heritage. What a story. You know, it's such an eclectic mix. You said a dental surgery was right in there, production.
• 7:24
  I mean, it's just it's so beautiful to to have had the privilege of experiencing that. That's art, science, culture all meshed up together. How did that influence you? How did that shape you today? What influences can you remember from that experience?
• 7:38
  Baba Kuboye: Oh, a lot. It's fun memories. I'm sure you've seen me light up as I talk about it. Art is a science, actually, in a sense. There's a discipline to it.
• 7:46
  And my parents ensured that I get an education. In Nigeria then, maybe not so much now, entertainment was seen as the topsy-turvy industry not to put all your eggs in that basket because their mindset is very different from in the West. So they were educated and they encouraged me, similar to most Nigerian parents, get a degree, they run around naked if you want to. But how that shaped me was because I grew up in a place where it was so open minded, it allowed me to just be able to go with the winds and be open minded and freestyle, but be able to absorb and do many different things at the same time.
• 8:23
  Tolu: Yes.
• 8:24
  Baba Kuboye: So, I got a degree or two in The UK before I moved out here to The US, but music has always been a part of me. I would join my parents on stage. I would join them on some of their shows. I would join them in rehearsals, and many kids just mimic their parents as role models. So I thought, I can do what they're doing, it's easy.
• 8:45
  In fact, when no one is there, I'm on that stage playing around. So it inspired and I guess planted that seed that this is something that you could do if you wanted to, and you could do it to a scale that would make them proud and also to, take the culture to the world, which is really what this is about, you know, your culture, your heritage. And I like that to reflect. I'm very intentional. I want that to be reflected in my music, in my work.
• 9:12
  Even optically, I want people to know who I am and where I'm from before I open my mouth or they hear my music. We're proud Eurobar people, West African, Afrobeat, even though it's for sake of commercialization, it's packaged. Everything African now in the commercial space is Afrobeat, but it's really from West Africa and Nigeria. You're about to be very specific. So you know?
• 9:33
  And I'm just proud to be part of that heritage. I want that to show for ourselves, for my kids, and for our descendants, but also to honor our ancestors as well.
• 9:41
  Tolu: Yeah. Thank you. Thank you for owning that, because it's not everyone who does. Sometimes it gets diluted down the way, but you almost have a duty of care to it, to hold onto it, to to own it. Right?
• 9:55
  Baba Kuboye: It's legacy, it's passion, it's responsibility. Mhmm. And I love Makosa, I love Amapiano. In fact, in my last album, Afroverse, which dropped last year, that's a living universe of Afrobeat. I take contemporary sounds.
• 10:07
  I take native folk oriki. I put that in there, but I also borrow from highlife, from my piano, because that's what Afrobeat is. Felaag took that from jazz. He took it from highlife jazz. To a lot of people that don't know, that was the music that was the commercial popular music of the time.
• 10:25
  And he took that with funk and high life to create his own sound. So, but Afrobeat, I love to inherit and just walk in the light that people I know, that I saw do it, do it my own way as well.
• 10:36
  Tolu: Yeah, absolutely. And talked about Fella as well, so tell us how that has influenced you, particularly because he he was given a posthumous Grammys Grammy Award, wasn't he? Yes.
• 10:46
  Baba Kuboye: Well, too. Recently, he got a posthumous award for Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
• 10:51
  Tolu: Yes.
• 10:51
  Baba Kuboye: But earlier on this year, well, it was announced last year, he got inducted in the Grammy Hall of Fame last year. And I met Fela through my first inspiration, which was my mom and my dad, Sundae and Frank Kuboye. They did Afro jazz music, and they had their residency or spot. The blueprint in those days is that if you're doing music, vocally is great, but you should have an instrument or two to work around with. You should work with a live band and audience, and you should play regularly so people can come and see you.
• 11:21
  It was through that that I got to meet and see Uncle Fella. Of course, I'll see him during family Christmas things here and there, but musically is where I was too young to go to the shrine. Mhmm. Unless I went with my parents or when they had shows like Lekki Sun Splash, I would see him there, but that's how I first met him. And he's just a very sweet, humble, happy go lucky, jovial guy Mhmm.
