VanJess on Heritage and Home | by Korede Kaneto

When Ivana and Jessica Nwokike's family unexpectedly left Nigeria for America, it was their first experience in having to define home for themselves. "You have to do the work in order to create a good body of work", Ivana casually tells me, unmoved by the profoundness of her statement. "The work" that Ivana speaks of is developing a solid sense of self and planting roots firm enough to withstand the teasing of ignorant school bullies and the gusts of a fickle music industry. Having seemingly lived multiple lives in the industry, the viral Youtubers turned professional musicians are more sure of themselves than ever. Earlier this year, VanJess released their critically acclaimed Homegrown, a seasoned yet fresh body of work.

Over Zoom, the sisters, who dial in from separate locations in Southern California, present just as their last project sounds - warm, calming and inviting, like home. For the Nigerian-Americans, much of their self-awareness is grounded in not only family but their identities as Nigerians living in the diaspora. As Nigerian children in early 2000s America, thriving in school meant fighting to maintain a positive understanding of themselves and their heritage in a world constantly saying otherwise. Now young artists navigating the industry, VanJess continue to flex this same muscle - they are who they say they are. Fresh off tour, AMAKA caught up with the sisters to have a conversation about discovering identity and finding home.

Introducing: The Ascension

The title Homegrown is so apt. It immediately feels like you've grown into yourselves and your sound on this project. Talk to me about the process of becoming at home with yourselves.

Ivana: It was such a discovery. We're really just getting back to who we are, who we were and where we started. Because we did start at home, we were just in our rooms creating these interesting takes on different songs. And we found ourselves back doing that, having fun and not really thinking too hard.

Jess: We started putting the project together during the pandemic, so there was already an element of home in the creation of it. But really, it was just us accepting who we were and not trying to be anything else. I think that's really what home represents. It's where you feel most comfortable, where you can be most free and fully express yourselves. That feeling really came through in the music.

Like many diaspora kids, you both moved around early in your childhood. As children, where did you think of as home?

Jess: I think in some ways, home is within ourselves rather than a specific place. We've distilled it within ourselves, so it doesn't matter where we are. We're just us.

Ivana: Wherever family was, that was home. I just remember our childhood being in different places, but I would see my mom and I knew I was home. We were born in America, went back to Nigeria and then, all of a sudden, we make a quick decision to move to the States because our mother got sick. Now we're living in a whole different place. We had to figure out a new home pretty quickly in a place that wasn't so familiar. We're used to being around our own, and now, I'm in fourth grade with a class full of different cultures of people. And then 9/11 is happening, and it's like, wow, America.

9/11 was a very sensitive time for immigrants in the United States, but at times it feels like Black immigrants are missed in that narrative. What was that experience like? Was it clear who belonged and who didn't?

Jess: Absolutely.

Ivana: If you notice, this is the time where everyone gets really patriotic: "I'm proud to be an American." We're in a performing arts school performing these songs, but, like, are we this patriotic? Is this what we believe? Are we proud to be American? Have we even accepted that we are Americans now?

Jess: You go to elementary school and pledge allegiance to the flag, like instantly. We're not even from here, but we now have to recite this.

That's a lot to process as kids. Was there ever a point when survival instinct kicked in and said, "Let go of where you came from to create space or assimilate to this new home?"

Ivana: Our parents would never [laughs]! My dad was like, "For dinner, I'm going to have my fufu and my okro soup. That's it." In our household, we were the same. Our parents were very strong in themselves so because of what we saw, we didn't feel a need to be different. But when we got to school and the kids! That's when we started feeling the resistance, like, "Do you guys click? And do you live in huts? And your hair?" It was a lot to deal with, and it was definitely testing. Now, we're so celebrated, but we think back to a time when it wasn't like this. A lot of us were fighting to be proud. Maybe if we had this same celebration back then, a lot of us wouldn't be so far removed as Nigerian-Americans.

Jess: Those are the kind of things that make you really just have to come into your own and know yourself.

SGaWD: “I say what I want to say, how I want to say it when I want to say it”

Does this sense of self translate into your career choices? Nigerian music had such a big year Stateside. How do you navigate being true to your experience as Nigerian-Americans but still authentically tapping into the moment?

Ivana: Definitely. I think that's why we have this approach because we don't want to be anything that we aren't. Because [Afrobeats is trending right now] are you just supposed to do Afrobeats because you're Nigerian? Of course, that's who we are, but are we going to portray something that isn't true just because we're supposed to? We weren't born in Nigeria - we lived in Nigeria, but we lived here also. We have two cultures, and so wouldn't it make sense that the music we create would have a blend?

