Mark Yagnon

There wasn't the same embracing and love and yearning to connect with your roots.

Right, right.

Like, I'm 42, so I remember there was, like, a distinct separation even.

You know what I mean?

Okay, so that's interesting.

So you grew up in this time, and now you're seeing massive artists from the region.

Doing well locally.

But what gives you the feeling that it would be successful when you grew up in a place where there was this separation?

Okay.

This is like taking Chinese food from China and turning it into a version of it where Western people will consume.

And this is just because like your father was a musician, if I'm not mistaken.

So like you grew up classically trained in music.

Right.

So like you can consume this from this culture that you understand and it is a part of your identity, but also recognize the limitations in the music for like Western audiences to go.

Because they also need to still like it.

Yes.

Right.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah, it can't feel too commercialized where they start going, no, that's not the real thing.

So you're saying Afrobeats doesn't really exist in its modern iteration before you go there.