With emo anime inspired cover arts, tracks like “Dante’s Awakening” and his hellishly sinister ‘Dead by Dawn, The Old Me Is Gone‘ compilation project, PatricKxxLee has the sort discography that inspires a rage every time he climbs a stage. His latest single, “Birthday Cake”, might be a celebration of life, but the rapid style sludgy bars come across more aggressive than cheerful.
“Birthday Cake” is subdued with layered droning synths and drums. It stands as a sharp contrast to PatricKxxLee’s rage-fueled chants, exuding the kind of emotion that’s only soothed by screaming. But you also get a sense that PatricKxxLee getting turnt on sex like it’s his birthday is the most optimism we will ever get from this punkster, thanks to a catchy melody that’ll keep heads bumping through the 2-minute listening time.
Listen to PatricKxxLee’s “Birthday Cake” here.
https://soundcloud.com/patrickxxlee/birthday-cake
Featured Image Credits: Instagram/patrickxxlee
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You are meeting Debola at a strange time in his life. He wandered into a dream and lost his way back. Tweet at him@debola_abimbolu
With debates on album shelf life and a rumours of talent mismanagement, there’s enough controversy in the media to fuel another lively M.I album. His most recent project, Rendezvous, showed he’s still one of the most savvy rappers from this part of the world, but its accommodating direction left fans wanting more from the rapper. And he seems geared to deliver just that.
I'm lost, MI is dropping another album?
— Rapper | Designer | Oghenekaro (@DifferentKaro) April 17, 2018
Before the release ofRendezvous, M.I had already hinted at a ‘Yung Denzel’ project in the works and we’ve gathered from more his more recent tweets that we can still expect the album to be released in May. Naturally, we’re looking forward to what Yung Denzel offers.
WANI has announced his debut project, ‘Lagos City Vice’ EP, will be released on the 4th of May. He made this announcement a few hours ago on his Twitter, along with cover art for the project and a tracklist that features previously released single, “Instaman”.
Though WANI has only released a handful of singles since emerging in the Nigerian soundscape, he has grown quite a strong following with his smooth and melodious Afropop, releasing covers and freestyle cuts on his Soundcloud. His clever “Keep On Rocking” interpolation to Drake’s breezy wine-friendly dancehall track, “Blem”, made our Best New Music pick. And you can bet we are looking forward to the EP’s release next month.
-Lagos City Vice🌴 – Available May 4th – Preorder link in bio Thank you guys for all the love this past year ! I need all your RT’s on this one can’t lie . level up season 🙏🏾
Kenyan filmmaker, Wanuri Kahiu, just released the trailer for her feature film, “Rafiki”. The film tells the story of lesbian lovers, Kena and Ziki, who have to navigate their love around society’s reservation. Their relationship is made even more unlikely by the political rivalry between their parents, and ultimately they have to choose between love and their safety.
Set in Nairobi, the trailer offers shots of the couple’s romantic affair but also shows some of the judgmental stares and remarks they have to deal with living in a housing estate. “Rafiki” depicts the difficult decisions and choices of homosexuals in Africa. However, the film will be premiered at the Cannes Film Festival as the first ever Kenyan film to feature at the award ceremony. Which is just as well, seeing as it’ll almost definitely be banned from Kenyan cinemas.
Watch the trailer for Wanuri Kahiu’s “Rafiki” below.
Featured Image Credits: YouTube/IndieWire
You are meeting Debola at a strange time in his life. He wandered into a dream and lost his way back. Tweet at him@debola_abimbolu
Yesterday, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie joined Hillary Rodham Clinton for a conversation at a PEN America’s Arthur Miller Freedom to Write Lecture. On the event’s description, Chimamanda and Hillary were rightfully classed as two of the worlds strongest advocates for women and girls, with unique insights into how we can imagine a better future.