• 11:46
  As a person. Musically, he commands and dominates the space in a different way. His own passion, the way mine is to he was also embracing culture, but he spoke out against military rule, He spoke power to the people. He was spoken to powers that be with his platform because part of what we do is we need to try and you know, there's no point having that voice if you don't use it.
• 12:08
  Tolu: Don't use it. Absolutely.
• 12:09
  Baba Kuboye: There has to be some substance in what you're doing, so he did that. But it was an honor. It was just great. It was just fun being around him because he would come in with like 50 people, you know, and they're just of a different vibe, of a different world. A free, nonjudgmental, non inhibited vibe.
• 12:27
  Yeah. And I love that. Now, my parents are more jazz, more it was seen as bougie, as Americans say, or posh. It's a very structured kind of music. And it's fun in its own way, but Afrobe is just, you know, roll up your sleeves, you know, just like you.
• 12:43
  Tolu: Get on with it.
• 12:43
  Baba Kuboye: Yeah, get on with the counting, nobody's saying, know, send anybody deal kind of thing. So that was Fella, and it rubbed off on everyone around him.
• 12:52
  Tolu: So it
• 12:52
  Baba Kuboye: was great to meet.
• 12:53
  Tolu: Yeah. That's such an important part of who you are today. And so let's talk about so you've alluded to the fact that you studied in The UK. You were raised in Nigeria, raised in Ikikiui, one of the vibrant social hubs of Nigeria. And then you moved out of The UK and you came here to The States, and now you're a resident in The States.
• 13:15
  So tell us how it's been. Like, how did you find your way? You actually worked in the IT industry, so how did you find your way back to music? Wow. Did you even were you divorced from music at some point?
• 13:27
  Baba Kuboye: So, in Ikoy, it was always part of me. Ikoy used to be the capital of Nigeria. Dodan Barracks, the president, was just around the corner from me. Uh-huh. In fact, when Belva did that coffin for head of state where Fumilaya got killed, he did a march that passed through where we lived then at the time.
• 13:42
  I went to The UK to study electrical and electronics engineering as my first degree. I did that because my parents insisted that, you know, music is a passion. You have that, you're born with it. But not have a plan B, do something else as well so that you can diversify your mind. And diversity is something that's very important in this world of entrepreneurship and anything you do in life.
• 14:03
  Yeah. You know, my grandmother used to say, rest us all, variety is a spice of life. Entrepreneurship or diversity is spice of the pocket, or even of the mind because you have to be able to just a context switch. It helps keep me alive to be able to do different things. But in The UK, my first degree is electrical engineering, similar to my dad.
• 14:22
  My master's is in mobile communication systems. It's very niche in radio frequency, it's physics, it's very related to music. Music is about frequencies.
• 14:31
  Tolu: Yes, absolutely.
• 14:32
  Baba Kuboye: And understanding how that works was able allowed me to be able to create patterns, to be able to study music in a logical way, as opposed to just go with vibe. Vibe is very important. There's an emotional aspect that makes it magical, but it's a good idea to have a structure in anything you do. And having my degree or that discipline, because really a degree or two is really a discipline of research, of being deducting logical conclusions, being able to repeat results, it helped me in my music. So I did that in The UK and then I used to work here in The US.
• 15:11
  I moved to Dallas because in my field it was a hub for telco. Think of it as the Silicon Valley.
• 15:18
  Tolu: Yes,
• 15:18
  Baba Kuboye: yes. So I grew a business here. I left '95, started my own consulting and had clients here. But music was always part of me. It was really more part time.
• 15:28
  And after a while, I felt that I needed to give it my all because it was calling. I yielded to the call. I did what my parents asked me to do, and I think they did that to make sure, as any parent would do, to make sure that your children are sure of what they want to do before they do it. So, are you sure? Well, do this anyway.
• 15:47
  And I have friends who, like me, did what their parents asked them to do, but then they made the go their degree, they gave it to them, and then it went on. I wanted to, especially in The US because I'm not in Nigeria, strategically to, you know, ease into it. So that was part the strategy anyway. I knew that I wasn't gonna do it forever. It was to give me the foundation to raise the capital needed to be able to start the music.
• 16:09
  So that's how I ended up in Dallas.
• 16:11
  Tolu: So let's talk about the grind. Thank you for sharing that. Let's talk about the grind. So now you're in Dallas and you're like, you know, yeah, Afrobeats. Because, you know, we know the renaissance of Afrobeats and how all that came about, and, you know, you see all the burner boys and the debanges and all that.
