If you are into Neo Soul/ Rock music Kafyat Quadri should be on your ‘look out must listen list”.  Kafyat burst into our limelight  earlier this year with two singles that were just simply beautiful.  Since then, there has been almost absolute silence from her.  What ever happened to Kafyat?  What’s she working on?   Fortunately, she was open to being interviewed.  Enjoy the interview and don’t forget to click play.  Image from Kafyat

What took her into the world of music?
Family. My family was into music.  We had a lot of musical instruments growing up.

Is this something that you are pursuing full time?

Not really full time . I am currently pursuing a masters degree.  

I know that you are currently in Malaysia - are you working on something musical over there?
I am actually working on a single in Malaysia.  Once I am ready, I have the time, I will meet them and do something more there. 

What was the response like? 

It was nice performing to a mixed crowd and it was hosted by a TV station .

You are now in Malaysia pursuing your education,  Where does your interest really lie?

My interest lies in a lot of things.  I publish a magazine called poetry digest, and it is the first poetry magazine in Nigeria. There are whole lot of things that I am involved in.  Trained as a lecturer and she writes.  

You've been compared to Asa.  What are your thoughts on that comparison?

Nigerians are not really accustomed to acoustic songs.  So anything that sounds like guitar and voice  are said to sound alike.

Do you draw your inspiration from her?

I have been in music for a long time, actually, since I was 11 . Inspiration comes from here and there.


You mention that you draw your inspiration from Fela?  What was it about him that inspires you?  What’s his message?

He was not regular, he was out of the ordinary.  His message was for the rich and the poor.  You know his name means someone that has death in his pocket.  His music has been a huge part of my growing up.   I grew up listening to it.


When can we expect your CD out?

Not saying at the moment.  But it should be out by next year.  The album will be called humanity.

What kind of genres will we hear in the CD?

That’s the kind of questions I always have problems with.  Basically soul and something that just sounds Nigerian. Someone heard some of the songs I have planned for my 2 nd and 3 rd album and the person was pretty confused.  Basically, it will be soft and acoustic.

Beyond the Asa comparison, you have been placed within the genre of soft rock - any thoughts?

I don’t know.  You know most of the things I don’t really think that deeply about it.  It is just how it comes to me.  It is just because of the guitar.  The guitar is just a major instrument. It is just a soft rocky.  

We come from Nigeria and we know Nigeria is a very mixed society - different languages and different religions and I know from your garb that you are Muslim.  What are your thoughts on how the world views Muslims?

I think basically religion is a personal thing. I think people watch too much TV.  They don’t have time to think for themselves.  

Even if we step away from the TV and we come to Nigeria, religion often plays a role in bad things that happen to people?  Being a Muslim and you are hearing these stories - what  runs through your mind?  Do you think that there are things that we can do as Nigerian to ensure that there is more religions tolerance?

That’s a deep question - we should learn about ourselves.  We should know that God is aware of our differences. It is rather unfortunate that people all over the world view religion as a reason for evil acts.  My album will talk about certain things.  People ask me why I don’t sing particular religious songs but my CD is for everyone.  My CD is called humanity and talks about what binds us together, what makes us the same is the fact that we are first human beings. I think if we get to know more about ourselves, we won’t have as much problems as this.

Any plans in terms of marketing the CD - are you going to do anything new and interesting in terms of marketing the CD?

We have a lot of photo shoots.  We are planning a lot for when we get back, so we can have a video.  We are planning to release some other songs that we have recorded.

What will you like people to know about you as a person? What do you do for fun?
I play my guitar.