Nigerian musician Ekene Music dabbles with a wide range of songs and poetry.

Ekene Music is his chosen musician name. Born in Nigeria, he recently performed ahead of the Monterey Symphony on the Sunset Center stage, captivating audiences with his natural groove, always present when he live, at venues both large and small. Since arriving in Monterey County in 2017 to attend Middlebury Institute of International Studies, he’s released three albums and a handful of singles.

Ekene’s music is intriguing, drawing from global influences, gospel, funk, hip-hop and spoken word. It is introspective storytelling, with sound.

Growing up as part of the Igbo Tribe during what he calls the “innocent years” of Nigeria – after the Nigerian Civil War ended in 1970 – he couldn’t help but notice the human condition surrounding him. “People were just trying to manage the sin of the fight,” he says. Then with a smile on his face, he remembers his childhood: “We were restless growing up.”

That restlessness led him to start a record label with his young friends there before emigrating.

Weekly: Is your music based on traditional Igbo songs?

Ekene: No. People expect that because when they see me and my color, they always want something different. People will put a label on things when they see something from some part of the world, and they know what to expect. But if I give them something so different, what is the point for me to say something you cannot understand? Wouldn’t it be beautiful if you can feel it and understand it?

What do you want people to understand about your music?

For me, my music analyzes the human condition. I’ve come to find out that I love to be a channel to express emotions in words and in presentations. So we all might be thinking the same thing now. The music solidifies the thought and everybody can find closure to their thoughts. As lyricists, we’re compelled to tell that story in a very soothing way.

As an artist, we have a responsibility to talk about the things happening around us. I live here now, and that’s why my music is different from what people may have expected.

What is it like to tell your stories in poetry and song?

Oh, man. It is a journey, man. It’s a journey of honing the lyrics. It’s not just somebody wanting to tell a story like, “There was a bombing last night,” and putting that into music. It doesn’t describe the emotion of it. Lyrics are like sanskrit and they have to meet emotions where they are.

I have a song that talks about bombing, but it paints a picture of the urgency of the situation. It’s a story that has to be told with the timing of the beat and choose your words. Really it’s about learning to listen to people and allowing yourself to be vulnerable so you can be grateful to experience someone else’s.

Can people who haven’t experienced a traumatic event like a bombing write songs about it?

Sometimes you don’t have to experience anything because the relationship with music is also a spiritual walk. So sometimes you receive it in the air. The music is in the air. Some songs are very shy.

Shy?

Yes. They come to you but they don’t stay. You have to let it go. It’s not meant to be trapped. It came because of the moment. So it’s also a journey to learn which songs to keep when they come. If you trap a song and it’s not supposed to be trapped, it will cause more injury than good.

What is an example of that?

There are songs that want to stay. I call them “domesticated songs.” But then there are “wild songs.” They come to you, but only at the moment. It’s like someone who is enjoying you because they are drunk. They were at a different level of humanity when they came to you. When it came, it only sounded good the first time you played it. And then you struggled when you tried to keep it. Everyday I humble myself to see if I can catch one song.

What are you working on now?

What is happening to me now is funny. I’m going back through my past songs. I’m digging through some that were never recorded to bring them back to life. I have so many that fell off along the way but they all give birth to this sound I have now that I’m happy with. As an artist, your sound keeps changing.

There are songs I’m writing about current events in the world, too. I have songs that will forever be current. It’s called “Political Struggle” and I have one called “Solution.” It’s brisk, short and straight-to-the-point.