These days have been tough. Asides from the fact that 2020 has been a living hell, it has been my personal hell. It was this year that I felt the sting of losing a loved one: my mother. For the most part, I’ve been jobless and very broke. There’s been debilitating heartbreak. But if there’s one thing I cannot deny, it’s that I’ve experienced a lot of growth. It is, indeed, true that (some) people become better during their time of challenge, although at the expense of your mental health sometimes.
I’ve worked on different projects this year, some of them more successful than the others. There’s been a lot of learning and unlearning. My writing has suffered greatly. I have not particularly lost the motivation to write. I still enjoy writing. But I have begun to lean toward the advice that someone I look up to once gave me about writing. He told me verbatim “I like to do a few things smartly and get paid a lot. Copywriting isn’t compatible with that ideology.” A few years down the line and those words are echoing in my mind, I can’t tell you how resoundingly true they are. …
Love isn’t for people like me. When I say people like me, I mean people who battle mental health issues. I don’t expect anyone who doesn’t have mental health challenges to understand. The way the brain of someone with mental health issues works is completely different from someone who doesn’t have any. But maybe reading this article might give some insight. I have to say that this post will show my vulnerability and as much as I’d like to keep that part of me private, I have made a promise to readers to share both the good and bad. …
Things are unreasonably tough right now. 2020 was supposed to be a great year but with the rapid spread of the COVID-19, everything has become slow. The internet is where most of the activities are happening. Especially for entertainers, their only option to stay relevant is through the religious use of social media. I remember stumbling on an article about blogger and comedian, Sarah Cooper, some days ago. She is popular for making funny TikTok videos and her signature hilarious tweets. …
There’s an ongoing story of D’banj sexually assaulting a lady. The lady, Seyitan, narrated her ordeal with D’banj (two years ago) on Twitter some days back and since then her life has been in peril. She has been unlawfully arrested by the police and kept in custody for more than 24 hours. She has been (allegedly) kidnapped by D’Banj’s manager and although she has finally gained her freedom, the psychological trauma that will follow cannot be measured.
From when Seyitan told her story till this very moment, people have tried to invalidate her story by saying it is a false accusation. She has been ridiculed, shamed and oppressed. One would expect D’banj to do everything possible to clear his name and counter the accusations in the most non-controversial way possible. But the Afrobeats singer decided to go another route: one that will forever mar his legacy. I have to confess that I held the musician in high esteem and seeing him go about the issue this way has flushed all my respect and admiration down the drain. …
PS: Started writing this article last year and left it when I was about 70% done. But I decided to finish it up and share because Medium has now verified me as a Top writer in Music on the platform. I didn’t do this alone. I mean, I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for you. So this win is for us all.
In case you have not heard enough, I’m here once again to reiterate that many Nigerian artists need to invest more in their branding. You don’t have any excuse not to. As someone who intends to carry the cross on behalf of upcoming and emerging Nigerian acts, here I am pointing out the benefits of branding and a detailed guide on how to go about it. …
I’m not writing this article to compare any of the mentioned acts. (Or maybe I am *evil grin*). After promising myself to desist from writing about artists and their craft, I find myself still being opinionated. Maybe it is a curse I can’t bid away. Especially as I believe that there is a certain misconception that should be corrected. Alpha P is what people think Rema is. I don’t say this to undermine the great work that Rema has invested in his sound. Rema is, and will continue to be, a talented act. Nothing can change that.
Inspiration Behind This Article
What inspired this article is the fact that there’s an unconscious comparison between the two artists. Surely, that’s not unusual, considering that they share similarities in sound and style. Rema was introduced to us sometime in 2019 and he immediately won a huge number of people over. His sound was fresh and unique, his style completely different from what was trending. In no time, Rema became a mega star. Alpha P, on the other hand, didn’t get introduced to the Nigerian audience until late in 2019. …
Something has been happening a lot recently on Twitter. And it’s the unnecessary comparison of new school artists. It might be counterintuitive asking people not to do that. After all, nobody should tell you what to use your platform for. But if you take your time to think about it, it hardly makes any sense. It only ends up creating enmity between artists and their respective fans. We should all endeavor to dead it. That’s not too much to ask for.
I saw a tweet comparing Omah Lay to Oxlade. My first reaction was to call the tweeter a nincompoop but I know better than to throw insults around on Twitter. [That’s not true. I derive pristine joy in insulting people]. Why is anyone comparing Omah Lay to Oxlade? What’s the basis for the comparison? Asides it being unnecessary, it was irrational to compare these two acts. It’s okay to have a preference. What you shouldn’t do is compare any two talented artists who share no similarities. …
I know what it’s like to be a successful writer. I also know what it’s like to be an unsuccessful writer. A few months ago, I was working in one of the top blogs in Africa. I was highly recognized by artists and music listeners alike. But at some point, I could no longer keep up with the career I had willingly chosen so I began to backtrack. Incessantly, I disturbed my boss that I wanted to quit writing about music. The cross had become too much to bear. He had no choice but to fire me eventually. …
I want to say I’m tired. But I know that this isn’t the time to be tired. If anything, this is the time to be proactive. The world is an unfair place to be in. It is even worse for women. This is not the first time I’m writing about the violence that women suffer in the hands of men. And it won’t be the last. Sometime last year I wrote about some men that raped a woman and even had the audacity to arrest her after they were accused. Since time immemorial, women have been subjected to gender-based violence. …
I’ve lost my mum. Now I know what a loss truly feels like. Let me assure you that I’m no stranger to the unfettered cruelty that death deals. I’ve lost family members. I lost my half sister (who left behind about 5 kids) a few years back. Without a doubt, I felt a pang of pain. But when my dad called me in the wee hours on April 27, 2020, I knew before he even uttered a word. Sorrow shrouded his breath. I felt sick to my stomach.
“Ayo, I lost your mother this morning.”
I gotta tell you this: I’m an emotional guy. Although I hardly show it. You can only catch a glimpse of that side of me when you know me well enough. I’m emotional but (un)fortunately for me, I don’t know grief. Death doesn’t faze me. When people die, I don’t feel anything. I just go about my business and make sure to keep a gloomy face so I’m not tagged a psychopath. This wasn’t the case when I heard about my mother’s death. I cried into my sheets. My mother is no more. …
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