Thirty-five years after the legendary reggae singer, Bob Marley, passed on, his legacy lives on, perhaps not as strong as it was back in the days when he inspired musicians from all over the world to embrace that form of music. Assistant Life Editor, TERH AGBEDEH, engaged two well-known Nigerian reggae musicians, Orits Wiliki and Ras Kimono, as well as an up-and-coming hip-hop and reggae musician, Emodee, on the state of reggae which has inspired millions over the years. What they have to say is as inspiring as the music they espouse.
For the one whose original name was Rassam Wiliki, reggae music is not dead and the little or no celebration of Bob Marley on May 11 this year is due largely to the mood of the nation right now.
“So (there are no) celebrations. It is not just Bob Marley; people are looking for what to eat today. Nigeria of yesteryears is not the same Nigeria as you have it today. There are some pockets of celebrations for Bob Marley here and there, but when you talk of a big thing, the nation is in a very terrible shape right now. There are hundreds of millions of people that are crying blood as I speak to you. So, it is difficult for people to think of anything celebration right in this mood,” Wiliki said.
The ‘Kole-Man Revolutionaire’ disagreed with the notion that no one stands out in the world today to take over from Marley 35 years after his death.
“Check out the charts for the UK Billboard and you will see that reggae is still doing well. Maybe here, and when you say here, reggae has also evolved in a different format of music, what you now call hip-hop,” he said.
He however admitted that the hard-core traditional root rock reggae might have simmered down.
“All the hip-hop that you listen to are all upshots of reggae music,” he stated.
So why are there no new big names in reggae in the country? Wiliki says the media have a lot to do with that.
“If you go to the radio stations today, they are all having new crop of youth, little children of yesterday who don’t even know what history of any kind of music is. If you fall within the age bracket of those that used to enjoy this kind of music or good music essentially and you work in a radio station, you will play what you think is inspiring to the people. But all the radio and TV stations are filled with youths of 22, 23 who play what they are used to. It is difficult to tell them to play something that they don’t know the history,” he stated.
Told that there are those who insist that the simmering down of reggae in the country is due to the laziness of Nigerian musicians, he held a contrary view.
Reggae music, he said, is not what you play by power; it is not what you play by so much creativity.
“It is what you play as the spirit defines. Reggae music is a spiritual music not like every other music. If you are not inspired to play it, you are not inspired to play it. There is so much profanity in other forms of music, but not with reggae because it is a spiritual music and it is not everybody that can play it. It is not everybody that is blessed to play reggae music, you must understand that fact,” he declared.
Ras Kimono, on the other hand, says what happened with the Nigerian youth is pure laziness.
“Initially they thought reggae is just one key, but trust me I have been in this country and gone to every club which plays live band, they never played my music the way it is. They say it is so simple but can’t play it. I have employed a lot of singers to come and sing ‘Rum-Bar Stylee’, very simple but they can’t sing it. They are lazy and are not playing reggae music the way it should,” Kimono said.
He also pointed to the fact that there is little money to be made playing reggae music.
“Money is not much in reggae music because reggae music is a conscious music. When I came back, some youths said Alaba is it; they give you one or two million naira for rights to your songs. You buy a car and get a house. But if you stay with a record company, you will be there for 10 years and you won’t even get N50,000.
“To me, that is penny wise, pound foolish. All these new artistes think they are having a ball collecting millions and selling their souls for money. In another five years, they will cry because the music will phase out and they will remember ‘this man cheated me’ and will not get any royalties,” the Under Pressure crooner said.
He explained further that reggae is about truth, and a lot of people are afraid to say the truth. People, he added, want to belong, sing about sex, gangsterism, glamour and make quick money.
“Reggae is not like that; that is why a lot of people are afraid to handle it. Reggae music is like Rasta; we don’t go preaching it. The deaf, dumb and blind (know) about reggae music. It is not me holding reggae music’s key, neither is it Bob Marley – he died over 30 years ago and we still continue,” he said.
For Emodee, anybody who says that reggae is dead does not understand what reggae music is all about. “Bob Marley died and Lucky Dube continued with reggae. Reggae is not dead and it will never die,” he said.
The reason it is not as strong as it used to be in the country, according to him, is because most of the musicians these days do not want to sit down and write a good song.
“Everybody wants a beat that gets the people dancing. That is what is moving now and everybody wants to do a hit song,” he said.
Until his death on May 11, 1981, Marley was responsible for some of the biggest-selling reggae songs in the history of the genre.
Born Robert Nesta Marley on February 6, 1945, the Jamaican reggae singer, songwriter, musician and guitarist achieved international fame and acclaim. Starting out in 1963 with the group, The Wailers, he forged a distinctive songwriting and vocal style that would later resonate with audiences worldwide.
Indeed, the story of Marley’s rise to stardom is that of dedication and hard work and many great musicians have taken after him, including his contemporaries like Jimmy Cliff, Peter Tosh as well as those who joined the train later like the now late Lucky Dube, Nigerians – Orits Wiliki, Ras Kimono, Majek Fashek – and a host of others the world over.