During the session, Chimamanda took the opportunity to confront the former Democratic presidential candidate with something she said she found upsetting. “In your Twitter account, the first word that describes you is ‘Wife.’, she said. “Then I think it’s ‘Mom,’ and then it’s ‘Grandmother'”. She then asked if it was Hillary’s choice to first identify in relation to her husband, and if so, why.
After listening to Chimamanda’s point of view, Hillary agreed to change her bio. But it’s not difficult to see figure why the former Secretary of State didn’t see the problem with her self-labelling before Chimamanda brought it up.
Firstly, Hillary is not just a ‘person’, she’s one of the most influential people in the world. She serves as a baseline for what a lot of women should aspire to at a time when the world demands we reorganize how society sees women. Likewise, Chimamanda is a vocal public figure who has fought an ideological battle against a misogynistic Nigerian culture, where women are not only seen as the lesser of the two genders but are ultimately defined by their husband’s worth. It is understandable that Adichie would consider a woman choosing to be identified in this way as regressive because this is the foundation of the anti-feminism she is most familiar with.
Although Chimamanda’s question is valid, her personal offence at another woman’s choice of identity also inversely defeats the what it means for a 21st-century woman to have aspirations without the influence of societal expectations either for men or women. Feminism, as we have come to know it, is different across the board. The base definition is the freedom of expression and choice. Through intersectional egalitarianism, we know that feminism is different for everyone depending on our environments. Hillary has had to form an identity outside of her husband’s, but Chimamanda has had to fight for her feminism in a more regressive environment where having careers is considered secondary to being a homemaker.
Still, tweets like the one above are proof that Chimamanda’s question is part of an important conversation that needs to be had nonetheless. Where she may have erred, however, is projecting her own reality on to Hillary, forgetting the contextual differences in their perspectives. But for people who look up to both iconic women, these well-rounded contexts helps to apply the acquired knowledge from diverse experiences to on-going conversations around equality and the furtherance of women’s rights.
Featured Image Credits: Instagram/chimamanda_adichie
Of all the curious things about Wizkid’s upward climb, his management’s many shortcomings is easily one of the most befuddling. It’s not quite as cringe as Chris Brown, but Wizkid has gotten away with some of the most epic career fails without much of an impact on his popularity. Last year, none of his managers (in UK, America and Nigeria) were able get him on Viceland’s feature on modern Nigerian music. But more recently, the Starboy’s chance to represent Afropop on the Coachella stage was thwarted cause of his inability to secure the travelling arrangements for his band.
Nigerians were quick to throw shade at him on Twitter for letting us down. And while some of the remarks were rather harsh, it’s understandable considering he was booked 8 months before the festival. Wizkid’s confidence in his career is so cloud high, he seems to have let go of the wheel and shifted gear to cruise. From lacklustre music releases via social media to airy songwriting, he’s starting to develop quite the reputation for being careless. But either through luck or just past glory, still remains the beloved Starboy nonetheless.
We are sorry to announce that Wizkid is unable to make it into the country to join us this weekend but will be performing next weekend.
Coachella’s tweet that Wizkid will be performing at the coming week of the festival initially appeased fans who were looking forward to seeing his performance. However, though Beyonce was able to make a return after killing her headline set from the opening week, Wizkid remained a no-show for the second week. If you thought his initial excuse was lazy, this time, he doesn’t even bother making any. He has moved on to promoting new music on his Twitter and even fans aren’t too torn anymore. Wizkid’s absence from Coachella was conveniently ignored for the just concluded Big Brother Naija game show. Which is just as well seeing as he might have had more trouble dealing with such bad publicity twice within the space of a week.
Featured Image Credits: Instagram/wizkidayo
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A few weeks ago, Bella Alubo and Ycee released ‘Late Night Vibrations‘; a project that fused R&B-pop and hip-hop into a romance fuel six-track mood piece. Off the same EP comes the video for “Empathy”, shot by Visionaire pictures.
