By Ernest Nutsugah
Accra, Sept. 07, GNA – Kafayat Moteliwa Quadri, is a Nigerian musician, singer and song writer who combines a bit of poetry and photography, which she calls “poetography”.
She was at the “Film Labs” organised as part of the Chale Wote Street Art Festival at the Christiansborg Castle Gardens to perform and speak about her work titled: “KQ [The EP]: 2016 India Tour”.
The short film set in Malaysia and India was directed by Al Ibrahim. It highlights Kafayat’s trip to India in 2016, showcasing different parts of the country and her interaction with the people and how they respond to African music.
Aside playing soul music and creating eclectic sound beats as a producer. She is also a law lecturer at the Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies.
The 39-year-old interacted briefly with this reporter on her musical journey and first trip to Ghana.
With five studio albums to her credit, Kafayat, said she took up music professionally at age 18. One of her albums ‘April 16’ is a sixteen-track instrumental of varied Afro-Asian sounds, which she said was released in Malaysia in 2015 and dedicated to her mother.
“The instrumental album titled: 1984 (which is the year I was born) represents the struggles of humanity and focuses on instrumentations that are supposed to uplift you and bring you out of darkness,’’ she explained.
Her fourth album titled: ‘Humanity’ was released in 2021. At the height of the COVID-19 Pandemic in 2020, she released her fifth album to ‘’uplift people and allow them reflect about their inner world.’’
The guitarist expressed excitement about her trip and being a part of the Street Art Festival, which has attracted many visitors since Monday, August 21.
‘’People always say I look Ghanaian. I was having conversation with one of my friends, a scholar based in the United States, who told me about Chale Wote. A week after that, a call for documentary popped up on my Instagram and my director applied.
‘’I know the weekend is going to be very busy; people from Ghana and different parts of the world would come together to showcase their talent and love for the motherland. I love Ghana and look forward to spending more time anytime I am called upon,’’ she said.
Kafayat, from Ijebu Igbo, Ogun State, Nigeria, hopes to collaborate with some Ghanaian artists in future. She encourages artists to ‘’create with their hearts’’ and remain consistent.
‘’It’s your journey; you have to take it one step at a time and make sure you are enjoying it because when there is enjoyment, there is more creativity,” she says.
GNA