DJ ÌRÀWỌ̀: THE MUSICAL EXPORT FROM NIGERIA

 

Recently, I have been sharing updates about my musical journey and I am not joking about it.

"Dis Ìràwọ̀ too get mouth. Wey her album?"🙄🙄

Abeg, drag me o! You must hear my music!😀😀

It has gotten to that time when motherhood has to take a back seat and I move on to what I came to do in this life, which is to share my music with the world.

I am a world-class musician.

I was born to perform music in the presence of the rich and the poor.

I was born to perform music in the presence of the strong and the weak.

I was born to perform music in the presence of Nigerians and non-Nigerians.

As long as you love my music, you are my fan.

I perform MENTAL HEALTH AFROBEATS MUSIC which I call AFRODÙNDÚN(Dynamic Dùndún Afrobeats Music).

So, if you have gone through one form of abuse or the other in the form of rape, bullying, divorce, depression, childlessness, lack of self-love and self-esteem, etc., I have something for you in one of my songs.

If you are learning how to love and trust again, I have something for you.

My music is Dynamic because I may not follow conventional music rules. I go with how my spirit leads and not what is trending. However, as a DJ, I follow trends and requests.

As a Musician who studied music on scholarship and graduated with distinction and as the best graduating student, I believe my musical instincts are somewhat accurate.

This is why I love working with music producers who think outside the box.

I am not in music to copy anyone but to create my own path, even though I have been greatly influenced by those who came before me.

So, if you are a Music Promoter, Tour Manager, Festival Organiser, etc. there is money to be made from the DJ Ìràwọ̀ brand.

My DJ Talent kicks off in January 2026 because I need to buy a Mac laptop and I do not have money for that now.

My Drumming Talent kicks off now.

For now, I have my drums, my voice, my hands and my legs to dance.

I need all the support that I can get from all quarters.

Hire me till death do us part.

I shall begin again from the very beginning.

Below are studio-ready songs for the next three years. Recording continues in September:

FIRST ALBUM

1. DJ Ìràwọ̀ Káàbọ̀

2. Ojúmọ Ire

3. As Simple as ABC

4. Palaver Wàhálà

5. DJ Ìràwọ̀ is a Masterpiece

6. Woman, Do Your Thing

7. Iwájú 1 — (Contains an Interpolation Verse)

8. Let Me Be

9. Orí Ọká — (Contains an interpolation Verse)

10. Mi Ò Rán Ẹ

11. A Promise is a Debt

12. Goodbye

SECOND ALBUM

1. Dùndún Can Speak Your Language

2. The Singing Drum Magician

3. Double Wàhálà (Cover)

4. Life is Beautiful

5. This Time

6. Voice of Reason

7. Inúmidùn Bíi Dùndún

8. Waiting

9. Welcome to Lagos

10. Òjà Òyìngbò

11. Carry Your Load

12. Iwájú 1 — Contains an interpolation verse

THIRD ALBUM

1. Àdúrà Ágbà (Music Publishing in View)

2. Now O’Clock

3. Daily Bread

4. Màmá àti Bàbá Mi

5. Excuse Me Dance

6. Ready to Love

7. Olólùfẹ́ Ìràwọ̀

8. Healer

9. 25 Missed Calls (Music Publishing in View)

10. Go for Gold

11. Gbèsè

12. Ulé Yá 

#djirawo

#dynamicdundunbydjirawo

#mentalhealthmusic

 

THE DRUMMING NEW WORLDS PROJECT

 

Our group award as presented to us by the director of Goethe Institut, Lagos on Friday, September 15, 2023.

Last week, I mentioned on my Facebook profile that I was going to defend my project about the Dùndún Talking Drum and the Yorùbá Language and how they relate to technology at the Dreaming New World technology pitch.

Honestly, at that time, I did not understand what was going on. I did not even believe that I would be selected for the long list as I was simply going around in a rigmarole about what could be a suitable project idea.

How does technology concern the talking drum and the Yorùbá language? 😀

Well, my personal project explains it.

It is titled:

THE ACE in the ACHILLES' HEEL of AI

This project was among the long list of twenty projects selected from the multitude of entries.

Here, I wrote about:

💢Speculative Futures for Indigenous Technologies

This refers to the multiple ways in which indigenous knowledge is used to improve the lives of humans and ancient practices that have existed in various parts of the world and are still relevant and prevalent today.

What is relevant today in my indigenous culture, is the talking drum and of course, the Yorùbá language, which is the primary language used to play this talking drum.