“Empathy” gives a hazy look into the love lives of YCee and Bella with people who we can safely assume to be exes now. The song finds the pair singing about the apathy that trails their breakup. And it does make sense they’ll feel bereft after seeing them get a love lock with someone who doesn’t care that the relationship failed.
On “Wame”, Stonebwoy toes the line between his commonplace dancehall sound, bringing Cassper Nyovest along for a catchy rap verse. “Wame” is a love song which literally translates to ‘marry me’. But over the energetic beat, most of their words are lost in translation as they perform in their native languages. With a catchy hook and chorus (from which we gather they like the waist of African woman).
Nearly 8 years since we first heard his voice on Ice Prince’s “Oleku”, Brymo’s mid-tempo, retro style; a fusion of Fuji, soul, RnB, and alt-rock and an understated catalog has earned the singer a distinguished stature among fans and critics likewise. In his self-presentation as seen in interviews, BrymO is modest; his elocution articulate, if tentative, and with an awareness for a crisp enunciation.
Indeed, BrymO may be a pop singer but some of his impulses are also clearly literary: already the author of a book, BrymO can be found mingling with writers at book festivals, like Aké, and other literary types on university campuses. In the pop culture polarity between artist and celebrity, Brymo leans on the former, and this schtick, of an introspective, literary-lyrical everyday human, no doubt, constitutes a significant part of the Brymo appeal.
Brymo’s rise to cultural prominence began ostensibly by complementing the hip-hop of former Chocolate City label mates: MI, Ice Prince, and Jesse Jagz, with befitting hooks. But since an acrimonious split from that record label, Brymo had charted a different solo trajectory, starting with the uber philosophical, Merchant, Dealers, & Slaves, released in 2014.
Without ignoring BrymO’s unusual Freudian turn with his compilation album, Trance (2015), as an intuitive metaphor for his fame and stardom as a dream state, Tabula Rasa effectively marked the beginning of Brymo’s once philosophic and, well, vacant outlook. Then came the whimsical and infamously suggestive Klitoris (2016).
Across these projects, Brymo has consistently managed to spark curiosity by edging on minimalism and obscurity, using a combination of intriguing album titles, and poetically waxed lyrics. He is no doubt, an indemnification for what should exist as conscious music, but with the release of most recent album is revealed, Oso (2018), a self-referential Yoruba word which translates to ‘wizard’, BrymO had perfected a long-running theme but may have also worn the narrative thin.
BrymO’s competence as a singer is rarely ever in question but it is the non-musical quirks and posturing, which are perhaps a broader reflection of his personality but also serve as a crutch to some form of artistic avant-gardism, that are a curiosity. None more relevant than in the recent uproar about one of the lead singles and video to his new album: “Heya!”
“Heya!” is set around the Lagos lagoon, and shows BrymO naked but for a San bushman traditional thong, covering his pubic region. The video opens with the aerial view of the Third Mainland Bridge, then the striking image of a steam engine boat, before cutting on to a naked BrymO emerging from the middle of the river, leaving small ripples in his wake, while walking on to a parched path, toward a grand piano covered in white clothing.
Directed by Ayomikun Oludoyi, “Heya!” can be read as a metaphoric allusion to the mystical powers of deep waters in Yoruba cosmology, a connecting theme with the album title, and a comment on his self-presentation as a mysterious child, of humble beginnings in riverine Lagos who walking on to a predestined career in music.
BrymO’s singing is accompanied by a simple piano acoustic progression and indistinct synths backing. In the song lyrics, BrymO dabbles in more tendentious self-eulogizing: notably, a cursory reference to having been ‘stubborn since a small pikin’ and smugly to a supreme talent of always being the first to diagnose a problem. In the following verse, some of this childhood predilection resurfaces, with a conclusion that tracks the ‘problem’ of men and women is down to collective ‘ignorance’. Without irony, BrymO, an otherwise proficient musician, had assumed the haughtiness of a priest, one no less common in men of letters.
