Sampling Sarkodie
There are two ways to appreciate Nigerian press (Punch, The Nation, PT, Guardian et al) and our artistes (Wizkid, Burna Boy, Simi, Tekno), warts and all: situate their contents outside of the context of our immediate environment OR sample Sarkodie. Or embark on both (mis)adventures.
And so a friend, Zimbabwean, quipped, just before we departed the Accra International Airport last night: “Sarkodie will dominate this industry for ever.” He was wielding a Ghanaian newspaper that has Sarkodie’s image spread lavishly on the inner page, with the rapper flashing us a toothy smile. NIJ provost Gbemiga Ogunleye, many moons ago, had told me inside his Ogba office that, bar South Africa, very few African publications could compete with Nigerian newspapers. A cheeky comment, I didn't take him seriously; but a short perusal of Ghanaian newspapers at the Jubilee House-Airport Road Buka on Friday validated Sir Ogunleye’s claim. I digress.
The Ghanaian Music Industry, my Zimbabwean pal meant when he canonised Sarkodie, citing ‘this industry’, unperturbed by the fragile nature of time. And away from Sarkodie, he praised Nigerians too, describing our artistes’ presence on the continent as ‘domineering’. 2face. Asa. P-Square. Tekno. He loved them all. So he presented two parallel thoughts: I agreed with the latter; I disagreed with the former. On the latter, on Nigerian music dominance, he had evidence: the night before, a Ghanaian live band playing where we were chilling had sampled virtually all of Nigeria’s major artistes’. In the two-hour performance, they wore the garb of patriotism for just twenty minutes, miming some danceable Ghanaian high-life tunes. For the remaining 90-something minutes, they patronised Nigeria’s most enduring exports, moving from Davido’s Fia through Simi’s Joromi all the way to Wizkid’s Ojuelegba and Flavour Nabania’s ‘Ada ada’.
Yet I wanted to deflate my Zimbabwean pal’s obsession on this idea of Sarkodie’s immortality, to tell him there was once a Tic-Tac, touted the king of Ghanaian rap in the 2000s. And beside him was Reggie Rockstone. And K.K Fosu. And there was the most melodious of them all, Tinny; T-i-n-n-y Shi-de-de! They all occupied our TV screen every weekday in the 2000s, notably on STV’s Music Africa. But that line of thought was considered needless because, based on his experience days before, he had become a Sarkodie fanatic.
Two nights earlier, we had pereginated the entire city, from Madina through Accra Mall to East and West Legon, to the University of Ghana, in search of a two-in-one known yet strange thing: my friend, an Oheima; and I, Tinny’s 2007 mixtape. In the process, we burnt energy and gas and a few bucks — -100 Cedis, unknown Pesewas. Tinny, together with VIP, the group with whom contemporary Nigerian pop had the first regional handshake with Accra, exported Ghana’s art beyond the shores of Kumasi, all the way to Addis Abbaba and beyond, especially in the first half of the 2000s. VIP it was from whom Wizkid borrowed the hook of his ’17 hit, Manya. But from Tamale, through Tema to Madina, back to Accra Mall, we harvested nothing: no Oheima for my friend, no Tinny mixtape for me. Yet, throughout the journey, the city terrorised us with Sarkodie’s hits — -on the streets, inside clubs, inside Toro-toro (GH’s Danfo bus), in street conversations, everywhere. And that gave birth to my pal’s obsessive declaration about Sarkodie.
But I told him time is a bitch and that although Sarkodie may reign for long, he would also become an artefact of history someday. He shook his head, unconvinced. I didn’t say much but only directed him to another portion of the newspaper, where a new kid was interviewed with the caption: “Coming for Sarkodie”. He wasn’t convinced still, but we perused the newspaper all the same.
Ghanaian national newspapers are a source of hope for any Nigerian worried about the state of our media, print especially. Awkward graphics. Screaming headlines. Wrong choice of photo placement. Hilarious captioning. These four sentences, disjointed in their incoherence, capture what pass off as print journalism. Yet we examined some of the best. In one, the major photograph was dancing far above the masthead, flushing here and there and elsewhere. My Zimbabwean guy felt the newspapers were the best things after NYT; he gave me more hope. I didn’t bother to ask of the state of print journalism in his native Harare.
From the experience, two heart-warming lessons: Nigerian press can do better, but in all, when you read Guardian and Daily Trust and Punch and The Nation and PT, show some respek, fams. 😂 Per Nigerian artistes? Those ones have become ‘domineering’ monsters across the continent. Yeah, a few lows here and there but, in the final analysis, they deserve a zillion accolades!
