MohBad and the Variables of Artistic and Professional Visibility
Moses Ebe Ochonu
MohBad and the Variables of Artistic and Professional Visibility
By Moses E. Ochonu
I read that, since he passed away two days ago, Afrobeats singer/rapper MohBad's songs have been topping most Afrobeats streaming and download platforms.
I guess I'm part of that statistic as I downloaded three of his songs on Apple Music yesterday to add to my Afrobeats playlist. Since his passing was all over the news, I wanted to check out his songs as I had never consciously heard any.
I was blown away by the quality of his songs—really blown away. Even his songs that were mostly in Yoruba were sweet to my ears. His vocals, the beats, the hooks, the cadence--everything is perfectly blended. Except for the ubiquitous amapiano beat, there's a refreshing originality to his art.
I then asked myself why he did not trend as much as he should have when he was alive and why his beautiful songs had not been as big as the songs of other Afrobeats talents.
Some of his songs clearly belong at the top of the Afrobeats charts.
And yet it took his sudden passing and the controversies around it to make him trend and push his music to the top of the charts.
The question is why?
In reflecting on the "why" question I came up with several possible reasons why, in music as in other professions and spheres of life, some people become visible while others remain obscure despite both groups possessing equal amounts of talent and putting out comparably good products.
1. Luck: the luck factor is rarely acknowledged because the thought that luck and chance may have played a role in our success and visibility and may have separated us from peers of equal or even greater talent does not sit well with our egos and conceits. In the music industry, "blowing" is partly a function of luck. Some stars are discovered by accident; some songs "blow" by accident. Lil Nas X's monster hit song "Old Town Road" was languishing in obscure corners of Youtube before Billy Ray Cyrus discovered it and, with the remix, took it to the stratosphere of music history.
Ckay’s “Love Nwantiti” became a global phenomenon, sung and remixed in many languages, not because of anything Ckay did or didn’t do but because the song’s lyrical ode to undiluted love became known upon its translation from Igbo and pidgin and, love being a universal language, catapulted the song to global viral popularity. It didn’t hurt that the beat and melody were soulful. Later, the song was adapted for different commercial purposes, furthering its global reach. The song, by the way, was only a modest hit in Nigeria when it was first released and took on a life and momentum of its own outside the artist's control. “Love Nwantiti” is a quintessential story of an accidental global hit.
Some songs benefit from the bandwagon effect, whereby some people start raving about a song and it becomes cool to say you know the song and artist. A cult or niche following then builds around the song and the artist, completely independent of anything the artist does. Sometimes a song is used in a commercial or is referenced by a famous figure and that breathes accidental life and vitality into it, transforming the song and its singer to a new level of fame, online virality, and visibility.
2. Charisma: This is the intangible ability of some people to light up a space and command and sustain people's attention and interest by just exuding their natural, effortless aura. No matter how talented you are, if you do not possess charisma, it will be hard to reach the top of your field. Charisma, moreover, is not acquired or learned but is innate.
3. Personal disposition: Some people are naturally introverted, and some are extroverted. The latter tend to do much better than the former in vocations that require consistent public exposure, regardless of whether they're more, or less, talented or produce better or worse work than the former. There is a saying: "advance to be recognized." Some people find it hard to advance to be recognized, and so their artistic or professional excellence remains hidden. MohBad was, by all accounts, an introverted, intensely private person who preferred to let his work speak for him. Unfortunately for him, that's not an asset in his vocation and that's not the way the music industry works.
4. Standing Out: This is the quality of being unique, of self-consciously distinguishing yourself through the way you package yourself. Being different pays enormous dividends in every vocation, but especially in the arts. Being different stands you out. It makes people flock to you because people are drawn to newness, freshness, and uniqueness. When it comes to music, this uniqueness is not just about sound but also about overall sartorial and bodily self-presentation. One could argue that Asake's meteoric conquest of the Afrobeats world within just one year of his "blowing" is a combination of sartorial, lyrical, sonic, and rhythmic uniqueness. MohBad had a unique sound and great, inspirational lyrics, but his mien, carriage, and self-representational apparatus were generic and familiar and not memorable.
5. Self-promotion: Some people are natural self-promoters. Others are not and in fact balk at the idea that they should promote themselves and their work. Some people, for whom self-promotion does not come naturally, consider self-promotion to be a vulgar, shameful, and dishonorable art. Unfortunately for them, self-promotion can sometimes make the difference between which practitioner "blows" and which one doesn't, regardless of talent differential and quality of output. In some professions, self-promotion is very much part of the work, a built-in element that's central to the work itself. No matter how good you are, without the willingness and ability to project yourself and your work, the work's reach may be limited.
Toyin Falola
Sent: Friday, September 15, 2023 5:06:10 PM
To: USAAfricaDialogue <USAAfric...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: USA Africa Dialogue Series - MohBad and the Variables of Artistic and Professional Visibility
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Augustine Togonu-Bickersteth
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biko...@yahoo.com
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Toyin Falola
Biko:
Management is crucial, as in the case of Burna Boy. His mom, who acquired experience at the Shrine, is his manager.
Whitney Houston was managed by her parents---she inherited the genes and the look from the mom. But the dad, a ----, stole her money, unfortunately.
Moses lumped creatives and professionals, but they need to be decoupled.
I won’t advice those in occupations like medicine and academic writing to follow some of the suggestions by Moses. There are first-rate scholars in African universities who are not on social media, and we must celebrate them.