“Heya!” is Brymo’s attempt at profoundness that comes off bare and deficient instead, against the backdrop of hollow introspection and self-indulgent social meta-commentary. A more cynical reading of the script is to take BrymO’s daring naked video as an excuse, and misguided prop, to shore up a half-assed musical performance. Given the video, we have gotten for “Heya!” off his Oso, Brymo’s flair for shock value and mysticism has disproportionately skewed to the spectacular-controversial at the expense of his primary duty as a competent singer-songwriter. It is almost too odd that for a man whose art seemingly borders on self-awareness, Brymo seems to be easily consumed by a distracting solipsism when thrust in the centre spot.
Having experienced and perhaps broken some of the barriers of opportunities we may assume are peculiar to our geographic location, Toye offers a well-rounded outlook on whether or not greener pastures are ever what they seem.
Words By Toye Sokunbi
I saw this tweet and couldn’t stop thinking about it.
To answer the question, we must go to the beginning.
Because every African child is raised to seek a baseline range of accomplishments as we mature, every phase of our lives comes with its own unique set of anxieties; you worry about grades, until you have to worry about getting a job, then you swap the latter for a new goal, to keep the cycle of life going, basically.
In this warped process of growing into our own skins, we’re all forced to drown in the weight expectations, overestimating our capabilities for excellence to delusional levels. As we grow older, heartbreak and disillusionment sets in once it occurs that perhaps some people do have two heads. It gets worse when you realize that life is a twisted extension of a kindergarten playground with a “members only” sandbox and you need certain privileges to enter.
It is a universal law though, that only a few can [and will] actually get to the top. I begrudgingly indulge the assumption working with more resources may accelerate career growth outside Nigeria. But it’s also just as noteworthy that all these perks of emigration would be irreverent if the person didn’tーby stroke of ambition, luck or biologyーbelong at that top spot.
While this stirs-up the age-old argument on whether high-achievers are born, or made, it doesn’t mean we’re not as well-adjusted adults as we think we are. It just means the top 1%ーin any strata of lifeーis only a single percentage of multitudes who share varying shades of mediocrity in common. It also means, even at the top, life has taken a fundamental understanding of consequence and task-mastering the art of keeping up. Otherwise, toppers must learn the lesson the loose tightrope taught the gymnast; If it can go high, it can come down, hard.
Chimamanda Adichie’s legendaryTED talk, on the dangers of a single story, echoes a similar but divergent perspective on what happens when people only opt for parts of the wholesome narrative. Many Nigerians understandably share a similar mindset with the tweet above; that Nigeria is the only obstacle in the way of a maximum potential that would’ve been a smooth sail in any other economy.
That premise is false.
Business Insider reported American “Consumer-debt levels are now well above those seen before the Time of Shedding and Cold Rocks”. According to the NerdWallet, “Americans’ total credit card debt continues to climb in 2017, reaching an estimated $931 billion — a nearly 7% increase from the previous year”. This report by The Guardianspeculates that British citizens may be on course to be halving personal income month-to-month to service mortgage and car loans. Other developed countries with similarly insane household debt levels like Australia and Japan, have had to implement policies toavert major financial crisis.
The problem with that narrative is only more glaring at the individual level. For every Nas, who is a legend in hip-hop circles, there is a Wale who just got dropped by his label. For every 4.0 graduating CGPA caption posted on graduation week social media, many dropped out for bad grades, got expelled or moved back home because their parents couldn’t continue paying tuition. For every middle-class Nigerian family that saved up enough to successfully emigrate their comfortable life, you can bet your ass, there are thousands more whose children had to join the U.S Army for health insurance and a permanent residence.
Again this doesn’t mean you should ever settle under any circumstance. Human endeavour itself is predetermined on striving to be better, and people who already embody this betterness are the finish line and the gunshot you hear at the start of the race of life. However, understanding your current limits is very helpful when aligning who you are with where you want to go.