Jess: I think when you try, that's when it's not authentic. Sometimes people try to police your own identity. Why do we have to do this and this because we're from here? For us, we really celebrate every part of who we are. Of course, having parents who were first-generation, we never forgot who we were. But at the same time, it was always really frustrating to have people just be like, "Wow, it's so crazy that you're Nigerian, but you do this."

Ivana: We need to always remember that it's just people. If we get clouded by societal views, then we can never really be our truly authentic selves. We're never gonna be anything we're not and it doesn't matter what anyone says. We're doing this because this is what we believe in. This is what we were given by God to give you. So if it resonates with you, then it is for you, and if not, then it's not for you.

It sounds like you've both spent time defining your own identities for yourselves. How do you balance both sides of your Nigerian-Americaness?

Jess: With everything that happened last year with Black Lives Matter and even the #EndSARS movement, it made you question even your own identity. I have this feeling of being in the middle a lot of times. The things that we experience there, we feel them the same way. But at the same time, we have the perspective of being immigrants here and then wondering why did we even come to this country? There are different thoughts that go in your mind, but we're all Black at the end of the day.

Ivana: That itself is a very sensitive topic within the Black community. I don't even think we've even begun to dig into that aspect of things. With a lot of people going back home, we're entering a whole new world where Africa is gonna have everybody. It's gonna be interesting to see how we all adapt together. I remember in *BSU, that would always be a conversation, and it's interesting how there are some people who will sit and say, "Oh, we're different."

*Black Student Union

Jess, you mentioned being caught in the middle. Did Nigeria ever feel like it belonged to you, or did it always feel like it belonged to your parents?

Jess: Honestly, I did feel like it belonged to me, and that's what was so great about the childhood we had. There was a lot of pride in being Nigerian as a kid. Coming here, it was a shock in the sense that we're like, "Wait, what? We're being made fun of? Why?" My parents definitely held the grounding of being Nigerian though, especially in terms of traditions.

Beyond traditions, what is it like cultivating a relationship with your home country for yourself and as a young adult?

Jess: I feel like we were surrounded by the culture, but we found our own identity in it.

Ivana: Yeah, maybe it was in 2011? But there was a group on Facebook called Nigerian Twitter… but it wasn't on Twitter [laughs]. That was like my way back home. I was connecting with a lot of young Nigerians who were at my school and just everywhere. I'm just really glad that I found that page because there are a lot of people that I know now, and I wouldn't know if I didn't meet them on there.

Food and music are two powerful ways immigrants keep home close. Did they play a role in shaping or reinforcing culture as you grew up?

Jess: Oh, absolutely! That really is what shaped our love of music; it's because of our parents. They loved all kinds of music. We were always surrounded by it. Even at church, we would hear these Igbo praise songs.

Ivana: Or songs like, "Sweet mother / I no go forget you / the way you suffer for me." That sound and the smell of just some really nice smoked jollof, moi moi, egusi, the fufu in the plastic wrap! Then you're at a party! My dad would always get at least three wraps for himself, and our mum would just complain that the rice was not as good as her own, a very typical outing. It's funny 'cause even though we've never met, I feel like you've had the same experience.

Absolutely! Those parties are really the bedrock of many diaspora communities and a conduit of culture. Connecting with Nigeria from abroad is one thing, but talk about the process of connecting with being Igbo. Is that an additional step for a diaspora kid?

Ivana: Honestly, not really. We're from Amawbia in Anambra state, and my dad was the president of the Amawbia group community. So we were around Igbos, and everybody was speaking Igbo.

Jess: I think one thing we embraced was Igbo music. Especially praise music. It is always kind of celebratory, whether it's at parties or even at a wake keeping. It always made you dance and smile. So early on, I associated making good music with getting that feeling.

Ivana: You know who does it really well? Teni the Entertainer. I can hear it in her. When she came out with her bops, that was really inspiring because I've never heard that tone in a mainstream Afrobeats way, especially from a woman.

Ivana, earlier, you mentioned not being able to flex your pen in Igbo. As a writer and, I imagine, a lover of language, does not knowing Igbo as intimately as you would like to bother you?

Ivana: Definitely, that really hurts. As you get older, you start to realise that learning a new language, especially Igbo, is not easy.

Jess: Our grandpa was a writer too, and he wrote traditional Igbo stories. His name was Cyprian Ekwensi.

Ivana: So it can't stop with us, especially since we're now from here. Having kids here means that they're going to have the American side, so if we're not instilling it, it won't be there. I definitely want my kids to know Igbo, so I'm gonna do my very best to learn enough.

Having been away from home since you left, what comes to mind when you think of your return?

Jess: It's a long time coming!

Ivana: It's gonna happen and in its own time. I feel like that trip is going to change our perspective a lot, especially being that we're older. It's gonna be special. So when God wills it, it's gonna be the one.