TF
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Moses Ebe Ochonu
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Toyin Falola
“the variables I think can shape visibility.”
Moses, my advice to people is cosmic: don’t think you can unlock the secrets of spiritual forces that guide fortunes.
Of course, Tinubu will disagree with me: we don’t know his classmates, we don’t know his primary and elementary schools, we don’t know his real name, but he becomes the president of a country of 200 million people.
Perhaps, experience of sickness and death has taught me that many of what we seek, in the final analysis, are ephemeral.
Acts 2:40 to “save yourselves from this crooked and perverse generation”.
Kehinde Ayanboade
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Augustine Togonu-Bickersteth
From: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Moses Ebe Ochonu <meoc...@gmail.com>
Sent: Friday, September 15, 2023 5:06:10 PM
To: USAAfricaDialogue <USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com>
Subject: USA Africa Dialogue Series - MohBad and the Variables of Artistic and Professional Visibility
MohBad and the Variables of Artistic and Professional Visibility
By Moses E. Ochonu
I read that, since he passed away two days ago, Afrobeats singer/rapper MohBad's songs have been topping most Afrobeats streaming and download platforms.
I guess I'm part of that statistic as I downloaded three of his songs on Apple Music yesterday to add to my Afrobeats playlist. Since his passing was all over the news, I wanted to check out his songs as I had never consciously heard any.
I was blown away by the quality of his songs—really blown away. Even his songs that were mostly in Yoruba were sweet to my ears. His vocals, the beats, the hooks, the cadence--everything is perfectly blended. Except for the ubiquitous amapiano beat, there's a refreshing originality to his art.
I then asked myself why he did not trend as much as he should have when he was alive and why his beautiful songs had not been as big as the songs of other Afrobeats talents.
Some of his songs clearly belong at the top of the Afrobeats charts.
And yet it took his sudden passing and the controversies around it to make him trend and push his music to the top of the charts.
The question is why?
In reflecting on the "why" question I came up with several possible reasons why, in music as in other professions and spheres of life, some people become visible while others remain obscure despite both groups possessing equal amounts of talent and putting out comparably good products.
1. Luck: the luck factor is rarely acknowledged because the thought that luck and chance may have played a role in our success and visibility and may have separated us from peers of equal or even greater talent does not sit well with our egos and conceits. In the music industry, "blowing" is partly a function of luck. Some stars are discovered by accident; some songs "blow" by accident. Lil Nas X's monster hit song "Old Town Road" was languishing in obscure corners of Youtube before Billy Ray Cyrus discovered it and, with the remix, took it to the stratosphere of music history.
Ckay’s “Love Nwantiti” became a global phenomenon, sung and remixed in many languages, not because of anything Ckay did or didn’t do but because the song’s lyrical ode to undiluted love became known upon its translation from Igbo and pidgin and, love being a universal language, catapulted the song to global viral popularity. It didn’t hurt that the beat and melody were soulful. Later, the song was adapted for different commercial purposes, furthering its global reach. The song, by the way, was only a modest hit in Nigeria when it was first released and took on a life and momentum of its own outside the artist's control. “Love Nwantiti” is a quintessential story of an accidental global hit.
Some songs benefit from the bandwagon effect, whereby some people start raving about a song and it becomes cool to say you know the song and artist. A cult or niche following then builds around the song and the artist, completely independent of anything the artist does. Sometimes a song is used in a commercial or is referenced by a famous figure and that breathes accidental life and vitality into it, transforming the song and its singer to a new level of fame, online virality, and visibility.
2. Charisma: This is the intangible ability of some people to light up a space and command and sustain people's attention and interest by just exuding their natural, effortless aura. No matter how talented you are, if you do not possess charisma, it will be hard to reach the top of your field. Charisma, moreover, is not acquired or learned but is innate.
3. Personal disposition: Some people are naturally introverted, and some are extroverted. The latter tend to do much better than the former in vocations that require consistent public exposure, regardless of whether they're more, or less, talented or produce better or worse work than the former. There is a saying: "advance to be recognized." Some people find it hard to advance to be recognized, and so their artistic or professional excellence remains hidden. MohBad was, by all accounts, an introverted, intensely private person who preferred to let his work speak for him. Unfortunately for him, that's not an asset in his vocation and that's not the way the music industry works.
4. Standing Out: This is the quality of being unique, of self-consciously distinguishing yourself through the way you package yourself. Being different pays enormous dividends in every vocation, but especially in the arts. Being different stands you out. It makes people flock to you because people are drawn to newness, freshness, and uniqueness. When it comes to music, this uniqueness is not just about sound but also about overall sartorial and bodily self-presentation. One could argue that Asake's meteoric conquest of the Afrobeats world within just one year of his "blowing" is a combination of sartorial, lyrical, sonic, and rhythmic uniqueness. MohBad had a unique sound and great, inspirational lyrics, but his mien, carriage, and self-representational apparatus were generic and familiar and not memorable.
5. Self-promotion: Some people are natural self-promoters. Others are not and in fact balk at the idea that they should promote themselves and their work. Some people, for whom self-promotion does not come naturally, consider self-promotion to be a vulgar, shameful, and dishonorable art. Unfortunately for them, self-promotion can sometimes make the difference between which practitioner "blows" and which one doesn't, regardless of talent differential and quality of output. In some professions, self-promotion is very much part of the work, a built-in element that's central to the work itself. No matter how good you are, without the willingness and ability to project yourself and your work, the work's reach may be limited.
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Emmanuel Ozoemena
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Oluwatoyin Adepoju
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