Ayanbinrin: Time to groom female drummers

In Yorubaland, many drummers easily lay claim to coming from a family of drummers. They enjoy saying it so proudly that they have a drum proverb for it: ‘Iran igun nii jebo/ Iran akala a joku/ Iran baba mi/ Ilu nii lu’. This means ‘The family of the eagle relishes sacrifice/ That of the vulture enjoys dead bodies/ But my own family are renowned drummers.

If this is a tradition, Tosin Olakanye-Olayemi has successfully beaten it. Reason is that the artiste known more as Ayanbirnin (female drummer) is not from a drummers family; yet she was established herself as one of the daminant acts in recent years.Indeed, she could not hit a single stroke until she gained admission to Lagos State University where she studied Chemical and  Polymer Engineering.

 When she was in the third year, her meeting with a drummer, Alaroye, sparked her interest in the art. She learnt how to play talking drums from him, and today she has surpassed Alaroye – in fame and earnings from the trade.

Since 2008, the Ondo, Ondo State-born lady has been on a break from active performances as she had to take time off to take care of her kids. She had regular dialogues with her drum and had time to compose some songs, but it was only recently she announced her return to stage, as marked by the release of her maiden album, Ayanbinrin Unveil. Next year, she intends to release the second, alongside the videos of the 11-track Ayanbinrin Unveil.

But her immediate task now is to hold the Mother-drum Festival and Mother-Drum Golden Awards on December 2 in Lagos. Coming under the platform of her Mother-Drum Foundation, she says the plan is to use arts to promote cultural values.

She explains, “I also find it as a way of giving back to the society even when we come together to celebrate arts. That is why the theme of the festival is ‘Using Arts to Shape Value and Attitude about Women.”

She is collaborating with the Lagos State Council of Arts and Culture, in whose premises  in Ikeja the workshop will hold.  She says Beautiful Nubia, Asa, Adunni Nefretiti,  and Black Image are expected to perform at the event which, she adds, has also been endorsed by the Centre for Black and African Arts and Civilisation.

At the workshop, she intends to teach women (and girls) how to play the talking drum.

As a mark of her long-term interest in the arts, Ayanbinrin wanted to study Theatre Arts but her parents did not support the idea.  Having found her way back to her first love, which they also applaud now,  drumming has become her second nature. Her husband too likes what she does although he does not want to be a drummer.  She moves she says from apala – gangan – talking drum to Iya Ilu, as her spirit directs her.

She says, “Now, my house is like a drum studio. I play iya ilu mostly nowadays because it is the mother of all drums. It is the pacesetter. “