Fuji legend, Dr. Adewale Ayuba, is done playing by the genre’s old rules. With his new EP, Arise, the artist, famous for hits such as Bubble, Mr Johnson and Koroba Koroba, trims his signature long-play sound into radio-ready, streaming-friendly cuts, a deliberate bid to push Fuji beyond Nigeria’s borders and onto global stages. In this interview with DANIEL ANAZIA, he explains why he believes short format is the only path to a Grammy, defends Fuji’s relevance against Gen Z’s Afrobeats wave, and doesn’t hold back on royalties, government neglect, and what he calls the disarray within Nigeria’s musicians’ union.

Congratulations on your new album ARISE. Fans would like to know what inspired the album title at this time, after so many years in the industry. Why Arise?
Arise is another level of my life; it is a project. I realised that I have been trying to digitise Fuji music several times. I want to take Fuji to the discotheque. I want it to be playing at hip-hop places. I don’t want it to be restricted to certain people. So, that is why I did the collaboration with Jazzman Olofin, and it was an experiment. I did a collaboration with Ade Bantu, who is based in Germany, and that made me get the KORA Award, which is recognised as the African Grammy in South Africa. And recently, I did a collaboration with Adekunle Gold, before I did Koroba Koroba. All these I mentioned were experimental. And I realised that God showed me the way that I can do it; that is why I call it Arise. Arise feels like coming from another place and going to another. So that’s what the album Arise is all about.

Why Arise?
Music doesn’t die, you know. Let me tell you something: people are scared. For example, you know, we Fuji musicians, the way we do our album, it’s like 25, 30 minutes straight. But that is not what is happening now. If you are doing such an album, you can never get a Grammy. A lot of radio stations will not play you abroad, and I want to take Fuji to the world. You have to follow the rules, because there’s nothing that doesn’t have a rule. Some radio stations will not take Ijo Fuji from you unless you cut that Fuji out and put it in three minutes.

Are you saying it’s a deliberate decision from you?
That’s what I’m saying; it is a deliberate decision. The long-play is part of the Arise project, to promote Fuji and make it a crossover.

Are you eyeing the Grammy?
By the grace of God, am I not a musician? When you see the likes of Angélique Kidjo from the Republic of Benin getting a Grammy, what stops me from getting one? Why would you say that because I’m from Nigeria and I’m doing Fuji music? See the likes of the late Baba Agba, Sikiru Ayinde Barrister, and the effort they have put into Fuji music. Now, we, their children, want to put our own too. Every parent usually prays that their children will be better than them. That’s exactly what I’m trying to do with Fuji music now.

Arise project is a five-track; why did you limit it to five songs or tracks, as you have been known to play for a long time? People want to know if it’s not going to dilute the Fuji concept generally.

There’s nothing like the Fuji concept. I will tell you something. Our late Apala maestro, Haruna Ishola, didn’t start playing long versions of music before the independence of Nigeria. They were playing two minutes, three minutes only, even without the use of technology, before we now put our own. Permit me to use this analogy: if it’s our food, say Eba that I want to eat today, there must be a portion that shows that I’m ready to eat Eba. Even though it’s going to hurt you, you will eat the portion, even if the doctor tells you that this is too much for you. We always like our big things. Some people will tell you these records are too short or small; let it be long so that we can enjoy it, without thinking about where it’s going to take the musician. The music that got I K Dairo, Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE), making him the first Nigerian musician to receive the award, wasn’t long-version music, because that is what they can play abroad. If it is more than two minutes, three minutes, they can’t play it on their radio station. If you continue to go the way of long play, how do you then want to globalise your product? Do you want to be local, stay local and then die local; as for me, I have gone global.

In making this decision, did you take into consideration your fans in Nigeria who have come a long way with you?
They didn’t follow me because of the long version. Are they not dancing to Olamide, Davido? Do I have the crowd those people have? Is Davido doing the long version? Is Burna Boy doing a long version? You have to improve your children, improve your family, improve your business, even improve your listeners and make them know that this is the way or the trend now. I know where it has placed me today, and it’s my fans that did it for me. Without good fans, you can’t go anywhere. Aren’t they the ones who are promoting and doing whatever thing now?

