Red Flag: Here is how 'gender wars' made Obesere a meme on Twitter NG

In 2018, the viral 'na dem dey rush us' meme was cut from the old Nollywood movie, Doro Mega. On it, Charles Inojie's character was asking a girl out. In a bid to impress her, he bragged that he doesn't rush girls, but instead the women rush him because he's a "fine boy.". For a large chunk of 2018, that meme became an object of jokes and a subject of intense use.

Around that time, YungNolly was a Twitter account that was dedicated to the fashion, style and hilarious subtitles of classic Nollywood movies. With that moment, it found a parallel between classic Nollywood home videos and the retro/avant-garde tendencies of the alte movement and larger generation z.

ALSO READ: Home video aesthetics of the 90s is now cool with Nigerian millennials

In 2019, the small person duo of Chinedu Ikedieze and Osita Iheme, popularly known as Aki and Paw Paw - their Nollywood identities from the 2002 comedy flick, Aki Na Ukwa - made a comeback to the global stage. They weren't just acting, obsessed generation Zers and millennials would watch some of their old movies and cut out 'meme-able' scenes from them.

While the meme material of Aki and PawPaw was birthed in Nigeria, it became a global cultural moment that young people all over the world used.

In 2020, one meme is fast-becoming a favourite and it's one of Fuji legend and progeny of modern pop culture, Abass Akande - popularly known as Obesere or Abasido or Omo Rapala.

In the early 2000s, he left his deal with Sony Music Africa and signed a deal with then-monster label, Bayowa Films and Records International - owned by the controversial Gbenga Adewusi. On that label, he released six albums - three of which are the successful Egungun Be Careful, Old Skool Lapel and Apple Juice.

During that run, he became a template for modern avant-garde lifestyle in fashion, behavior and androgyny. On Egungun Be Careful, he debuted his insane persona brimming with energy and eccentric outlook. On the fashion side, he would dress in wigs and female attires. On Old Skool Lapel, he had resonant tunes, quotables and socio-political critique of the Yoruba tribe.

On Apple Juice, he birthed the ultimate video vixen culture in Nigerian music. Scantily clad in bare outfits, busty, sizzling Nollywood actor, Cossy Ojiakor was his lead model for music videos from Apple Music. Her top heavy feature was an attraction that sold the album.

At the time, he only created the pop culture elements to support his music and it worked. He made money, went on world tours and had legendary rivalries with his peers like King Wasiu Ayinde, Saheed Osupa and more.

But these days, the quality of those Egungun Be Careful, Old Skool Lapel and Apple Juice moments have comeback as a feature of modern pop culture. The animated, avant-garde and hilarious parts of those three albums have now been cut into small parts to be used as memes on Twitter NG.

How did that happen?

You might remember that on the night of October 31, 2019, a thread of women discussing their various red flags in men took centre stage. Before the night was over, it got a male version.

On it, men discussed the various things they dislike in women. The tone was lighthearted and it was reminiscent of football banter on a decent Premier League weekend. However, some of those tweets were as hilarious as they were vicious. They also hit straight home with women. Most women could relate to one thing or the other on the thread.

ALSO READ: Red Flag was a rare moment of gender unity on Twitter NG to evaluate gender wars

When women woke up on November 1, 2019, the tone was heavy. It looked like the day would be filled with another round of the endless gender wars. Some women fought back with angry tweets about the account balance of some of these critical men. But as people who had become accustomed to football banter, men were not affected and the guns kept firing.

As November 1 crept towards 11:00 am, we anticipated a gender war from feminist generals. That anticipation led a Twitter account owned by Producer, Songwriter and Illustrator, King Wole to debut the virality of an Obesere meme for Twitter NG appeal. The meme originates from Obesere's album, Egungun Be Careful.

Around 7 am that morning, King Wole wrote, "You people that were subbing people with *red flag emoji* earlier. They’ll soon wake up and hook your necks lmao." He was making references to how men were winning the battle and how women would wake up and fight back.

Well, they didn't, but the virality of that moment changed everything and brought Obesere back as a feature of internet consciousness.

While King Wole had earlier used Obesere memes for humour and witty comments, it was that moment that really changed everything. In the heat of a humorous, viral conversation called, #RedFlag, King Wole made people aware of the possibilities of Obesere as meme material.

Since then, Obesere memes have become a feature of Twitter NG. The best uses of those memes happen of Football Twitter when banter is in full swing. But just like Aki and PawPaw memes, Obesere memes are flexible and numerous.

You can literally get on YouTube and cut whichever content you want from the three main albums, Egungun Be Careful, Apple Juice and Old Skool Lapel. In fact, there is a feeling that the ways to use Obesere memes will never finish - those three albums are filled with meme-able moments upon meme-able moments.

Since November 1, 2019, the legendary Fuji artist has followed in the footsteps of Odunlade Adekola, Osita Iheme, Chinedu Ikedieze, Nkem Owoh and Charles Inojie as stars of an era or a different demography who made social media-based comebacks/cross-overs as memes. The retweets and likes were not really mindblowing, but from that moment.

But you see, this is by far the best one of the best moments from Obesere's run with Bayowa. It was an incredible album intro;

Next steps for Obesere

In 2017, Obesere released his 25th album, Hip-Hop Mafia. The album features Olamide, Reminisce, Timaya and more. It was an album that follows the pop culture awareness of Fuji music since the early 2000s when Obesere took on avant-gardism, Pasuma took on 'African Puff Daddy' and Fuji sensations, Shanko Rashidi and more took centre stage.

It wouldn't be a bad idea for Obesere to cash-in via an album and some appearances. However, he should be careful with his expectations because Twitter is only a sub-culture and Obesere should be careful how he gauges this moment.

His impact as a mainstream generation x hero will always remain and his following means he will always be capable of doing great things. But until he really cracks the contemporary mainstream, he needs to thread softly.

This meme culture is only a Twitter thing that will soon pass. That said, he could build his way into the contemporary millennial/generation z consciousness with material that appeals to them. A Fuji album won't have the album he would want - a pop collaboration is what he needs. If he does crack the contemporary mainstream, he should be wary of doing a Duncan Mighty.

In 2019, Wizkid brought Duncan Mighty into mainstream pop culture with the feature, 'Fake Love.' That then created a ripple effect which made the Port Harcourt singer the toast of numerous superstar features; Tiwa Savage, Davido, Yemi Alade and more - all within the space of three months.

But despite all that, Duncan Mighty couldn't muster a successful move on his own. When he posted his own single, it was all like water under bridge - it made no impact. It kept waiting for a tsunami to make that water crash the bridge, but that never happened.

Obesere must be wary.