• 16:25
  But you we hear more of those from a Euro Afro Euro European type transition. America is so huge, it's vast. Yes. You could always you could always easily get lost in the pond, right? So how did you navigate that?
• 16:41
  That, okay, well, I'm out, I'm doing this, I'm out there, I'm putting my foot, I'm taking my own stake in the ground.
• 16:48
  Baba Kuboye: Yes.
• 16:48
  Tolu: How did you navigate that, and what impact did that have on on everything else? Because you've basically left a lucrative IT telecoms career, especially Dallas where AT and T is like Yeah. Yeah. Its headquarters here. How did that impact you and how did you pivot into, okay, this is what I wanna do and I'm gonna stick to it?
• 17:07
  Baba Kuboye: Well, it's a calling and I'm I'm very good at every anything I do. I mean, I'm intentional. If I decide to do something, I'll take it to the head. I guess I have plateaued in terms of the radio frequency or the engineering world. Sometimes you get a degree or two, being honest, to prove to your parents that, you know, or to everybody else around you, you're not a dummy.
• 17:29
  You know, you can do it because everybody else is doing it. It's the blueprint to life. It's the blueprint to survival. Yeah. So I did that to see I could have stopped the one degree.
• 17:38
  I said, let me do it too because everyone's doing it And it does help, but it wasn't the calling. And I wasn't it was a certain kind of a different kind of drive in doing that, but music is something that I absolutely love and I absolutely love to share. So in terms of the grind or how I started, when I decided to leave engineering to do music, it was a strategy to it. If you fail to plan, you plan to fail. Always knew that I needed to understand what it's like to be solid, to be lucrative, to have a regular income, to build a business, and transfer that to music.
• 18:17
  Because with music or with any creative arts, there seems to be sometimes a misconception that it's not lucrative or it's happy go lucky or it's a jungle. It's a very different kind of business, but it is a business or it's a structure. And if I can own a life where if I can live a life where I'm successful in engineering I come from a musical family, then I should be able to do the same in music. So that's the mindset I took into it. I chose Dallas because you have to impact where you are locally.
• 18:47
  And it's a big green field. America is a huge market for anything, especially Afrobeat of music. And the the dynamics, the parameters that people like Fela and my parents were working with are very different from that. There's a very easy access to market. There's very direct communication with your fan base or your audience.
• 19:08
  You have to grow your market. But I chose Dallas because I was already here for something else. But as I'm here, let me test the waters. You have to have a product. You have to go through R and D, research and development.
• 19:19
  Tolu: As
• 19:20
  Baba Kuboye: an artist, you have to have artist development, you know, and you have to test the product. The product for me is the music, the sound sonically, but also performing live. If I'm here, even though I came here for engineering, let me see how I can impact the culture or have an impact here. That gives you data. That data is very important for you to understand.
• 19:41
  It's good to have a plan. Like I said, if you fail to plan, you plan to fail. But when you get the data back, that data is what you should use to drive you going forward. A while back, I did a video, Five Things I Wish I Was Told. Focus is so important, and focus on those that focus on you is one.
• 19:59
  Focus on the data. Focus on your vision. The feedback look is important because I, in a sense, do something that hasn't been done before. And with life and navigating the challenges and ups and downs, all the way it goes, you have to look back at your vision to make sure that you're still on track. Yeah.
• 20:17
  And you have to be open minded and nimble enough to respond to the market or respond to the situation, take advantage of it. There is no blueprint book. In all honesty, what works for me may not work for somebody else. You know, your profile, your path, everything is different. But being a creative as well as a business mindset, it takes putting on multiple hats at the same time.
• 20:39
  So to grow in Dallas, I decided to do a grassroot campaign, start from the beginning. It also helps with leverage. Yeah. If record labels want to come to you, you want to be able to have your data to be able to show that this is what and you understand yourself as well. And it's a process, it's an adventure, so that's the path that I'm on.
• 20:59
  So it's been five years in Dallas, and it's grown. The brand has grown. The music has grown. And, you know, I'm thankful for some of the I've done some of the biggest shows out here in Dallas. AT and T Performing Arts Center
• 21:11
  Tolu: Yeah.
