Dissecting Wizard Chan’s “Earth Song”
WINNER, BEST ALTERNATIVE SONG AT THE 2023 HEADIES AWARD
Although the announcement of his win was botched at the 16th Headies Award by technical issues, effectively robbing the Wizard of his speech.
One is pacified knowing that there’s more wisdom to hear from the emerging act within the alternative music scene.
Earth Song, his breakout single introduces us to a songwriter shaping his own orb of reflective and spiritual sage-like lyrics, wearing his cultural identity on his big sleeves.
The Okrika native (a sub-group of the Ijaw tribe) has been able to seamlessly weave together various musical elements from different genres and influences, like reggae, hip-hop, and folk, into a cohesive and captivating sound that is yet, true to him.
One influence sticks out the most. The Wizard’s rendition of supplications and prayers in his native language shows how close this artiste is willing to play to his roots.
“… I don’t dance away my pain, I dance to it.”
Wizard Chan, in an interview from www.africanfolder.com
“Anye anye o”
This is an exclamation that preludes a far cry — something Chan confirms about his clan’s music. The Okrika people are well-known within the larger Ijaw tribe for their unique emotional and acoustic music.
This distinguishes them from their kinsmen in Bayelsa — the originators of Owigiri (Izon highlife) — who use a wide variety of instruments available in a traditional band setup to give a fuller sound.
With fewer instruments, the Kirike (Okrika), craft melancholic sounds resembling solitary wails, which sparks curiosity about their history and leads us to wonder how this unique musical style could offer insights into them as a people.
It opens with a flute melody that plays underneath a somber violin. This ushers in a beautiful acoustic guitar that keeps strumming throughout the entire song, with an infectious baseline you can dance to. Like the song art, the delivery is reminiscent of Damian Marley and his collaboration with hip-hop’s own sage, Nas.
“Find peace with yourself”
One of the earliest lyrics in the song is spoken as a pre-summary of the entire message the Wizard bears for his listener.
The first verse outlines his struggles, our shared existential crisis, and the inevitability of sin. He then acknowledges that if he can still breathe (even as he puffs out smoke from “some trees” he inhaled) it must mean God is not done with him. He ends this with successive lines of quotable poignant and airy observations.
“Find God”
In verse two, having searched for a connection to the divine, he has found her in the earth, the reason for our birth; the woman.
“Creation of earth,
Women are so damn powerful,
They are the portal between heaven & earth.
Never underestimate the woman, the female;
The one who cried you to birth…”
This is perhaps the most beautiful aspect of Earth Song, considering the video features the artiste’s mother in a way that feels like he is interceding on her behalf, to the universe — that she lives long to reap the fruits of her pain (childbirth).
This reference is an ode to traditional Ijaw mythology, which connotes that god is a matriarch — a common truth prevalent in most coastal communities throughout West Africa.
Then he goes further to seal his plea with this declaration;
“Sobiye simeh tamuno”
Almighty God in heaven.
“Ora omu bara ibi paka wa dua eh”
Let your victorious hand come and save us.
“Ama eh, ama eh, ama eh”
‘Ama’ which connotes “community” and “hometown”, is rendered yet again as a far cry alluding that the God of the universe should bring lasting peace to his homeland.
These themes are beautifully portrayed in the visuals of the song by ace director, Jyde Ajala who shoots the entire video in Chan’s hometown of Okrika.
Also noteworthy is the use of minority language in Nigerian music, something we’ve heard little of since hits like Implication and deep cuts; Ocho, Odiya by 2Baba, another “ethnic minority”. It is not a surprise that Wizard Chan listed the legend as one of his major influences.
Whether or not this becomes a mainstay in our music, the success of Earth Song spells another important stride for the current musical renaissance in Nigeria; giving space for othered cultures to say, “hey, we are here too!”.
