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Nigerian rapper, songwriter and actor Folarin Falana, better known by his stage name Falz, is the cover star of TheWill Downtown‘s Independence Issue tagged This is Nigeria.

For the cover story, Falz talks to the publication about his upbringing with legal practitioners as parents, where we are today as Nigerians, what the youth desire from the government, and if Nigeria still holds the title, The Giant of Africa.

On the cover, the superstar looks undeniably suave, rocking a patterned matching shirt and short set paired with a white tee featuring multi-layer necklaces, a single signet ring, a chunky bracelet and white sneakers.

Read excerpts from the interview below.

On his upbringing:

Being born to those sorts of parents eventually had a huge impact on my life. Because growing up, even as far back as primary school, I had people refer to me by my parents’ name like ‘oh this is Falana’s son.’ Then I started to realise that there must be something about my parents; they must be known to a certain degree. So that was when it started to register, and I started to want to be like them. Because I was getting that second-hand acclaim, it was nice.

On his hit song “This is Nigeria” being banned by NBC:

I saw the madness, the reaction, the way NBC acted. However, I knew what it was. These people felt like this guy was just talking to us. At the end of the day, it is blatant; everyone knows these things. I didn’t say anything offensive, vulgar, or that should be censored in any way, so it didn’t really make any sense that it was banned.

On what he thinks the country needs:

The first thing goes without saying; security. A sense of security. Because it is when people are secure that’s when they are comfortable enough to aspire to be anything. If I’m constantly looking at my shoulder, living in anxiety, how can I possibly realise my full potential as a human being? Everybody needs to feel secure.

Then also making people realise how important it is for us to be self-sufficient as a country. Because I personally believe that is the only way we can make significant progress as it stands now, many African countries are guilty of it as well. Many people would say it’s the effect of colonialism, but this is why we remain third-world countries; we are not really manufacturing things for ourselves.