Greetings, music lovers. I hope you're enjoying the weekend.
On Thursday, as usual, my FM radio was on because I like to listen to radio stations on Thursdays to immerse myself in those lovely throwback collections that I don't often play. The songs that were being played were our typical afrobeats, and I was surprised when a gospel song came on.
Yeah, by title, it's a gospel song, which you wouldn't expect to be mixed with secular songs at a party. It's a song I'm familiar with; in fact, it's one of the songs I grew fond of due to the vibe it gives and how I came across it.
Firstly, let me tell you how I discovered the song.
In my former workplace, there was a lady among us who knew how to play loud music on her MP3 player. Because she's from the eastern part of Nigeria, all the songs she played were mostly the eastern kind of music, which we popularly know as HIGHLIFE music. Highlife music comes with a cultural style of local instruments such as drums, guitars, flutes etc.
"Umu Jesus" by the popular 'comic' pastor Odumeje featuring Flavor was among the songs she often played, which got me to like the song... you know, oftentimes we get to like a song due to constant listening. The vibes in the song: Naturally, the song is a gospel song, which I'm not totally fond of (I don't usually like many of them), but this one, due to the kind of vibes it has, made me add it to my playlist. It's a gospel song with a mix of Afrobeat (secular) and highlife. I've been a music lover, and even though I don't fancy listening to gospel songs, I know a lot of them, and I haven't come across any that are close to this range, I mean, containing the three features. Yesterday, I decided to search for the video, and I was wowed. It was well mastered by the director; there were cultural dancers dressed in traditional attire. No doubt, I'm a lover of such a unique style of music, which makes me speak highly of this song. Do you know? If you look closely when I mentioned the names of the artists, the pastor's name has 'comic' attached to it, which is very true and real. Pastor Odumeje is one of the biggest celebrity clergymen we have in our country, who has a comic way of conducting his religious affairs and doesn't mind what people say about him and his church. Honestly, I like this man so much because of the ease and laughter he brings to my face whenever I come across his show-like displays in his church. I like anything that makes me laugh. He has given himself many names, among which are 'Indaboski and The Lion'. If you look at the video closely, you'll see all these names written in the background, showing how much he values them. Oh! I didn't talk much about the second artist, Flavour. Of course, Flavour is good, and he did well in spicing up this track. Thank you for reading. Video: YouTube
After we stopped working in the company, I decided to search for the song, and I found the complete track.
A typical highlife music arrangement includes original guitar and drum set play, and these were not left out in the video. Additionally, the Afrobeat style was deeply evident with Flavor's involvement.
I went on to check the comments on the video, and there were many applauds for him for bringing such a masterpiece. There wasn't much backlash as people talk about him, but instead, he's massively hailed.