In Nigeria, we are forever swirling in the waters of our over-dramatized existence, thus the search for a higher purpose/meaning outside religion is a fool’s errand. It’s not odd that these same people who’ve read about miracles in their holy books, pray against the enemy’s evil eye when they feel they are not making progress in life. If you have been taught to all your life to move chronologically from point A to B, getting stuck at a solid Lーlike joblessness after Uni, or singledom after doing all the things a “modest woman” does to be a “good wife”ーmay leave you at God’s feet, imploring him to ask your Aunt Chi-Chi from the village what’s really good?”
Where it all crumbles though, is that a society that uses a single scale to measure the extent of an individual’s fulfilment will most likely ignore all the peculiarities of everyone’s personal legend. Think of these examples: The story of that speed painter who went viral after sketching a tweeter, may have turned out differently if he’d been a poor black American who had spent all his youth gang-banging to survive the streets instead of practicing art; International students make up a multi-billion dollar industry for American colleges, because even American households can’t afford to pay, so children have to take on heavy student loans to pay for their own education; If there is somebody for everybody, then nobody is for everybody, and that means and we all have a narrow range of potentials who can match our goals and interests.
“Are Nigerians abroad more successful or are you just failing at life right now?”
“Who the fuck wants to know?”
The biggest argument to support this idea that Nigerians thrive in abundance, I’ve noticed, often bullishly romanticizes the post-colonial years that culminated Nigeria’s oil and agricultural windfall. I have no problem believing fairy-tales of a pound to a dollar in 2018, but I’d like the same people who make those claims to keep factors like population, national literacy, and per-capita income within context too.
The Nigerian government has indeed poorly adapted to changes in our societal structure over the years, but in any case, we would still be products of our environments no matter what the fates are. When you’re done feeling sorry for yourself, you can revel in the bliss of knowing that this social media age is all about storytelling, and you can start sanitizing your mind by separating fake news from the facts or at least telling your own damn stories.
Psychology of Things Unknown is a weekly column by Tomiwa Isiaka, published every Saturday.
Featured Image Credits: Micheal Cho
“Tomiwa is figuring it out…” Tweet at her @fauxxbella
Cobhams Asuquo’s “Mad Over You” cover strips away the memorable highlife guitar riffs, but the electric guitar licks more than make up for it. Sizzy Benjamin performs the live set, complete with drums, tambourine rattles, percussion and backup singers. His somber take on Runtown’s lyrics are more affecting as he drags vowels and places emphasis on particularly affectionate lines; “I Dey Mad Over You You You You You”. Though it’s more a emotional than a dancehall number, you can still get your groove on to the funk baseline.
Listen to Cobhams Asuquo and Sizzy Benjamin’s “Mad Over You” cover below.
Featured Image Credits: Instagram/cobhamsasuquo
You are meeting Debola at a strange time in his life. He wandered into a dream and lost his way back. Tweet at him@debola_abimbolu
Though Benie Macaulay’s new single gets its name from popular street-hop slang, “Shashe”, it shows the diversity in popular Nigerian music with the vocal performance from the Afro-house singer, DJ Yin.
On previous singles like “What You Started” and “Good Loving”, DJ Yin’s take on Afro-house explored the genre beyond its mere dancehall fascinations to express her romantic feelings. But for Benie Macaulay’s “Shashe” she sings “Me I Just Dey Here Dancing/ No Time For No Romancing” over the catchy beat. DJ Yin has been peaking at a new level of expertise with every new vocal performance. “Shashe” is her latest embodiment of how an artists can mature tangentially within their comfort sound.
Listen to Benie Macaulay’s “Shashe” featuring DJ Yin below;
Featured Image Credits: Instagram/beniemacaulay
You are meeting Debola at a strange time in his life. He wandered into a dream and lost his way back. Tweet at him@debola_abimbolu
“Make that Money”. Over the synth percussion led beat Kuvie produces, Lady Jay also addresses the different things people do for money and highlights the importance of finding your way and being as patient as possible. It’s a motivational piece for times when the grind gets tough, reminding listeners that “Rome Wasn’t Built in One Day”.
