MONROVIA, Montserrado – Liberia’s most popular musician has been nominated for Best Song or Activist Anthem in the third iteration of the Honesty Oscars for his 2015 hit Justice, featuring Lady Mouthphy.
Takun J has been nominated alongside artists such as Ghana’s Sarkodie and Jah Cure, whose nominated single was part of an album that was Billboard’s number one reggae album.
The awards show, meant to highlight the individuals and organizations working to promote transparency and accountability, is organized by ONE Campaign and the Accountability Lab, a financial supporter of The Bush Chicken.
We caught up with Takun J and asked him some questions about the nomination. The interview has been edited for clarity. Readers can vote for Takun J and other nominees by February 29.
You were nominated for the Honesty Oscars. How do you feel about this and what do you hope to achieve through this nomination?
I feel 100% positive because I think that’s another dimension and elevation of my life. I hope to see my message reach out to everybody who’s suffering from this problem that we are going through in Africa. I hope for something much greater to extend to the world.
You’re going against heavyweights like Sarkodie and Jah Cure, who had the number one reggae album on Billboard. What do you think your chances are?
It’s a great challenge and I think that it is about time that Liberia gets exposed to the world. I know that at the end of the day, things will be ok. I love to be in this kind of a race. I absolutely have a good chance of winning.
It seems your lyrics and wordplay have been improving significantly since you started. Tell me what went behind the creation of the song, technically and artistically.
I encountered a problem with a lawmaker where we were almost involved in a car accident and he abused his position of power even though he was wrong and didn’t want to accept it. When I took him to the law, because of the money and power he had, I had to suffer at the end of the day. I didn’t receive justice at all. The only thing I could do was to use my music to express my feeling – my grievances. That was the only way I could survive and be relieved.
I know my Hipco sound so I knew the beat that would go along with the lyrics. The only thing left was to work along with the engineer in the studio. I showed him my idea, and we all worked together to create the song. I write my own lyrics, so I just explained exactly what happened to me with a strong feeling and the inspiration just kept coming.
Are there any current instances in Liberia where the poor and downtrodden are facing poor or lack of access to justice?
As I speak to you, it’s still going on. I seem to be the only one talking about it and I’m not seeing the changes. I’m just seeing more. I know of specific cases but I don’t want to be so exact. We already have poverty all around us and you often find yourself in that position where you experience injustice and someone in a position of power gives you little to nothing because you want to survive. We have a role to play in this so I always educate people about this.
Featured photo by Jefferson Krua
