Show Dem Camp display growth on These Buhari Times to make music for and inspired by Nigeria.
- On Inspiration
While artists famously retire to the fabled “cabin in the woods” in a bid to spur creativity — an approach often co-opted to elicit sentiment from the consumer — there is no gainsaying that regardless of where creation occurs, the creative process needs fuel.
A propellant for the creative process is sourced in a number of ways, personal experiences — both natural occurring and drug induced-prevalent societal issues or content based inspiration are but examples of commodities that stoke the fire of creativity.
The parables of Jesus are characterized by Samaritans, Virgins, Slaves, Widows, Bandits, Publicans, Jews, Commoners, Farmers, Priests, Kings and Judges who from meeting in the Temple to awaiting newlyweds intersect in everyday life to play out the stories and allegories as told by the Lord.
The always compelling satirical art of Banksy have front and center soldiers,children, animals, parents, executives, machines, and migrants who coalesce to tell stories of corruption, gentrification, violence, police brutality in evocative manners reminiscent of the Black Mirror anthology.
Tracing a direct line from the murals of Banksy to the parables of Jesus will reveal a pattern:some of the best outputs have all been influenced and had at their core a commentary on society.
The Clone Wars series of projects have always been defined by themes and released at watershed moments, for instance Volume 2: Subsidy Music was animated by the subsidy palaver of 2012.
Volume 4, subtitled These Buhari Times in staying true to it’s appellation appraises the happenings in the last three years of Nigeria’s fourth republic, by using the elements — people, institutions, habits — comprising Nigeria to deliver it’s commentary on how old wounds of corruption, police brutality, negligent citizens and leadership have festered.
2. For what is the country without its constituents?
In detailing the Nigerian story, These Buhari Times immortalizes the people who inhabit the country, there is the packager, the victim of police brutality, the fraudster,the disillusioned youth, the men who are limited by socially constructed attitudes, those who came seeking greener pastures only to discover that their visions of the turf may have been skewed. The cover art is a collage of different elements expressed through words, pictures and icons.
Consder the cover art and outro to 4th Republic and one realizes that the ruling class is not left unchecked, there is exclusive satire on These Buhari Times which has as the butt of its joke and at the receiving end of its punchline the many misgivings of those we call leaders.
However, your favorite rap duo didn’t come to pass the buck as one of the most striking aspect of These Buhari Times is the perfect balance of finger pointing and acknowledgement of personal deficiencies, delicately captured by Tec’s searing opening monologue on Duade.
3. The Act of Balancing Energy and Constants
In Hip-hop’s multiverse, one thing is constant: rappers never lack the eagerness to let other rappers know that they are the best. On These Buhari Times, it takes just over three minutes for this invariable to surface when Tec bellows “Stop calling that thing rap we won’t have it”. A moment truly reminiscent of Common’s Sweet where if the shoe fits, you wear it till you develop bunions. The energy across These Buhari Times is channeled to suit the messages that are issued across the tracks, you feel the angst, despair and surprise behind every bar. When Tec says “I was weak” on Packaging you immediately realize that you have been in that situation before and it is moments like that which really pave the two-way street upon which most of These Buhari Times plies. Wegele is lively as ever, he shows up without warning on Packaging and between verses he is busy churning out scams like Eddy from Ed, Edd and Eddy.
The theme of institutionalized trauma is recurring on These Buhari Times, however it is on Epigenetics where all three verses intersect and occasionally converge, that it finds a home. Ghost is at his most relaxed as he rummages through the people’s sad realities and then laments on the value of Naira and police brutality while taking a not so slight dig at the state of music activism in the country. Tec’s penchant for introspection was built for this song, you are once again introduced to the boy from Duade and his exposure to trauma, juxtapose his calm approach to that of O_zone who pops up like a Bakugan ready to brawl, you sense that he is raring to go like Dominic Toretto’s Dodge Charger as there is no chorus separating Tec’s verse from his. With a stellar contribution to the already burgeoning discuss on the song, He runs through allusions to the path less travelled, he comments on the damaging “money solves everything” trope that used to be a constant in Nollywood movies. Mention is also made of the archetypal hustler and his/her many iterations, most especially as the small <insert sex> serving a big God.
Despite the mostly stellar features, SDC remain the stars of their show, Ghost commands operations with his baritone and Tec pulls the strings like a regista, if you blink you may miss it. Their goal is to lead you to realize how the country is set up, what that occasions,is a relocation from the Palm Wine groves to more specific scenes that pan out at the Lagos toll gate, unidentified night clubs and streets across the country with the ever present narrative is the state of the country’s affairs. At times using Lagos as a microcosm, the SDC and their cast mates are able to paint a picture that has within it’s frame the entirety of +234 and her inhabitants.
These Buhari Times has its fair share of chest bumping episodes with Respect, Loyalty & Honour acting as proof that discussions on the haze and fumes currently engulfing the country are unable to rob us of an ode to keeping it real.
4. Growth
For those who came to find SDC through Palm Wine Music, These Buhari Times may ride out like a left field project. That observation couldn’t be far from the fact though because the duo of Ghost and Tec are no strangers to opening up through their lyrics, Everything I Love and No White Flags sit perfectly with deep cuts Just in Case, We Dey Vex and other early markers of their ability to let you peek into their Cabeza, it was on this premise that they nurtured their once exclusive fan base. This tradition reaches new heights on Shadow of Doubt where Tems plays moderator to conversations had with the man in the mirror to discuss guy codes, free will and conspiracy theories.
These Buhari Times exhibits all the characteristics that we have come to ascribe to the music made by Ghost and Tec. Their pen game occasionally elevates to never before experienced heights but somethings never change, Ghost will leave you breathless if you attempt to keep up with him while he is bending words and phrases faster than your brain can realize. Tec still has bars that go over heads until the 3rd or 20th listen depending on the listener.
One of The Camp’s strongest suite is their chorus game, no matter the approach, whether using simple recited hooks or rapping the chorus, they always deliver. On These Buhari Times, the need for hooks is dispensed with in certain instances, where they are used Ghost almost exclusively handles chorus duties with featured artists sharing the load occasionally.
More familiar listeners will however be wise to credit the Palm Wine Music series for making Ghost and Tec more well rounded artists who are not standing on the pedestal inscribed with “we can rap” but on sitting on the throne titled “we can make music”.
Perhaps the biggest credit should go to Spax for most his ability to create an entirely different backdrop to what folks have come to expect from him, the groovy elements still exist but the beats are set to achieve a different purpose. This is artistic development before our ears, one that will expand his clientele.
Urban Central Eval
Production: 4/4
Concept, Narrative and Topical Conversations: 3/4
Lyrical Content: 4/4
Replay Value: 4/4
Enjoyability: 3/4
Total: 18/20
Urban Central Rating: Tier 1: #StadiumSound
By Nico for Urban Central Tweets @WordsbyAG
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