• 21:11
  Baba Kuboye: Was around this time last year. The show that I think you were able to come to was two years ago in Deep Ellum. Yeah. I've gone from performing at open mics Mhmm. Or for friends and family to stages because being consistent and growing with the data that is being shown to me by actually doing what I'm doing.
• 21:32
  Yeah. So that's how I've been able to grow.
• 21:34
  Tolu: I like that because it's showing the scientific side of you as well, right? Because you're talking about data, you're talking about testing, you're talking about you're talking about iterating. Yes. So, you have a hypothesis that this is gonna work, you're gonna test it and validate. Yes.
• 21:47
  Right? And that's exactly what what it is. And sometimes people forget that in in business, particularly those who are in a creative business, is that, yeah, I am creative, I've got the talent, I've got everything, I've got the the the networks, etcetera. But, there is an aspect of it that really is is scientific.
• 22:05
  Baba Kuboye: Yes.
• 22:05
  Tolu: You know, there is a part of it that requires you to put something out there, to get feedback, to to reshape, to to rethink, and then go out go back out there. And then, there's a part of it that needs to scale. Right? Mhmm. Because if you're if you're if you're still doing open mics, five years old, I'd be like, okay, where is the success story here?
• 22:26
  But but but it it takes vision because I hear you talk about that. I hear you talk about vision. I hear you talk about strategic planning, those are critical elements in any entity or any enterprise. Thank you for sharing that. No worries, my pleasure.
• 22:41
  They sure are.
• 22:41
  Baba Kuboye: They definitely are having milestones and quantifiable have the time to be able to do something. You're right, I say that because of way you said about open Five years in open mics is not really a good strategy, if you're doing this full time. If you're doing this as a hobby, then that's fine. You can grow and learn at your own pace. But the great thing about being in business is that sometimes it forces you to be business minded, get aggressive.
• 23:05
  Sometimes you don't have to be perfect to be able to go to market. You have to be able to go anywhere and then learn as you grow. And it's a mental journey and it's a process that's scientific, like you say. It also takes a team to operate at this level. You cannot do everything on your own.
• 23:21
  Tolu: Absolutely.
• 23:22
  Baba Kuboye: And when you're starting out, you may not have the resources, the capital, the competency. And sometimes capital, you can get away without capital because people who are just as passionate as you are can lend their services for you to help you grow. But when the stakes get higher, it's important to make sure you try and work with people who know what they're doing, and you need to know what you're doing as well. So, yes, it's scientific, it's creative. The creative side would never disappear it's always there.
• 23:50
  And talent is great. Not everybody is blessed with that. People say it's not enough. It is enough, but it's also important to to work with other elements and tools with the talent to help it grow because talent alone can only get you so far. And if you want to, in my mind, to be the best, you have to be around the best.
• 24:10
  You have to always think outside just the market but the strategy, the tactical and then the strategic part, so networking. Dallas is not as big as the music scene as Austin, for example, which is for those who are not here, Austin is like a city two hours away from Dallas. It's in the same state, but very different market. Houston, very different. The demographics are very different there too.
• 24:32
  There are more Nigerians in Houston than they are in Dallas. Austin has the biggest festivals ever, South by Southwest. You know? So anything I've done is intentional to try and grow the brand. What is the vision?
• 24:44
  The vision is to continue the legacy and to take Afrobeat to new heights and to spread, use my purpose to spread wisdom and knowledge as I know it to help people heal, help create joy, happiness, or spread it. We're blessed with that. To do that, you start somewhere, start where you are, impact locally, but you need to spread, you need to scale, you need to grow. To do that, you need to branch out. The Internet is great for us these days, but also see what it's like for you to go to other cities and see what the response is like there as well, then other countries and then other continents.
• 25:18
  Tolu: Yeah. Yeah. There's one particular album that was sort of a single, I'm not sure if it a single, but you released, it's on Instagram, where you've partnered with this Latino, is it? Oh, I love the guitar riff on that one. Once you've once I at some point, I just put it on auto repeats.
• 25:35
  I'm just like, I just loved it, like, way it's coming. And I'm like, yeah, you're but you're right. You're you're right because it's the the talent is there. But that collaboration could only have happened because you you embraced something different, and then you mixed it up with something that is known to us and is so traditional in a way that it creates this thing. It's almost, for me, it's like having ice cream on a sunny day.
