MY THOUGHTS ON MI ABAGA’S LEGACY

It’s been over ten years since M.I Abaga came into spotlight in 2008 with his self titled album which happened to be one for the records. The most spectacular thing about my memory of those times is walking down the streets of New Benin and Upper Mission back then as a student in Benin, and hearing the lyrics of Blaise, blazing from loud speakers. To be honest, I didn’t like the song very much, not for its lack of creativity but because it did not seem original to me. This has to do with the fact that the song was a mosaic of the lyrics of many songs that were mainstream at the time, masterfully blended into one rap song. But then, many of my friends seemed to like the song. But then, there was no way I would have had my gusts blown up because my enthusiasm for Nigerian rap music (which became full blown two years later) was yet to begin. But something seemed to be spectacular about M.I because he just seemed to be everywhere in the News. And there was the particular day when me and my father (who barely knew how to sing these hip hop /pop/RnB songs, but seemed to know the stats of each top singer and how many days it took each of P Square’s album to sell a million copies) saw M.I pop up in the entertainment news on Hip TV, and he asked, “Is this not the rapper they said his album is the highest selling album in Nigeria?” Instinctively, I answered, “Yes, he is the one.” Even though I hadn’t heard about that statistics before.

And prior to this time, I was used to watching programmes on TV, where discussions bordering about whether or not Hip hop was dead in Nigeria was common place. Looking back now, it seemed that the emergence of M.I marked the end of that discussion.

My enthusiasm about Nigerian Hip Hop music wasn’t full blown until 2010. And this bloom came when I listened to MI’s second album: MI2 THE MOVIE. My love for the album was beyond the fact that it was stuffed with so much creativity and depth and amazing lyrical delivery. It was about the storytelling. The fact that while listening to songs in the album like Unstoppable, Imperfect Me, Wild Wild west, I saw myself going places and experiencing the events which occurred in those places from MI’s childhood to the ugliness that was taking place in Jos at the time. It was also so inspiring that I was seeing myself doing something creative which would tell my story in the same way MI and the Choc Boys were doing about Jos. Ice Prince and Jesse Jagz would often mention Jos, but it was MI who was the Storyteller. And it was that aspect of his rap which got me. I also remember reading through reviews online and there I saw where commentators talked about how they were deeply touched by the stories in the album, one of them even admitting he shed tears after listening to Unstoppable where MI had told partly his story and partly that of him and Jesse. And I wasn’t alone at that time, because I was seeing people who were touched by the piece of art the same way I was. For many people, the excitement was in the songs like Beef and Number One where there were punchlines, but for me it was in the depth and storytelling.

It’s almost ten years since then and it’s possible to say that Nigerian Hip Hop might have experienced a lag phase since those years and we are only seeing a resurge now. It could also be argued that over the years, only few rappers have been really consistent with the legacies they initially set out with.

It could be said that since the emergence of those rappers who came shortly after MI when Nigeria experienced a sort of golden age in Hip Hop, there has hardly been a sustenance in the bloom. But this is largely due to the fact that the interest of the Nigerian audience has over the last ten years shifted towards a lower Cartesian when it has to do with depth or music that’s intellectually demanding. Even some Genres like the Soul music which saw people like Asa, Soty, TY Bello come Into the limelight in the 2000s are no longer in vogue because the general lifestyle of Nigerians has shifted since those years to a more tense one, and nobody is much concerned about depth as we used to be. Much people don’t have the time to sit and listen to songs whose meaning they have to decipher like Hip Hop or Soul. It’s become more of street anthem, something to keep the groove going. And so even many artists who started out as rappers have often shifted focus to trying to blend singing into their rapping or even sing whatever they can to get the attention of the audience. It is no longer about the art; it’s no more about the passion of being a wordsmith, but rather about the commercial success to be garnered. This is just another side of the effect of Nigeria’s deterioriative state to the artiste. It is also same in the writing industry where since most of the prominent publishing industries are in America and Britain, Nigerian writers have largely moved from fictions that critique the social stausquo, those which explore traditions and probe history and they have moved to poverty porn and exploring all forms of trauma to the extent that literary gatherings sometimes seem like a feast where traumatized people have come to conquer themselves, and to conquer their traumas, the overall state of the society being largely ignored. There are not much audience for the writers in Nigeria, so they write for the people in Britain and America who expect a certain kind of story for them. And for the musical artiste, the country has changed so fast to one where the deeply introspective audience is on the decline and so everybody is trying so hard to resemble the street artistes who are getting all the rave.

But then, there are few artistes who have managed in the industry, to maintain the legacy of their arts. For MI and very few rappers whom I respect like Illbliss (another rap artiste who has been consistent, even in his dynamics), I have never for the over ten years which I have followed their progress, had to wonder if they were still rappers or are now singers. MI has continually remained on top and kept his creativity intact. Worthy of mention is his ability to carry many other artistes under his wings, even though the Choc Boys over the years fell apart (something which is now a norm for label mates in the industry). However, why it seems there are some things he hasn’t gotten totally right in his leadership role, he has failed to make that mistake of backsliding when it came to the legacy. His songs from the Self named albums to Illegal music to The Self Evaluation Of Yxng DxnzL, there has been this self consciousness which is expected of a top artiste which is the hallmark of top notch art.

Very worthy of mention is the latest brainchild of MI, the Martell Cypher 1 & 2 which has caused me to be really introspective. I have known Loose Kaynon for a few years now and now, getting introduced to wordy and promising rappers like AQ and blaqbonez through the Cypher, it is apparent that the legacy of being both a top rap artiste alongside a role model for up and coming artistes wasn’t lost after all. And this, in my opinion, even beyond the art is what keeps him in the top of the Canon in the game of African Hip Hop.

My name is Michael Chiedoziem Chukwudera. I am a Poet. Storyteller. Freelancer. Data Analyst. Literary and cultural critique. Follow me on Twitter @Chukwuderaedozi