Thus, no matter the existence of AI, there are some things that AI cannot do yet like manufacturing a talking drum or creating beats from it.

💢An Evolution of Language in the Face of Emerging Technologies.

Technology expands indigenous languages by generating new words with them such as internet, emoji, hashtag, artificial intelligence, infographics, gifs, etc.

The Yorùbá language is a dynamic one which evolves according to the growth and improvement in technology.

For example, social media can be called AYÉLÙJÁRA in the Yorùbá language.

This word did not exist in the Yorùbá language twenty years ago.

So, the existence of AI in technology is to my advantage as a Yorùbá indigene because technology enriches the Yorùbá language with more words.

💢Ethical Approaches to New Technologies in Africa

Information generated from Artificial intelligence cannot possess intellectual property rights in many countries as they are reserved for human beings only.

Thus, restrictions to aid the protection of rights have been enacted in countries like the USA where, if a person must use AI to generate words to write a book, lyrics, scriptwriting, etc., it must be mentioned in the article that that content was generated using AI.

This is because the information provided by AI is pulled from online sources which have been uploaded by their copyright owners from all over the world.

AI does not seek the permission of these copyright owners before using these intellectual property rights from the sources of information which it provides to those who use ChapGPT.

Thus, artificial intelligence tools and the works generated by them need to be protected by copyrights and patents.

Therefore, as much as AI helps to make my creative process faster, I do not support that it should be used to create the sound of the talking drum as it is unethical.

Its use will steal from the intellectual property rights of the indigenous drum composers and rip off their daily bread as most of the indigenous talking drummers from the Àyàn families have no other means of livelihood.

💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢💢

Afterwards, the twenty participants were grouped into four groups of five each.

So, we had five projects from each individual in a group to choose from.

My group members chose to work on my talking drum idea by finding ways to improve its sound and features by developing a new prototype for it.

The following team members will be bringing on their expertise in the following areas:

Member 1: Directing, Film and Photography

Member 2: Design and Experiential Technology

Member 3: Research and Experiential Planning.

Member 4: Poetry and Storytelling

Member 5: Music, Linguistics and Research (Irawo)

So, we came up with the name for our group project; DRUMMING NEW WORLDS.

Out of the four groups, my team, TEAM 4, won the competition!!!💥💪😇

Below are our group pictures and my personal award:

My team and I as we accepted our award from the director of Goethe Institut.

Our Project

Brainstorming Session before our presentation

My shirt was designed by my first son who is a visual and applied artist

It is a pleasure to work with an amazing team. I look forward to the presentation of our exhibition in November. ✌

Musically yours,

DJ Irawo

DJ IRAWO DEBUTS IN FOUR ONLINE SHOWS

Merry Christmas from DJ Irawo

 

The Red Cup Party

 

Art in Healing Exhibition at the Mother-Drum Healing Arts Foundation Festival (MODHAFEST) 2022

Event Promotion Video

Shortly after my music performance exhibition at Art in Healing Exhibition Modhafest 2022 - DJ Irawo

DJ Irawo

Ayan Agalu Festival 2022

 

DJ Irawo

The Ayan Agalu Amazons, our patron, Princess Aderonke Ademiluyi and creative director. Segun Adefila, shortly after having dinner with the Ooni of Ife where he acknowledged us as the Ayan Agalu Amazons of the Yoruba Kingdom.

Shortly before the Ayan Agalu drum procession.

Venue of our grand performance

Shortly after the Ayan Agalu grand performace

Preparing to leave for Lagos

The Ayan Agalu Festival 2022 took place at the Ojaja Arena, Ife Grand Resorts and Industrial Hub, Ile Ife, Osun State on June 30th, 2022.

The drum proceeding and traditional rights took place on the previous day at the Ooni of Ife's palace and its environs. 

My Mental Health Story

 

Yesterday evening, I had the privilege of speaking about my mental health experience with Grey Insights in commemoration of World Mental Health Day which comes up on October 10 of every year. 

Kindly watch the video of my live Instagram video via this link: https://www.instagram.com/tv/CU2rzo-Fhu8/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Dear Irawo,

 

The Grey Insights team express our appreciation to you for your support and outstanding contribution to our World Mental Health Day series.

 

Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to speak at this year's World Mental Health Day event.

 

We appreciate your enthusiasm and positive spirit in promoting Mental Health awareness. We hope to partner with you in future endeavours.

 

Best regards,

 

Adekunbi Bello | EAP Manager

Grey Insights Limited

Africa’s Premier EAP Provider