“On A Friday” bounces like BLY singing over a YG sample with a mixture of drums and layered synths, interpolating a familiar melody from Omarion’s “Pose to Be”. “On a Friday” is a call to relax and perhaps get lucky after a long week of work; “Baby Take A Break on A Friday/ Lemme Take These Off, Lemme Tease Ya. We Can Start It Off With Tequila”. The second single, “The 90s”, is more mellow, but it finds BLY spiting rap bars about grinding for that paper. The pacy drums keep the stretching and atmosphere synths and layered vocals from being completely somber as BLY sing raps about working on his craft daily. It’s a reminder that you need to put in the work before you can really enjoy your turn up.
Listen to “On a Friday” and “The 90s” below.
Featured Image Credits: Instagram/blyston
You are meeting Debola at a strange time in his life. He wandered into a dream and lost his way back. Tweet at him@debola_abimbolu
From fisticuffing grown men in traditional attires to verbal abuse at every other National Assembly gathering, the Nigerian Senate chronicles continue with what senate leaders have called an act of treason. During the senate meeting in the Nigerian National Embassy on Wednesday morning, a group of intruders stormed into the Nigerian National Embassy and stole the ceremonial mace.
“This action is an act of treason, as it is an attempt to overthrow a branch of the federal government of Nigeria by force, and it must be treated as such” said Senate media and public affairs chairman, Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi, in his statement following the incident. He also accused suspended senator, Ovie Omo-Agege, of leading the criminal act. Ovie Omo-Agege’s involvement was confirmed by a member of the security staff who told Premium Times that the security staff tried to stop the group but they said they were with the senator. The Senate gave the police 24 hours to find the mace, because as you may already know, “The parliament cannot convene without their three-foot long metal staff.
Turns out the police came through, detaining senator Ovie Omo-Agege on Wednesday, after he was accused. According to news from the statement released by the police today, their search “forced the suspected miscreants to abandon the mace at a point under the flyover before the City Gate, where a patriotic passer-by saw it and alerted the police”. #crisisaverted.
But only just. We’ll live to remember the embarrassing events until perhaps things get worse and we become desensitised on how disgraceful our lawmakers’ can be.
Featured Image Credits: Instagram/thenigeriansenate
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Moving on is never the easiest thing. It’s a grudgingly long process that demands to be taken seriously (talk about vindictive). Simisola moves to this point with her video for “Gone for Good”, directed by Joziewood.
Though the change from Aje Films is obvious, we still get a few decent frames of Simi communicating the frustration of getting over love. But it looks like Simi is bringing classicism into basic human emotional response—where is the representation for those of us who can’t afford to be forlorn in a tub. “Gone for Good”, captures all the facets of the relationship she now has to move on from but it’s sad to see the Simisola story progress from the mushiness of “Complete Me” and “One kain” to this point.
Listen to “Gone for Good”;
Featured Image Credits: Instagram/
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Eku Fantasy is a cross-continental project by the duo of Olugbenga Adelekan, who is the bass player for UK based band, Metronomy, and South Africa-based Gareth Jones (known as producer Jumping Back Slash). The two met via social media and worked on one song together from their respective hometowns, communicating via social media and email. Their first release under the project was a remix of “We Got The Power” by Gorillaz. With Olugbenga’s distinct voice, and Jumping Back Slash’s production, the group’s version produces an almost unidentifiable version of the original song.
The duo met in the small town of Knysna on South Africa’s Garden Route to expand what was to be a one-time collaboration into an EP titled EF1. They announced this extension with the release of the first single “Living On The Outside” along with an experimental sci-fi themed music video featuring Olugbenga in a white background, missing his pupils.
“Living On The Outside” conveys the struggles that come with life as an outsider in a foreign country. Something both artists have experienced—Olugbenga from Nigeria to the UK, and Gareth from the UK to South Africa. “Where is your accent from” Olugbenga sings, over the enigmatic piano sounds produced by Gareth. Depicting questions usually asked of foreigners, “I learned the language, I passed the test”, he sings of people trying to fit in. “But I’m still living on the outside”, he carries on, illustrating that it is almost impossible to feel rooted in a place that is not your own.