• 25:58
  It's this elixir of found that just comes out. But that's exactly what you're saying, you know, nowadays, you are doing these collaborations and you're expanding, you're doing much more than what you started off, but that was always part of the blueprint, wasn't it?
• 26:12
  Baba Kuboye: It sure was. Collaborating is very key, very important. You're creative, you're not competitive. You create. When you're a creator of the universe, everything is for you if you want it to be.
• 26:22
  You just have to collaborate. I met Roger Velasquez, the guy. He's a Latin Grammy winner. He's a Tejano legend. He plays guitar, both acoustic and electric.
• 26:33
  I met him by joining the Recording Academy. I joined the Recording Academy because I believe I can be the best in what I wanna be, so let me roll with the best. I grew up listening to the likes of Michael Jackson. Everybody who's an artist of any shape or form is at the Grammys. It's the place where, you know, you're recognized for music.
• 26:52
  You know, if you're good at it, then you get the Grammys. So I joined the Recording Academy, which you have to be referred or invited. You can't just join. And but when in there, I got to meet lots of people, not just musicians, talent buyers, music business executives, or industry people. My first Grammy nomination was with a guy from Ecuador who also plays guitar, a Latin guy.
• 27:13
  His name is Antonio Vegara. He had a beautiful album called The Fury. I collaborated on that. Through him, I got nominated. Roger Velasquez.
• 27:21
  And in in terms of looking at data, my first two collaborations within the Recording Academy were with Latin artists. I didn't go looking for that. That's what came to me. And because of that, I continued in that, and we did a song recently called Kula Mentality. There's a video that just came out about four or five weeks ago.
• 27:39
  It's doing great, and we wanted to use our gifts. He uses his guitar playing and his singing. I use my saxophone and my music production skills and saxophone playing to have a mentality that, you know, have fearless ambition. So it's a song we did on my album, Afroverse, which was released in August 2025. Afroverse volume two is a three part series, will be coming out this year, and I'm featuring or collaborating with people just like Roger, Roger included, but other artists who are from different cultures.
• 28:11
  Nigerians as well, but also from different cultures, because collaboration is key when it comes to things like this.
• 28:17
  Tolu: Yeah. Yeah. No. That's that's that's that. You know, as you're talking, you're like, oh, this is the music industry, but it speaks to the small business owners out there too.
• 28:27
  Right? Because sometimes small business owners are, like, following your lane and just, like, stay sane in that. But but you are telling you're basically saying, look, you can't do everything yourself, and you don't have all the resources available to So it's important that you partner with those who have strengths in other areas, so you can mix that up to to help you to achieve the outcome you want.
• 28:47
  Baba Kuboye: I agree. Alignment is very key. Sometimes no is not rejection, it's really more about alignment. It's about focus. Know, focus is probably my five letter, my best five letter word ever.
• 28:59
  You know, you can dilute your focus if you take on everything and anything. But with focus, you're able to, like you said, sustain growth and be consistent in what I'm doing anyway with the music to make sure that it's a product that is consistent and I show up regardless.
• 29:18
  Tolu: Yes.
• 29:18
  Baba Kuboye: You know, having a team is great. It's actually very important to keep you focused and grounded. But, yes, need to be stay focused, that's really my my mantra to anyone listening out there, you know, focus is very important with your vision.
• 29:33
  Tolu: Yeah. Wonderful. Wonderful. So, what is next? You've been you've been in LA, you've rolled with the, you know, the high and mighty.
• 29:41
  Well, you kind of were born into it anyway. So it's like, it's like, get out of a rolling, just walking your legacy at this point. What is next, baba bah? What is the next phase? What does that look like?
• 29:52
  Baba Kuboye: Well, I'm thankful it's a journey. It's an adventure as I call it now because things manifest or pop up in exciting new ways. It does take you showing up and having an effort to do that. In terms of what is next, Afroverse was released last year, August 2025. It's a living universe of Afrobeat music.
• 30:09
  I wanna take people on the on a journey from its roots. I'm influenced by Fella, but I think as I've said earlier on, music didn't start in my family with Fella. So I took Afroverse as a way of showing people traditional African music.
• 30:24
  Tolu: Mhmm.
