Keziah Jones, aka “captain rugged” is making his way to Brooklyn, New York. Find out what he had to say about NYC, Fela and the duality of African artists.

Hi Keziah, how does it feel to be back in NYC?
it feels great and i have been looking forward to it for a while

Where are you coming from and what have you been up to?
i have been writing in lagos and ghana and i have been touring summer festivals in europe

When was the last time you were in New York and were you able to see Fela on Broadway or in Europe?
i was here in march last year and i saw the fela play

What are your thoughts on the production?
It was the second time i saw it and it was a much tighter production. they also seemed to have made it shorter and more concise placing the action in the shrine, turning the theater into the shrine was a great and the musical backing was really tight.

Do you find that the growing recognition of Fela in certain areas of the world years after his death has affected your work at all?
definitely, there is less explanation as to where i am from also there is more of a responsibility to keep on expanding and redefining what is considered “african” music.

We interviewed Nneka a while ago, and one of the issues that came up was the dual nature of developing as an African artist in Europe and in Africa and how success in one place doesn’t necessarily translate into the other. What has been your experience with you African audience at home and abroad?
success means different things to different people in different places. for me to be successful at “home” means to be understood, ie:my lyrics, my guitar technique and the link between what i am doing and what others had done before, to be successful abroad means to be able to make money and survive, so the project is not to “translate” my success from one place to the other but to be successful in different ways in different places

Ok, so what should we expect now that you are back in NYC at Weeksville?
i’ll be playing selections from all previous albums plus possibly a few new songs

You are headlining after a really series of performances in the past 2 weeks. Pharoahe Monch was here 2 weeks ago, and Meshell was here last week. How do you feel about raising the bar this weekend?
i feel good and confident that i can yank that bar right off

Finally, what should old and new fans expect?
old fans should expect the original freewheelin afro anarchist, new fans can expect “captain rugged” the one and only true african superhero

Catch Keziah Jones at Weeksville, this Saturday from 5-8pm.