His poem Mum Does the Washing went viral – but he started out parroting conservative talking points online. Now the British-Nigerian vocalist preaches a message of radical positivity
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laying Glastonbury almost made Joshua Idehen quit music – twice. The first time was in 2007, when the spoken-word artist’s slot followed a dancer who had successfully roused a crowd of 800. By the end of his first poem, only a handful of punters were left in the tent, even though it was pouring with rain outside. “People were like, ‘Nope, I’d rather get soaked than listen to you,’” he says. “That was a sucker punch.”
Nearly two decades later, on the Greenpeace stage this summer, the 45-year-old faced the opposite problem. Five thousand people turned up – another “earth-shattering” experience, only this time a dizzying high. “I did one Glastonbury and I was like, ‘I never want to experience that again,’” he says. “I did the other and thought, ‘It’s never going to feel like this again. This might be the end.’” He flashes a mischievous grin. “Then I was like, ‘Oh, look at how much money I can make!’”
It’s a Sunday afternoon and we’re sitting in the warm, dim light of the Social bar in London, joined by Idehen’s longtime Swedish producer and bandmate Ludvig Parment. In recent months Idehen has been delighting thousands at other festivals. And in a few hours, the pair will perform a show downstairs in collaboration with Love Music Hate Racism – a last-minute gig that sold out in a day.
