Sorry, Your Fave Does Not Have A Classic
Classics are not personal opinions. Stop tweeting trash.
"Rumor has it The Blueprint classic/Couldn't even be stopped by Bin Laden/So September 11th marks the era forever" - JAY-Z
Sorry, your fave does not have a classic. The fact that you like an album (or an artist) does not make it a classic.
History revisionists and quack music heads on Twitter (of all places) are pushing out left-footed theories and hot takes on which album is a classic or which Nigerian artist has the best discography in Nigerian music.
Please, this is above your clout grade. Stick to the hashtags and BB Naija keywords. You don't know Nigerian music, so leave it alone.
What makes an album classic? I could have sworn that I have treated this before, but I guess we have to do it again.
A classic album MUST transcend time, convey strong emotions, shift culture, and be an accurate reflection of its era. There are other tangibles like production quality, top-notch lyrics and themes.
In contemporary Nigerian music history (from 1999), there are five ‘undebatable’ classics. They are;
Face 2 Face by 2face Idibia
Grass 2 Grace by 2face Idibia
Asa by Asa
Merchants, Dealers and Slaves by BrymO
Mushin 2 Mo’Hits by Wande Coal
Albums do not need to garner over a billion streams to be called a classic. Commercial viability has no business in this debate. We are talking about artistic excellence at its highest level.
A lot of people confuse best-selling albums as classics. A best-seller can be a classic (Thriller), but not all classics are best-sellers. As Nigerians, we need to get it out of our heads that commercial viability equals excellence.
Within the last decade, we have had many best-selling Nigerian albums but, we've only had a true classic in the sense of the word - Merchants, Dealers & Slaves.
Some albums do not get the classic status until the passage of time. Time (not nostalgia) ultimately determines what album should be a classic. Wizkid's debut album to many (including myself) deserves to be rated a classic album. It didn't get there on the first day of its release. Over the years, its cultural significance has increased.
A lot of (ignorant) people muddle these things to promote agendas. Don't get me wrong, you can tweet your opinion, but there is a difference between an opinion and fact.
You can sit down in your parlour and tweet "Fela is trash" while you have not listened to any of his albums. That's your opinion but is it fact? No.
In 1925, the first Nigerian album came out. That’s almost a century of music. Read up on Nigerian music history and stop basking in your ignorance. It is okay to be ignorant, but it is not good to showcase it to the world.
Albums do not become classics because of Spotify numbers or Billboard positions. They become classics by pushing the culture forward. Now hush puppy.
Victony Is Out With Two New Singles
After a horrible accident earlier in the year, singer Victony is out with two new singles collectively called ‘Dark Times’.
The songs on the two single EP are ‘Pray’ and ‘Unfamiliar Realms’ featuring Tredax.
You should listen to both these songs this Friday.
Lady Donli Releases New EP ‘W I L D’
The alte mummy, Lady Donli is out with a new project. ‘WILD’ consists of six tracks.
This EP is a fore-runner to her album which we should expect later in the year, hopefully.
Moelogo Drops ITheEP
Talented singer and songwriter Moelogo is out with the third instalment of his three-part EP series.
‘ITheEP’ consists of 11 tracks and features guest acts such as Qdot, Adekunle Gold, Ria Sean, Krishane, Alpha Ojini, The Cavemen, Reekado Banks, Laycon and L.A.X.
Other releases - Ayra Starr is out with a new single ‘Bloody Samaritan’ from her forthcoming debut album ‘19 & Dangerous’.
Falz plans to take us to the dancefloor with his new single ‘Mercy’ produced by Sess and Teni jumps on the Dorime trend on her new single with the same name.
For other notable releases you can check my Audiomack verified curated playlist ‘Mainland BlockParty’.
You Should Listen To
Multi-talented singer and rapper, Milli, recently released a new EP ‘Childish II’.
If you are down with Milli, then you will like this project as it showcases his full range of talents. Give it a spin or two.
234 Essential Podcast
You can listen to the latest episode of 234 Essential podcast which I co-host with Ugochi HERE
On this episode, we discuss the salary structure in Nigeria, Nigerians' public misbehavior, the premiere of Big Brother Naija Season 6, Wole Soyinka's prediction that Nigeria will break, Bishop Oyedepo's dismissal of pastors for lack of fruitfulness, and Nigerian basketball players winning their first NBA MVP award for both male and female category.
234 Essential Podcast is produced by Visual Audio Times. If you want your podcast to be professionally produced, promoted and distributed, reach out to Visual Audio Times.
For enquiries and ads send me an email - contact@ayomidetayo.com