I’m still quite undecided which title perfectly fits my bant
on this music awards issue that has caused quite some
uproar in very recent times. But considering that I shall
be talking about our artistes, how I think some of them
are undeserving of their awards and how some of them
still, will never win awards, let whatever caption you find
up there suffice for the time being. This subject matter
leaves me with a bit too much to say but I’d try hard in
keeping my thought expression as concise as possible so I
don’t end up misyarning.
You see, our industry is still heavily ridden with garbage
music, music that are unfit for auditory consumption
adding to the challenges of insanity posed on the homo
sapien folk. Yes, we may have experienced a minor
evolution in our music, many thanks to new age
technology but a larger faction of those perpetrating the
art are a bunch of goofballs yet to catch on the moving
train. Now, the plain and bitter truth is that not every
Nigerian artiste would win an award. Some will (or may)
never win an award, some don’t even deserve any award
or recognition at all, while some even deserving ones (like
Burna Boy and Seyi Shay) will be passed up for the noisy
others. This is the life! Moreso, when we’re tasked with
deciding the category winners, it eliminates our reasons
for fault finding thereby presenting itself as free, fair and
transparent whereas the real culprits are the show
organizers in their haphazard nominations process that
ultimately stakes the credibility of the awards.
Borrowing western influences has become a culture that
we are too conscious. And so we tailor the progress of our
mainstream media after everything we see on satellite TV,
forgetting that our standards are not the same. The
knowledge of that alone should teach us not to expect the
same results because we must take into consideration our
people and then our location. We are Africans! Whatever
defines the commercial success of any music material
outside our African shores is definitely not the same as
here. If at all, we must, what criteria governs how we
adjudge a song as best or hottest? This is the genesis of the
problem as the two categories aren’t even the same. The
general notion is that when someone’s material is on
rotational play at a media house that mean it can pass for
recognition. Well, WRONG! Did you first think about the
nature of such song or video. What message it is passing
across? If it communicates simply, designs of the creative
art? Did you? And what explains our use for the term
‘Best’ when in essence, it’s reference made to the widely
accepted (commercial) material. These are some game-
changing yet minute points that our foreign counterparts
take cognizance of. And then again, their selection process
are in very grueling stages. But definitely not here!
So is it here where we know decisions are manipulated
and swayed heavily in whoever’s favour they please? Can
our show organizers beat their chest in defense of their
nominees list? We need to get the picture clearly in order
to understand these things. Very few of our artistes are
actually deserving of their awards. The others are just
‘lucky number sevens’ based on hype. Are we then
promoting creativity or hype? It’s high time we stopped
fussing and started asking ourselves the tough questions.
Unless we’re really not interested in growing the industry,
then we can continue acting out faking our way to the top
like bloody darn fools. Like it’s already not bad enough
that we’re a flock of die hard wannabes reaching for the
stars, we must now expose our ugly defects in the process.
I honestly do not oppose ‘that guy’ who said most of these
Nigerian awards are just jokes! But then again, he too
should read this and know why he should stop looking to
be awarded for his ‘good’ music just because the highest
bidders and famzers have gotten away with it. I mean,
who’s shooting who in the foot?
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