You mentioned some artistes — hip-hop artistes, Jahsman Olofin, Olamide, Asake, Adekunle Gold — who you did a collaboration with. When you tested the waters with those songs, and looking at it now, what has that decision taught you in 2026…infusing Fuji into Afropop or Afrobeats, as it is called?
You see, what I’m doing is Fuji music; I’m not inventing or infusing Fuji with Afropop. No, don’t be wrong. Check Adekunle Gold; he does not do Afropop; it is Fuji music. Olamide is doing the same thing.

So, it’s Fuji that we are trying to sanitise; make it reasonable to foreigners. It doesn’t change the name at all.

So, it will be right to say that you are trying to promote the Fuji culture and, by extension, the Yoruba culture?
Of course; did you see me singing in English in it? That’s why you see me mix. I have always been singing from day one of my life in Yoruba and English. If you listen to Bubble that brought me to the limelight, it was a mixture of Yoruba and English. If you also listen to Ijo Fuji, and you hear my part of the song/record, you will see that it was delivered in both Yoruba and English

Where does this place your fans, especially from the South-East and South-South?
As I said, my music is delivered in both Yoruba and English, and that has made a lot of people love me, particularly from the South East. For instance, you say “Listen attentively…only Mr. Johnson,” they understand it because it’s a global language. So, that’s why we do that.

Is it right to say that Fuji music culture is gradually dying, just like people say reggae music has died in Nigeria?
Who is telling you this? Well, you can’t say Fuji music is dying, and it will not die. If it is dying, would Adekunle Gold come and call me to collaborate with him? If Fuji music is dying, would he have changed his style to Fuji 100 percent? It’s Fuji that I’m doing. When something is dying, you won’t see a Gen-Z to embrace it; instead, they are embracing it. When you consider my age now and the length of years that I have put into it you will know it’s not dying. Even the children that I was the one that sang at their parents’ wedding want me to perform at their wedding. So what this simply tells you is that Fuji is not dying; instead, it’s getting better.

In the Arise EP, with songs like Ileke, All Over The World, Yetunde, Kutukutu et al. What message are you passing with these tracks?
Each track has its own unique message; they all have different messages. That is why we had the listening party. I encourage everybody to go and listen to them on Audiomack!

Today’s hits are mostly vibe over substance — party, girls, money. Many use AI to generate their song(s). As a legend and elder in the industry, are you tempted to follow that trend?
I will say that I have been so lucky, because I started music when it was meant for message; when we had a board, because when I started, all my albums were censored. Today, I don’t know if there is a music regulator in Nigeria. If there is, do they live up to expectations? Back then, when you finished your musical work (album or single), you would send it to the board, and they would listen to it; look at the advantage it has for people who are going to listen to it. The message that comes with it: is it abnormal? What is there for the government? How is it going to preach all these things? All these things matter. So that’s why you can’t just sit down in your house, take a pen, write and sing songs that have no message.

Our brand of music is current affairs; tell people to go to school, tell the wives to listen to their husbands, and the husbands to take care of the children and wife. This is what music is for; it’s not just for fun. That’s why today, the largest book with chapters in the Bible is the Book of Psalms, and it is music embedded. Now, what that tells or shows you is that God ordained music from heaven. Use it to tell people how to behave. Music is spiritual; it’s not something you think. When you don’t have a government, because it is the duty of the government to make and enforce law. So, if they (government) enact a law, for instance, that mandates us as musicians to ensure our music, lyrics-wise, must have something important; it must carry a message. So, it’s either that or you forget about music. Of course, the government can do it because it’s for the betterment of all of us.

Is this why they often come hard on some artistes who release some music that tends to abuse the image of the country?
Yes, and I will like them to continue to carry out that responsibility. So, once you decide to be a musician, it puts you on a check that you can’t say anything negative or rubbish about your nation; you can’t speak badly about anybody. Music is and should be about teaching people good things to do. So, that is why I said earlier that I was lucky I started my music at that time, and that is what is still working till today.

Let’s talk about royalties. What’s your honest take on the issue?
Do we get royalties from Nigeria? 99.9 musicians in Nigeria do not get royalties from Nigeria. The royalties we get are from foreign countries where our works or music is sampled. It sounds funny, right?

Beyond Arise, what else is Dr. Adewale Ayuba working on? Are we expecting more singles, a tour or a mentorship programme for the younger artistes?
Yes, I’m looking and thinking about that. I know a tree can never make a forest. We need people; we need the government to think. We are not really making money from the entertainment industry in Nigeria at all.