In 2006 when Oritsefemi Majemite Ekele (born January 5, 1985) , also known by his stage-name Oritsefemi, broke away from Junglist Boys – a group consisting himself and Chibudo known as Chi-Junglist – to pursue his solo carrier as a reggae-afro-beat artiste, little did we know that the man whose musical journey started from Cherubim and Seraphim Church in a very congested place called Ajegunle in Lagos would still be garnering implausible relevance and soaring stardom by now when many of his peers have been swallowed up by early oblivion. This exceptional feat can be said to have been accomplished due to his unabated perseverance in pursuit of his musical dreams and strong support from the Nigerian ‘ghetto-boys’- his greatest fans.
Amidst many moments of trial and tribulations as a then budding street singer in a feisty fight for survival, also helped by his sonorous voice and perfect understanding of the street language, Musical Taliban (his self-given pseudonym), now a master of his craft has written himself in the heart of many Nigerians not only as one of the existing hip-hop artistes whose musical dexterity has a noticeable modicum of common sense, tangible social concern and moral preaching, but also one of the possible heirs of Fela Anikulapo legendary musical spirit, afro-beat.
From grass to overwhelming grace and hero in the contemporary Nigerian musical spotlight with Abami Eda (Legendary Fela), Daddy Showkey, Sizzla Kolanji as his great mentors and influence, his musical spirit has maintained a sheer standard of social values, and contributed in great proportion to the development of political activism in Nigeria. And yes, this is undisputable for someone who has been following the evolution of his musical carrier over the last seven years.
For instance his first album as a solo artiste after the obscure estrangement from Chi-Junglist, released prior to the 2007 general election and titled Flog Politician was geared towards political consciousness and the need to chase the corrupt and megalomaniac politicians in Nigeria out of public offices. The same thing his next Album Elewon literarily translated as ‘Chase Them’ or ‘Chase Them Out’ and his recent award-winning and highly endorsed track ‘Double wahala’, an ingenious re-make of Fela’s track of the same title which is an indirect lampooning of the egocentric and inconsiderate temperament of Nigerian polity.
His second album Wicked World through its hottest track, ‘Mercies of the Lord’ saw him express the feelings and terrible experiences of all commoners in a world full of all forms of disastrous calamities, burgeoning agonies and terrestrial mischiefs, and thus calling on to God for quick divine intervention. This does not only portray Oritsefemi as someone who, perhaps has fallen and risen many times, but also a Godly man who believes in power of spirituality, considering the fact that he’s a member of C&S church that recently recognized and awarded him, being a living emblem of the ‘white-garment’ church and good son of ‘the Lord’.
And when he would take the Nigerian musical scene by an utmost surprise again, Musical Taliban made a slight move away from the quite lamentable temperament of bunkum making and display of immoralities that have dominated the Nigerian musical scene, to address one of the most significantly preponderant and pivotal themes in life- matrimony, through the track ‘Igbeyawo’, or simply put marriage. Oritsefemi might have not granted interview nor talked on the muse behind the track, but what may keep everybody wondering is the question: why would he think to a long extent of producing a nuptial track when he himself has never settled with a woman- what seems to be a general syndrome predominant among the so called hip-hop artistes?
Of course, love is a beautiful thing as posited by Oritsefemi himself. Marriage is essential and a sacred command of the Lord in human life- a major factor that holds the possible existence of the world. And of the major significances of marriage, according to modern sociological research is that it makes someone responsible. Perhaps because of the huge responsibility attached to marriage, that is why Oritsefemi himself asserts that:
“Igbeyawo o gba gudugudu meje,
eni ba ma se’gbeyawo a se gudugudu meje”, which is literarily translated ‘Marriage requires enormous and saddled responsibility, (which) the one who wants to marry must be ably ready to bear.’
Being an original African man in the wake of post-modern infusion in marriage affairs, the Double Wahala crooner seems to comprehend the logical chemistry and imageries of a real African marriage, and has come a lengthy way to be purely African as regards the tradition that revolves around the nuptial knot. Oritsefemi, taking an advisory role in the track, doesn’t stay there but also try to draw a plain line of demarcation between the responsibilities and matrimonial sacrifices expected of the young couples going into the world of eternal togetherness to build a peaceful progressive home. No wonder he posits:
Oko iyawo toju aya re
(you bridegroom, take good care of your wife)
So ri’wo iyawo, gbo toko re
(and you groom hearken to your husband)
Ye o, ye o, sonje lasiko
(cook food at the appropriate time)
Ponmi lasiko (fetch water in time)
Fo’so lasiko (wash cloths in time)
Fun ni kini ti bi yen lasiko
(give him the thing-sex- in time)
Tori ohun a ba fi sile lenu ewure n gbe
(because what left lackadaisically will be in the reach of goat)
. . .
Oritsefemi, in a bid to demonstrate his African-liness does not stop but also go ahead to preach patience, good character, worthy virtues and moral decency as germane expectations of a good wife to make her matrimonial home peaceful. Advising the wife not to be rude and arrogant, he sees respect of the husband’s parents as central gap the wife must fill to make her prosper and soar. This is so, because in African cosmology, a woman is believed to be arch-player in building a prosperous family and society, though may not be the bread-winner. Ahead he sings:
Tori ile oko ile eko ni
(‘cus matrimonial home is a place of lesson)
Teriba foko ma segbe raga
(accord your husband due respect and don’t be arrogant)
Igberaga nigbeni rale (pride goes before fall)
Tori baba oko baba re ni nse
(‘cus your husband’s father is also your father)
Iya oko iya re ni n se (mother of your husband is also yours)
Se jeje, daku se jeje, iwo iyawo. . . (be careful, please be careful you wife)
Without any iota of doubt, Oritsefemi deserves the credit not only for debunking the general assumption that the contemporary Nigerian hip-hop is bereft of good and worthy music, but for also making a sophisticated revival of some African traditional beauties in a way more appeasable and unique, especially in a period deluged by western infection. With musical beat garnished with perfect lyric arrangement and sonorous voice, Musical Taliban undisputedly the master of his craft, though may have problems with the teeming number of modern radical feminists on why a woman should be the center of attention in the track, has given us a perfect music good for the soul and timeless in terms of epochal relevance.
***Rahaman Abiola Toheeb is a poet, critic, blogger and socio-political commentator. He writes from Iseyin***
