Should we appreciate delays of Nigerian music?

We are a society of instant gratification. We want everything now. Your next million, next promotion, all of your career growth, the achievement of set goals, even your next meal. We want it all now.

As a child, growing up in the 90s, of all the dates that we get excited about, Christmas made it to the top of the list. We live for those end of the year festivities, where the air becomes a bit dry from the Harmattan (the dry and dusty northeasterly trade wind which blows from the Sahara Desert over the West African subcontinent into the Gulf of Guinea between the end of November and the middle of March (winter)). It is our version of winter, and Christmas made all of that cracked skin, dry limbs and foggy air worth it. Totally worth it.

The meals become more accentuated with condiments and meat, the streets are lit with Yuletide paraphernalia, and you are more likely to get a cash gift in this season, than at any other point in the year.

But the wait for Christmas Day was the worst. Time stood still on the 23 and 24 days of December, as the hours became longer, and everything moved slowly. But cometh the hour, Christmas Day arrives, and with it, climax! But now that age has made me an older human, everything has become normal. At least I know Santa Claus is a myth, and Christmas Eve is just another day in the year.

In music, I found my mind going back to Christmas when Wande Coal, released “Wanted”. I became a child again screaming “Merry Christmas” as I dashed to my computer to click through the URL that contains Wizkid’s“Ayo (Joy)” album. And when M.I Abaga decided to unwrap his “Chairman” album, I could hear the silver bells ringing, and the air all around me smelling of rice and chicken. I also did feel a variation of this as I got Eva Alordiah’s “1960” album. All of these projects made us wait. I had to anticipate the release, and count the time towards when it finally hits the market, and gets into my hands (or these days, my computer). The delay to get these project ran into years, as time became stagnant, and we inched towards a final release. Truth be told, for all the vitriol we serve these people when they delayed in releasing music, the anticipation made it more fun and enticing.

It’s almost the same when anticipating a new Christmas gift, or a new album from a great musician. The way your world spins around that project is amazing. And the disappointment when you don’t get your dream present is like a stab in the chest; deep, incisive and lethal. It’s the same way you feel when the quality of the album is not up to what you already have in your heart. But that feeling of anxious wait as an adult transports me through time, back to a younger me, back when I clamoured for the day when I will scream ‘Merry Christmas. So these days, I appreciate the anticipation.

Waiting for music is an impatient business. Much like hunger, it keeps you aware of a need to consume art, to embrace a part of you that you have left with that artiste. How many times have we all yelled at Wizkid to drop it already, or written about our unhappiness at Eva’s failure to come up with an album? When Wande Coal dropped, people screamed and dove for their platforms, while the news ran wild screaming that the king is back. Those moments are priceless, and deserving of every inch of our memory.

The time period between an album’s announcement and the album release is the only time you’re able to fantasize and create the ideal project. Your mind is able to run to the ends of the earth, daydreaming about the ideal project, and creating the best sounds, lyrics and adlibs. That fantasy becomes a dream with each passing day, and you begin to wonder if it will ever come true.

Wizkid, M.I, and Wande Coal made our dreams become reality, took away what was a figment of our imagination, and in its place, gave us a real replacement. As each album began to sound through my earphones, I became connected with a body of work from an artiste that had made us want some more, and all the changes that had happened since the last project, or the lack of changes. For us, it isn’t even about deciding if it is all worth it in the end, but if the content here would make you expect another one.

When Wande Coal released “Mushin 2 Mohits” in 2009, I was only 18 years old, a hormone driven teenager, learning about women, and listening to a lot of things. Wande Coal’s debut album is a Nigerian classic, which made us all for in love, and we had to wait for 6 years to have a follow-up “Wanted”. The new album was a let-down by many standards, but it did enter conversations about the culture, and gave Wande Coal a boost in his career and attempt at resurgence. Wande Coal came through with another album when he was ripe for it. Even though the fans who truly cared did not wait for him to release it based on his time; they hounded him at every turn for it.

I come from a time of Psquare. Where albums were a constant supply, and music was always there, abundant and omnipresent. Psquare always gave us music, with albums singles, leaks and collaborations littering the airwaves and propelling them to the height. Those people inspired a lot of others, via jumping on waves, appropriating existent sounds to benefit immensely, and it always worked. Many other artistes have followed that lead, and kept away from starving their fans. Olamide releases singles and gets featured on new music every other week. He is right there in your head, a looming presence on your playlist, and an active performer at the biggest shows. You don’t anticipate with Psquare and Olamide. You are overfed, stuffed full of music until you stretch your hands to the sky and beg for an escape.

M.I Abaga showed us behind the scenes while we waited for him. He taught us that while we demand for new music, artistes undergo career growth and face tests off the mic. He showed us his evolution from a legendary rapper, to being ‘The Messiah’ of the culture, and attainment of a new professional position. The same thing too for Wizkid, who was fighting for his freedom from Banky W’s EME.

Listening to M.I Abaga’s “Chairman” album, you begin to feel like he went to redefine his sound, learnt the language of the streets, and gave us another project which contained that new wave. Wizkid brought on his party jams, and gave EME a final body of work for them to benefit from, even as much as 2 years after he departed. Eva took forever to work on her music, and infused a number of influences on “1960”. Most of them deeply personal and immersive. That’s the reason why everything makes sense. The artiste gets to not only evolve their art and give it to us, but also change who they are as a person today. We waited for both the entertainer, and his work. The path they have chosen to get to this point in their career is worthy of being studied and appreciated.

As a fan, and music enthusiasts, let’s enjoy what we have from our musicians, and learn to truly appreciate the process that truly makes up the incubating time during the wait. Let’s embrace our love for these stars, and take into cognition that we are all a part of the same goal; entertainment and fulfilment via art. The artistes creates, we yearn, we desire, and we love. That’s what we should enjoy. The delays, the announcement, failed dates, dishonest press releases, and anxious clamouring that keeps us on the edge. All of these little moments count. Because in the end, these are what sticks with you the most, and provides a holistic experience of fandom, that we can look back on and reminisce fondly.