Listen to Eku Fantasy’s “Living On The Outside” here:
Featured Image Credits: Instagram/oluolugbenga
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Politics permeated our culture a while ago. It worked it’s way into pop music with songs like “Mr Lecturer” , African China’s “MrPresident” and a wealth of others.
It’s no surprise that right now, popular music is becoming a mad dash toward wokeness. Subliminal messaging in pop music today conceptualises the levels of awareness, views and opinions that we imbibe via media consumption and mistakenly believe to be our own. Ineffectual messaging isn’t a crime in the court of public opinion, but when wokeness is your aim, thoughtlessness is usually the result. Ergo, the botched messages on consent and drug use floating around.
So maybe pop just being feel-good music like “Jahblend” isn’t a bad idea. In all fairness, the average listener isn’t priming their ears for the moment when an artist makes the perfect lyrical metaphor about unrest in the North East. They just want to dance. JahBlend and Jyino Sukus deliver on this, with a song whose lyrics don’t burden the listener or the beat. Titled after the artist himself, you can already tell it’s not so deep for anyone. It’s simply feel good music you can dance all day too and not have to do any mental gymnastics over songwriting.
Idris Elba is set to star in and executive produce his second TV series following the release of “In The Long Run”, which was released in March and based loosely on his life growing up in his family. The new show, titled “Turn Up Charlie” is a Netflix series based loosely on his life as a DJ.
“Turn Up Charlie” is about Charlie, played by Idris Elba, a struggling DJ who gets more responsibilities after accepting a job as the nanny to his famous best friend’s problem-child daughter. No other actors have been announced yet, but the show is set to begin production at this May in the U.K.
“Turn Up Charlie” is written by Georgia Lester—who also gets executive producer credits—along with Laura Neal, Femi Oyeniran and Victoria Asare-Archer. And is to be co-produced by Brown Eyed Boy Productions and Green Door Pictures
Featured Image Credits: Instagram/idriselba
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Sexual harassment and misconduct in tertiary institutions in Nigeria isn’t a new thing. But like an itch in that painfully unreachable spot, we’ve struggled to ignore it.
Yet even in popular culture, we have all heard Eedris Abdulkareems’ “Mr Lecturer”, highlighting the harassment that goes on in schools. Unfortunately, this gross misconduct has continued to fester both inside learning spaces and outside. An audio recording of a Professor soliciting sex for grades from an Obafemi Awolowo University student has gone viral but the University body is demanding that the victim gives up her protective cover of anonymity before investigating the matter despite the evidence showing that the Professor in question is complicit.
While it’s alright to tell a man to lift himself by his own bootstraps, it’s a cruel joke to ask that of a man with no boots. We can’t in good faith ask that victims of harassment and assault speak up and stick with their guns if we as a society aren’t working to create the safest space possible for them to do this. However, it’s the silence from intimidation that assaulters thrive on. There’s no revolution without individual liberation, but also no individual liberation without the liberation of society. Everyone needs to be willing to champion their own cause to the end.
There can be no gainsaying of the fact that a great revolution is taking place in the world today. There is a human rights revolution, with the freedom burgeoning taking place all over the world. After years of protests, child marriage has finally been abolished in India, the fight for inclusion is waxing stronger and yes, we live in a period where changes are taking place, however leisurely it might seem.
Rip Van Winkle is famous for sleeping twenty years but beyond his legendary comatose state, he slept through a revolution. While he buried his head in resignation and snored on peacefully up in the mountains free of colonial rule, a revolution that would change the course of history was taking place—And Rip knew nothing about it. One of the greatest liabilities of life is that too many people get through periods of social change but fail to develop the new attitudes and the new mental responses that the new situation demands. We let the social conditioning that oppresses us take our fight from us.
