This is my second installment of the ten Music Mondays featuring the Pen Voyage Liner Notes. The second track on the record is "BEAUTIFUL"
On the 19th of September I wrote a blog about this song READ HERE
http://lanrefajumo.blogspot.com/2011/09/new-song-beautiful.html
While I was thinking what more could I possibly add to what I had already written, a last minute opportunity came up for me to sing the song at Naturally Fabulous an event held organised by Natural Lounge at the Cape Bar in Central London.
I have to say it's the first time I've been in the same space with a lot of ladies rocking their natural hair. Three hundred gorgeous ladies rocking their God given hair in different styles and lengths it was amazing to see.
While my Song is not just about hair, the first verse touched on it.
"Once upon a time there was a little girl, she always wanted to be like everyone else. She had the brownest eyes hair so soft as wool, no one ever told her she was beautiful...."
I know for a fact that it's the story of a lot of young girls. Someone else's hair looks better and someone else's nose looks better and the list goes on. I wrote this song because that is my story, I have never felt like the most beautiful girl. A few years ago while I was having one of those moments of stressing over how to wear my hair for the new week I thought to myself.
"I don't even know what my natural hair looks like"
For those who are a bit confused as to what 'natural hair' means it simply means hair that has not been chemically altered.
Like many girls growing up in Nigeria, I could not wait to finish secondary school just because my mum insisted that it was only then that she would allow me to have my hair relaxed.
I grew up hearing things like....
"Your hair is too tough to comb through" or
"What will I do with this child's hair?"
One day I had enough and I cut off my hair and decided to stop the relaxer for a while and to learn to take care of my hair and learn to love it.
I am not a Natural hair advocate or spokesperson but I realise that even though some may argue that hair, like our nails and is just dead cells and should be less bothered about it, our relationship with it is a pointer to how we feel about ourselves and self worth.
I remember the first few weeks after I started to grow out my natural hair, a lady said to me.
"I don't think I can wear my hair LIKE THAT... it's bush hair"
My response... "No, it's not bush hair, it's MY hair!"
I have had so many responses about this song "BEAUTIFUL" and I am happy I wrote it. Like I say all the time, when I perform this song, it's a story I will tell my younger self if I could go back in time.
"You're not like every other girl in the videos.... YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL"
Pen Voyage Chapter 1; Singing for Change is out on iTunes, Amazon and other digital stores
http://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/pen-voyage-chapter-1-singing/id466810768
You can buy the physical CD here
Listen to tracks from the album here
Latest tracks by Lánre
No comments:
Post a Comment