The old and the new of the Nigerian music industry perfectly mixed on Saturday night when iconc afro musician, Lagbaja, performed alongside reigning young artiste, Rema.
Rema is breaking bounds the way Lagbaja did years back, although his great songs like ‘Never FarAawy’ and ‘Nothing for You’ are delights to the ears and souls any day.
Lagbaja and Rema mounted the stage and reminded the audience why a collaboration between the younger generation and older generation would always be a hit and experience mixed with energy.
“No do gra gra” and “konko below” classics were performed and had the audience swaying as the nostalgic feeling kept them on their feet. The audience gave a thunderous applause after the performance.
Lagbaja – Bisade Ologunde (born in Lagos in 1960) – is a Nigerian afrobeat musician, singer-songwriter and percussionist. Widely known as Lágbájá for his signature use of mask which covers his identity. He believes in social reform through music.
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Ologunde adopted the name Lágbájá (meaning “Jane Doe” or “John Doe”- A person whose name, identity is intentionally concealed in Yoruba) as he embarked on his career in the early 90s. His name was reflected in his choice of stage attire – a slitted textile and rubber mask adopted so that the artist represented the ‘common man’ in keeping with the carnival tradition of his Yoruba tribe. He formed his first small band in 1991 in Lagos after he had taught himself to play the saxophone. With a high quotient of percussion instruments including congas and talking drums, Lagbaja’s album We Before Me (IndigeDisc/PDSE), released in 2000, demanded honesty from politicians and urged brotherhood and unity. He shared lyrics of his songs with a backup singer, Ego Ihenacho, and equally plays tenor saxophone. With a firm, brawny tone akin to that of John Coltrane and Pharoah Sanders, he emblazoned the melodies of the songs, sometimes with Ego scat-singing along.
On the other hand, Rema – Divine Ikubor – was born into a Christian family in Benin City, Nigeria. He grew up singing and rapping while he was in secondary school. He attained his primary and secondary school education in ighile group of school, Edo State.
In 2018, Rema posted a viral freestyle on Instagram to D’Prince’s track “Gucci Gang”. The post caught the attention of D’Prince who flew him to Lagos to offer a record deal to the young talent. Rema signed a record deal with D’Prince’s Jonzing World, a subsidiary of Mavin Records, in 2019. He went on to release his self-titled debut EP Rema in 2019, which peaked at number 1 on Apple Music Nigeria. On 21 May 2019, Jonzing World, and Mavin’s released the music video of “Dumebi”, a major breakout song from his self-titled EP, featuring a cameo appearance from Diana Eneje. The video was directed by Ademola Falomo and currently has 50 million views on YouTube.
In May 2021, Rema announced he will be calling his sound “Afrorave”, a subgenre of Afrobeats with influences of Arabian and Indian music which has led to him having one of the strongest fanbase in the country known as Ravers.
In September 2021 Rema was unveiled as a brand ambassador for the popular soft drink Pepsi alonsgide his label mate Ayra Starr.
It was this combination that AMVCA unleashed on esteemed guests in Lagos and it ended up being a night to ever remember.
Besides, it is likely to breed more cross-generational jams soonest.
