Femi Koleoso of British jazz group Ezra Collective is a man who fervently believes that nurturing young creative minds by investing time and energy into schools and youth clubs is the best way “you can fix every issue in society.”
Thankfully, he’s been getting a lot of help doing exactly that from the good people at New Orleans-born chicken brand, Popeyes Louisiana Chicken.
In a new Noisey Hometown documentary, Femi opens up about his work in the community and how his own childhood was impacted by the eclectic influences he found himself surrounded by. “All of those things affect how you think about music, how you think about dancing, how you think about bringing people together, and it all contributes to what I’m doing now, really.”
Femi says he learned to play music as a toddler, performing on pots and pans as makeshift drums, with wooden spoons. He first played drums publicly during Jubilee Church services held inside a local cinema. Notably, after Ezra Collective— which was born out of Femi and his bandmates teaming up through music school — won the Mercury Prize, his Enfield Arts Service drum teacher, Michelle, sent him a sweet note telling him she always believed he would “achieve” great things.
While he loves being part of the Ezra Collective, Femi says he’s maintained the perspective that it could all go away tomorrow, so he has to find meaning in service to his community. For him, that comes from his work with Jubilee Youth Club, a group for kids and teenagers that started in Jubilee Church.
“It’s given me the deepest, deepest sense of purpose,” he adds. “Every day is intentional. I wake up, and I’ve always got something to do.”
This is where Popeyes comes in… The restaurant brand has long been working in the non-profit space to donate food to youth clubs, helping teachers like Femi to feed hungry bodies and hungry minds.
“When you get a message from someone like Popeyes and they say, ‘We’re here to support young people throughout their musical journey,’ for me, that is very much aligned with how I feel and what I think,” Femi shared, indicating that this enriching partnership has no end in sight.Hear more of Femi’s story in the new episode of Noisey’s Hometown documentary series.
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