Brighter prospects for the music industry, as the old and the young generations of musicians engage in collaborations

Just when music fans thought that age had robbed Sir Victor Uwaifo of the energy and other qualities that made him one of Nigeria’s most celebrated musicians in the 1960s and 1970s, the legendary guitar virtuoso recently released his long-awaited album titled ‘Legend Reborn’.

Apart from being the product of Uwaifo’s current deal with Tuface Idibia’s record’s label, Hypertek Digital, Legend Reborn is unique in a sense that it contains the evidence of a successful marriage of two distinct generations of Nigerian music.

Some of the songs in the album, which was released in February, are the results of the legendary musician’s collaborations with younger artistes, such as Tuface himself, Waje and Ice Prince. They are remixes of his old hit songs that represent a formal union of the old and new.

In an age where older musicians sometimes loathe the idea of working with the younger generation, Uwaifo’s collaboration with the likes of Tuface leaves enough food for thought.

Explaining why he chose to work with the younger artistes, in an interview he granted SATURDAY PUNCH recently, the maestro said, “I wanted to marry the past and the present and to teach the young generation resilience and how to stay on the scene. If you don’t know your past and your present, you cannot conquer the future. It was a great experience for all of us.”

He also advised younger artistes to learn how to play musical instruments as well as the rudiments of music.

Dr. Victor Olaiya and Tuface Idibia

However, Uwaifo is not the only ‘Old school’ musician that has collaborated with younger artistes within the last two years. Dr. Victor Olaiya has also worked with TuFace on a remix of his famous love song, ‘Baby Mi Da’.

The remix, which was the talk of the entertainment world for a while, was an initiative of Premier Records and Spinlet aimed at injecting a certain freshness in the music industry.

Before then, nobody would have believed that the idea of working with a younger artiste old enough to be his grandson would be attractive to Olaiya, who had never really fancied collaborating with any musician in the first place. But the old man changed his mind. After a preliminary meeting with Tuface, he probably realized the truth: that there is a constant need for cooperation among all musicians for the overall benefit of the entertainment industry.

Much later, Olaiya admitted that he had no regrets collaborating with the younger singer.

“The chap involved is very talented. He is respectful and respectable and highly gifted. They say the taste of the pudding is in the eating. I would have listened to anybody brought my way. I wouldn’t have been able to determine the musical qualities of the individual until I had tasted it and considered it what I would love. Tuface is gifted. I adore him, I admire him and I love him. He has most of the qualities I would expect of a young lad like him,” he said in the SAT PUNCH interview.

Still, like most old school musicians, the old man did not approve of the kind of songs that find their way into the market nowadays.

“In my days, I made sure that anything I composed or dished out to the public is not only musical, but also educative and poetic and it must convey sense and good music. It is a concord of sweet music.

“I think we have to re-plan with the youth and tell them to go back to the archives and be able to do something meaningful and educative and musical. I am not criticising; I am not even a critic as such. But most of the things I hear and watch on the TV, they don’t give me much to desire,” he was quoted as saying.

In recent time, other ‘collabos’ involving older and younger musicians have somewhat closed the dreaded generation gap that seems to have previously given room to all kinds of lapses in the music industry.

Daddy Showkey and Wizkid

There was talk about popular Afro hip hop star, Wizkid, having a collaboration with Ghetto Soldier, Daddy Showkey a few months ago. In fact, pictures showing the two artistes getting down to business in a recording studio circulated online for awhile. And Wizkid reportedly admitted that a song had been produced to this effect.

The problem is that nobody has either seen or listened to the product of the much-anticipated collabo till date.

Pasuma and Tiwa Savage

No other old school Nigerian musician, perhaps, has worked harder at connecting with the trends in modern popular music than seasoned Fuji singer, Pasuma Wonder.

The Fuji star’s recent collabo with talented singer, Tiwa Savage, speaks volumes about his determination to remain relevant on the music scene. The result of that effort, which had many people guessing before it was eventually released, is a thrilling love song titled ‘Ife’.

Ice Prince and Sunny Neji

It took the video of a duet between Chocolate City’s rapper Ice Prince and highlife singer, Sunny Neji, to pass on an instructive message to the youth of this country about the dangers of overindulgence.

Titled ‘Whisky’, the video tells the story of two young people whose lives come to a abrupt end due to greed.

Wizkid and Femi Kuti

Wizkid’s collaboration with Afrobeat king, Femi Anikulapo-Kuti, which resulted in the hit song ‘Jaiye Jaiye’, is still the talk of the music industry, mainly for the commercial success and the interesting technical dimension it has introduced to Afro hip hop.

Besides, it was the first time that Femi, who has been thrice nominated for the prestigious Grammy Award, would put his excellent saxophone skills to such use.

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About Unknown

Deji Sadiq, a.k.a DEJI OF LAGOS is a LASU trained Economist turned freelance journalist, a Blogger, an information strategist, a public affairs analyst and a committed activist with a passion for equal opportunities.