• 30:25
  Baba Kuboye: I took contemporary sounds, but I also took things like oriki. I went back to my village. My villages, my mom's side, my dad's Ibutakoye Kale Yoruba, which is very different from my Belva Bell Kothal Yoruba. Put down some I'm a piano of fast music, and having the elders speak about how we praise ourselves from where we're from is the beginning with talking drums, which is something for Lanai Vali used. But I try and imbibe that in my music.
• 30:53
  I also featured JJ Ransome-Kuti on my previous album, not Afroverse. But in terms of what's next, to answer your question, Afroverse volume two is coming out this year. It's a global cycle. Once every month, I wanna put everybody on a musical salary. So on the first of every month, you're gonna get a blessing of music on Offrigg from me.
• 31:11
  It's just for you to support it and listen to it. I go around the world. I have people from China, from India, you know, from all parts of the world, outside Nigeria, working on the music. So it's interpreting Afrobeat, its culture, but expanding that to the world because the data has shown me from experience that collaborating is very important. It's actually been part of my success without me knowing it.
• 31:35
  So it's very important to do that. So that's the next journey for me. It starts very soon, actually. Every month is a different theme. Love, respect, equality, beauty, and the first one is love.
• 31:50
  I'll give you the insight because you've allowed me to be on your platform, and it'll be happening soon. That I appreciate.
• 31:57
  Tolu: Thank you.
• 31:58
  Baba Kuboye: My first song is featuring a three time Grammy winner called Ricky Kedge, who's from India, and a lady called Firefly. She's from India but based in LA, and it's called Love. Pya. Pya means love in Hindi. Mhmm.
• 32:12
  And it's a song about peace. It's about world peace. No matter where you're from, no matter who you worship, no matter how much you make, no matter who you vote for, we're all human. We might be different colors, but we're the same color on the inside. So let's put any judgment or stereotype away and just focus on love.
• 32:30
  And I intentionally decided to go with people who are not from the same disposition as me. I took it to the other side of the world, the Far East, to let that message resonate there and here as well. So it's exciting to take the foundation of Afrobeat the way I know it and shake it up in ways that hasn't been that has not been done before. So look out for that. It should be out very, very soon.
• 32:51
  Tolu: Yeah.
• 32:52
  Baba Kuboye: But I'll share it with you once at time.
• 32:53
  Tolu: We cannot wait, we cannot wait. We'll definitely be putting that onto our platform, I for can't wait. For me, obviously, know, I've had the privilege of living in different parts of the world, so when you talk about the Far East, India, etcetera, I'm like, oh, I like the sound of that. And so, absolutely looking forward to it. Now, let's find let's just wrap up with this question, and that's with Afroverse, right?
• 33:17
  Yes. And also your Down for Whatever, which is your record label. Yes. So, what is the next step for that? Because I know you're currently managing your parents' portfolio, their catalogue, and yours' catalogue as well.
• 33:33
  What are you doing with that?
• 33:34
  Baba Kuboye: Well, Down for Whatever is the term is actually the first minority owned independent Afrobeat label in The United States, period. And it just happens to be in Dallas, and I managed to cancel it by my parents, Sammi and Frank Kuboye. The album Just Thing came out in the nineties. For the first time ever, it was released in digital format last year, along the time Afroverse came out. Afroverse is not my first album.
• 33:56
  It's my fifth studio album. Mhmm. Afroverse volume two, coming out summer twenty twenty six, will be my second album. My goal is to manage the catalog of family music, but also take on Afrobeat artists who are in the diaspora. We call this diaspora.
• 34:12
  America is my home now. I'm a citizen. I pay taxes here, and I love the diversity that it brings to us. It also supports small businesses. That's something that we don't have that structure coming from where I'm from in Nigeria.
• 34:24
  We'll get there eventually. But my plan is to help artists or anyone who wants to make a way for themselves in a place like The US, a home through Down for Weather Entertainment. And that's the goal, to expand the label, to also get good at distributing, marketing, promoting what we have, and also take it to the world, expand and scale. That's also important. You cannot death, in my opinion, sets in when you get docile or when you plateau.
• 34:52
  You have to find new ways. And creativity is a spice of life just like variety, so I'm finding new ways to not just focus on myself but to give back. I give back to people who are part of the Recording Academy by allowing for diversity of people who are Afrobeat artists like me or come from that background, to be able to have a say in what songs get nominated, and to also elevate those who are looking to follow this path, a chance to be able to know, shadow, understudy, follow in the footsteps if they choose to. If you're bold enough to make your own path, that's the best. But also good to have a reference point, and I'm happy to use what I've done to share with people that want to know.
