I like music, scratch that! I absolutely love music. The funny thing is, I can’t remember when exactly I fell in love with music because I was so young, but I do remember it being a constant companion all through life since when I was a kid. You see, it introduced me to some of the most interesting people I have encountered, I’ll name a few; Jim Reeves, Inyang Henshaw, Shirley Bassey, Dolly Parton, Dan Maraya Jos, Tupac Shakur, Nat King Cole, Mary McKee the list is endless.
You can tell a person’s mood from the music they’re listening to, music sets you in the mood for whatever it is you’re anticipating as well. Music has the ability to speak those words you wish you had said to a love lost, it gets you out of that foul mood when the beats and the bass are in rhythmic symphony; it helps you find your faith, dust yourself up and try again! It helps to fantasize and dream big…music can make you fall in love again after the worst heartbreak ever!
For me, there are certain songs that bring to mind specific moments in my life, they automatically remind me of special times….Kanye West Ft Jay-Z’s ‘Let me Down’ from the College Drop out album brings to mind one of the special moments I shared with my late baby brother, he made me ‘like’ Kanye. I can barely listen to the song without tears forming in my eyes yet it’s been three years. Christie Essien-Igbokwe’s ‘Soun re re’, takes me back at least two and half decades to when I had little or no cares in the world and who can forget the intro of The Bala Miller show? ‘...welcome everybody’ and the horns go wild! The soft soothing voice of Bongos Ikwe asking, ‘Will we ever get there…will we ever make it’ meant to me that, not only was it time for my favourite TV show at the time, it invoked pertinent questions like, will we really ever, get there?
Fast forward to the my pre-teen years where I had a head on collision with Vanilla Ice and MC Hammer, yup I know that riff is playing in your head, ‘ice, ice baby’ then my friends Wanyas, Shawn, Michael and Nate of the Boy II Men fame, I learnt every harmony, inflection, modulation you could find on the CooleyHighHarmony to Evolution albums by heart! I even imagined ‘On Bended Knees’ was for me from an erring teen crush (smile). In those same years, I couldn’t get over the vocal depth of The Winans, Fred Hammond and Commissioned. I remember nights I would spend at my Aunts’ playing my favourite CDs over and over again into the wee hours of the morning as if I desired that every word from all the songs become one with my being and then Ray Power arrived! I could finally give that CD player a breather. I was amazed by the performances and energy a Michael Jackson, MC Hammer and Shina Peters had on stage…electrifying!
I’ve seen groups like Mint Condition, Soul4Real, Silk come and go and I have also been able to appreciate the lyrical prowess of the members of the Wu-Tang clan under the leadership of RZA (who I had the pleasure of meeting by the way *smile*). Can I possibly forget the man himself Tupac from whom I learnt how to expand my mind after listening to the song ‘Me and my girlfriend’, and hearing words like ‘Baby don't cry, I hope you got your head up, even when the road is hard, never give up …’ I asked myself, how a man who had such a hard exterior speak such kind words? I’m almost tempted to think he was a softie at heart.
Over the years I have garnered an amazing collection of music, different genres, one hit wonders and legends. Music has been there for me every step of the way. I will stop here for now, at least so I have something to share in the future but before I do, I have a confession to make, music is my vice!
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