…FROM KSA TO TUFACE?
After almost a three-month break from the hassles and
battles of organising a national music awards, this page is back on steam. Now,
our mandate has been expanded - we have been given aa free-role like the deadly
creative midfielder in a well-trained football team. Expect the darting runs;
the wow-evoking dribbles; spectacular free-kicks, back-breaking assists and of
course the occasional sensational foals.
Welcome to FAJ's Blitzy Fantasia - to the place where we
don't mince amd look for another name to call a spade - but a damned good
spade. Expect anything - entertainment-wise (well, as long as the editor
permits), that is). So, bragging over, enjoys these series I've been working on
during my "break-time+. And let me have your thoughts and comments.
Fact 1: Mr. Sunday Adeniyi Adegeye (aka King Sunny Ade) -
around my adolescent corridor - was the Lord of the Jungle… the centre point of
my entertainment romance.
Fact 2: Like him or not, Mr. Innocent Idibia,
Tuface/2face/2Baba, etc., has been, arguably, the most dominant minstrel of the
past decade and more. As far as my children are concerned, no artiste has more
razzle-dazzle than the slender one from the lulling hills of Benue.
It is quite
difficult to argue with them. However, one has seen more stars - more ‘eras’
and more deflowering of great artistic promise and paradise.
We have been a witness to the great iconoclastic
mesmerism of Fela’s music and mantra… One had been a ‘sighter’ of the short
flight and explosive entree of Kris Okotie into our musical firmament. We were
there when a Jide Obi, Felix Lebarty, Nico Mbanga, Sir Shina Peters, Mike okri,
Majek Fashek, The Mandators, Ras Kimono, Onyeka Onwenu…stunned the senses with
panache and unbridled talent. These names are not footnote in the history of
Nigerian Musical talent-spread; they are the august members of an illustrious
shortlist of artistes who bewitched us with great debuts and/or sophomores. Men
and women who today may be distant and gyrating below your radar - but believe
me when I say they pack a giant punch in the annals of Nigerian true musical
talents… Fortunately a few of them are still around at the very top of the
mountain, pulling strings that reveal their illustrious antecedents… that is,
referring to Lagbaja, Femi Kuti - and who else but the effervescent,
swashbuckling don of the musical dynasty - King Sunny Ade, KSA.
For diverse
factors, (which is not the focus of this write-up) KSA has remained a blinding
lodestar - a continual embarrassment of prodigious talents expressed in
seemingly endless dimensions and dynamics. The 67 year-old man with half a
century romance with music simply will not be blown away.
It will seem
unfair if it appears we are comparing KSA to Tuface- far be it from me. Not
only will it be unfair, it will also be disrespectful and utterly unreasonable.
The attention of this article is focused on situating the closest next
generation artiste that is best positioned to subsequently command the artistic
excellence; stage imagery and fluorescent charisma of KSA, and therefore attain
the elder’s quality longevity.
As many times
as I went round the subject with my searchlight, the orb of scrutiny always
fell on the gangling man with the innocent face. Using certain criteria, the
results show beguiling similarities - even in less flattering scenarios and
discriminating circumstances.
We will
‘attack’ these elements (positive or negative) with such ’conditionalities’
like: ‘Vocalization’ (vocal ability); Stagecraft (or the ‘wow’ability);
Innovation (or turn-around-ability); Compositional Skills (Oh! Thou sweet
music) and of course, Lifestyle.
Upper Cuts:
It never stops happening; subtitling in Nigerian movies
gives me cramps. I bet several others suffer the same "ailment" in
utter "-don't-really-care" silence. The biggest culprits are the
Yoruba video producers who daily make mockery of their own language, in their
pedestrian exertions called "subtitles". I almost convulse in dismay
at what a 2-part Yoruba video (Idajo) threw at us recently. Check a snap-shot
of brief scene from the drama headlined by Rachel Oniga (Iya Oge) and few
notables.
We advise: as much as it is admirable trying to
"cross-over" with sequential subtitles for the benefit of non-Yoruba
viewers of that type of Nigerian movies, it is counter-productive to explain
the nuances of your mother-tongue in such deplorable lack of regard for the
rules of grammar to a level that detract attention from the merit of your story
and its craft. Be professional - respect your audience and hire people who can
"wear" both languages comfortably.
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| 2FACE |
By: Femi Akintunde-Johnson - (first publshed in Sun newspaper of
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| KSA |
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