• 35:35
  We don't hide. I'm not hoarding this information for myself because we're creatives, you know, and everybody in the grass is abundant, so there's room for all of us.
• 35:43
  Tolu: Yes. There's room for all of us. And to the the upcoming artists out there, to the creatives, to those who are trying to navigate their way their way through the music industry here in Dallas. You have Mubakuboye here. You've got Down For Whatever.
• 35:57
  I just like that name, Down For Whatever. Mhmm. Very, very African name, but aside from that, but very but aside from that, you have a platform that could help you, that could help you transition. He's walked the path, but the the truth here is that based on what we've been talking about, that it's not just the path that he's treading now. These are new, uncharted waters, but there is a solid foundation behind it.
• 36:19
  He understands the music, the business of music in in a very profound way that he can he can he can speak into your business and he can support you as well. So so there you go. There's that there is the the recording label as well, and Babba has also promised us that he'll be sharing some amazing content for us when his his new album comes out. So thank you so much.
• 36:41
  Baba Kuboye: My absolute pleasure. My absolute pleasure. Yes. To any artist out there, feel free to follow on Instagram or all my social media, or even not just artists, anyone who's interested in what in my journey. The website is babakuboye.com.
• 36:54
  That's my name on all my social media handles. I do share content outside my product and my service and my music to help people along my journey. Similar to this podcast, the information sharing, I have videos or small clips that I put out there. So feel free, but I also want to plant the seed of inspiration on your mind to anyone. And you don't have to be a creative in anything you want to do.
• 37:16
  It just It takes a plan, it takes consistency, it takes focus. In my journey, it's music, but it's open to anybody. You can apply it to any sense, anything you want to do. And that's it. So thank you for having me on the show.
• 37:29
  Tolu: It's been a pleasure. Such a pleasure. And one final question, one final thing would be, what do you want our community to do for you? You've kind of already said it anyway, but what can we do back? What's the action here?
• 37:42
  Do you want us to watch your album, download iTunes? Does iTunes still exist? Apple Music.
• 37:48
  Baba Kuboye: Apple Music, you're close. It's just more of the changes something else. Yeah. Of course, support the music. I'm an Afrobeat artist first and foremost, so I perform, I sing, I rap.
• 37:56
  My music is available digitally. You can support that. You can book. I perform live through my website, babakuboye.com, and support other artists as well, maybe not just me. And also dabble into other forms of music or genres outside Afrobeat, like my Grammys and my nominations and my affiliations came from Tehana.
• 38:16
  I came came from music contemporary blues. You know, music is music is is is magical, and, you know, it's something that we all use in different ways. But that's how you can support me, by following, supporting, sharing the music and sharing that with other people as well.
• 38:32
  Tolu: Wonderful. Well, thank you once again. It's been such a pleasure to have you here. And this is the Black Business Live Podcast with Tolu Akindunni, and it's brought to you by All Things Black and Beautiful, where we are amplifying black and African businesses, and we're doing so loud, proud.
• 38:49
  Baba Kuboye: Loud and proud. Authentically. Authentically. Reporting for duty. One thing you don't know about this girl is that you should get her to sing on this show because she actually has a beautiful voice.
• 38:58
  She can sing. Have you sang on your show before?
• 39:01
  Tolu: I haven't sung on my show. They haven't heard me sing.
• 39:03
  Baba Kuboye: Can give you beautiful no way. Okay. Sing happy birthday.
• 39:08
  Tolu: Okay. I'll sing happy birthday. One is not gonna go into the echiso. This will be, like, behind the scenes stuff. Okay.
• 39:13
  I'll go. I'll go for it. Okay. Happy birthday to you.
• 39:18
  Baba Kuboye: You're right. Happy
• 39:20
  Tolu: birthday to you. Mhmm. Happy birthday. Happy birthday. Happy birthday to you.
• 39:34
  Whoever is having their breath, it's very that's a special one
• 39:36
  Baba Kuboye: for Happy birthday. Yeah.
• 39:38
  Tolu: Alright. Well, thank you. Thank you, everyone. Till next time.