Released on 4th December 2020, “Teletele” is inspired by the #EndSARS protests across Nigeria. At its essence, it is a beautiful yet powerful protest song which speaks out against police brutality world over.
The song was initially just a video of the Nigerian-Canadian singer/songwriter singing the songs and playing piano, which she posted on Instagram. The lyrics, sung in English and her mother tongue, Yoruba, was for her, the best way to communicate the abrupt descent from the high of the protests and her sadness at the news of innocent protesters being shot at by police and the army in Lagos, where she lives. Falana says:
“On October 21, in a state of helplessness, I wrote a song, to process shock, pain, disappointment, and fear. Initially, I did not have the intention to record it, but the response and the message resonated so strongly with people on social media that I felt if I did not, I would be ignoring our most fundamental duty as artists – to reflect the times.”
These request from fans for the release of the song led to Falana recording and producing the track online with collaborators from the UK, Spain, Ghana & Nigeria.
The simple message is that police violence against innocent citizens should not be tolerated and has to be stopped, and it is as much a problem in Nigeria and Africa, as it is in the USA. Whether it’s the killing of a nameless young boy in Nigeria, or George Floyd in the USA, we can all, in our own way, take a stand against violence or the killing of innocent citizens by institutions who are meant to protect all its citizens.
You can listen here:
