By Pascal Oparada
Social Media/Tech Reporter
On Sunday, April 14, Lawrence, a radio presenter with Classic FM, did a programme which he calls ‘Who did it better’.
The radio programme compares original music by the author and the cover, which is done by another artist.
On that particular edition, Lawrence asked his listeners to compare the hit song, Redemption Song, by Bob Marley with the one done by Nigerian reggae sensation, Majek Fashek, and vote who did it better. Nigerians voted their own, Majek Fashek, may be out of patriotism.
There was outrage on social media. How can anyone in their right senses compare the legendary Bob Marley with Majek Fashek, talk more of choosing Majek over Marley?
Olumide Iyanda, publisher of Qed called the comparison blasphemous.
Others said there is no basis for the comparison as Bob Marley sits with the pantheon of gods of reggae music.
Saturday, May 11, 2019, 38 years after the death of the Jamaican, the reggae music genre has not remained the same. Like everything else, it has evolved, it also has been bastardized.
Bob Marley’s version of reggae music still strikes a chord even among the millennials of today, who were not even around when Marley held the world spellbound with his music.
“Reggae music as espoused by Marley has not changed, can never change. Every time I hear Marley the hairs on my body stand up in salute of this legend,” Innocent Chigbuo said.
How does that genre of music fare today in the face of hip hop and Afropop, which is popular with today’s generation?
“Music evolves, but nothing can replace Bob Marley’s genre of reggae. There may be other variations, but Marley’s remains up there,” says Chigbuo.
The evergreen nature of Marley’s reggae continues to resonate with people with most of his music being almost an anthem for them.
Bob Marley sang mostly of Africa and against the West who pillaged and continues to pillage them. He frowned at the mental state of the blacks who believed the whites were superior.
He called out countries and leaders of the West for the reason that they frustrated the growth of Africa and the black race.
Analysts say there are few people who have the philosophy of Marley that is still alive today. His ilks are gradually going and are being replaced by fame-hungry and money-loving generation.
Thirty-seven years on, Marley and his reggae music remains undying, always reminisced on by people who do not even know him.
Born Robert Nesta Marley, on February 6, 1945, he died on May 11, 1981.
Marley was a Jamaican singer and songwriter. He was considered one of the pioneers of reggae, and his musical career was marked by blending elements of reggae, ska, and rocksteady, as well as forging a smooth and distinctive vocal and songwriting style.[