In the fight to create a society that doesn’t oppress anyone, every person has a part to play; from victims to survivors and even those who scale through unopposed because injustice against one is the injustice against all. We are all caught in an inescapable network of mutuality. But if victims allow the fear impede their fight for justice, there’s only so much a social outcry can do. Whatever directly affects one, indirectly affects all. It’s like Dr King said, “I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be”. In this case, for one survivor of assault that resigns to the fate that ‘nothing is going to change because this is how things work in Nigeria’, there is a long line of impending victims.
We need to stop waiting for time or ‘karma’ to come for those who perpetrate these heinous acts. It worked out fine with another professor who was only recently called out for sexual harassment, after securing another job abroad, but time is neutral. It can be used either constructively or destructively and unfortunately, people on the wrong side of the fight for a fair and assault free society have used time much more effectively than the forces of good. It is imperative that we recognise that societal progression never rides on the wheels of inevitability. It is birthed by tireless efforts and persistent work of dedicated individuals and victims themselves have to be at the core of these groups. For without persistence, time and silence work to benefit the primitive forces of social stagnation.
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Social media has created a suitable climate where artists can interact almost directly with their fans. And while there are a few drawbacks like Wizkid’s “Na Your Papa Fuck Up” clap back at someone who was disappointed that the singer couldn’t make the opening night at Coachella, there are lots of benefits for both artists and fans. Asides aiding online music distribution, it can also be a very useful tool for promoting music and leaving breadcrumb trails to get fans excited about new music before it even drops.
Runtown recently came under fire when his label accused him of breaching his contract for the second time, but the “Mad Over You” singer has managed to avoid being a public spectacle by maintaining a tunnel vision focus on the music. And given his brilliant run of successful hits, no one is complaining. With his latest singles, “Energy” and “Said”, his collaboration with Nasty C, doing so well, it’s the type of album rollout dreams are made of and he’s taking advantage of it. Runtown has spent the last couple of weeks hinting at a new project that has remained untitled, but we took the liberty to do some digging and came up with possible directions the project could take.
Sound wise, the Sound god’s career path has seen him try out different melody styles since his break out single,“Gallardo” off ‘Ghetto University’. The pacy Arabian harmonies heard on the dancehall number was shed for a mid-tempo guitar led highlife instrumental that gave us hits like “Mad Over You” and “For Life”. But his most recent single, “Energy” finds the singer making hip-hop references to Drake. It might be inconsequential given Afropop artists’ liking for shamelessly interpolating familiar pop culture references, but the singer’s recent bromance with Nasty C leaves us wondering if the South African rapper could bring more hip-hop influences that’ll be heard on this coming project.
Since their “Said” collaboration, Runtown and Nasty C have enjoyed a pleasant relationship, perhaps heightened by the song’s wide appeal. Both artists have been seen together repeatedly and naturally, you’ll expect them to eventually hit the studio in an attempt to recreate the brilliance of their electric duo. Already, there’s a snippet online of a possible single from Nasty C featuring Runtown called “No Permission”. But frankly, the partnership of both artists, blending hip-hop and Afropop as though they were meant to be together, deserves a joint project. We are all looking forward to at least one Nasty C feature when Runtown’s project is eventually released.
Even YCee who is known for his pop-tinged hip-hop fascination has reached out to Runtown, suggesting a beat in case the singer felt inclined to rap. They might end up collaborating on the track seeing as YCee has earned a reputation for blending Afropop and rap conveniently. It’s yet another hint that Runtown’s album has a high chance of featuring a lot of rapping.
And if the album does go the Hip-hop route, it could afford Runtown a chance to finally address his issues with the Eric Manny label. There’s no denying that Afropop’s easy-listening aesthetic might discourage discussing such a nagging problem, but hip-hop’s truth-speak and introspective outlook could inspire him to speak out on the issue or even tell off the label and perhaps launch his own label as this tweet below suggested.
