By Ganiu Bamgbose

Be careful when you think you are better than other people. In the scheme of life, mercy is not even determined by ability but by Grace. Grace is God’s presence in your race. The fastest runner is not assuredly the winner. Sometimes, you may be the best hand on the job or the best person in the group but the grace which is upon that person who is not even as good as you are might be the wave upon which your team is sailing.

Some other times, it is not even you who think you are better than others; it is the deceptive script of those around you. Such script makes you feel that you are indispensable. This brings to mind the story of 2face Idibia and Blackface of the Plantashun Boiz.

This group of three (2face, Faze and Blackface) which dominated the Nigerian hip-hop scene in the early 2000s along side The Remedies, broke out after few years and each of them got in their separate battles of survival. Fortune smiled on 2face and he got signed by the then renowned Kennis Music. Boom! ‘African Queen’ rented the air throughout the world. I am not sure I will be exaggerating if I say that 2face sang only two songs throughout his active years in the industry and the two songs would be ‘African Queen’ and the rest. Blackface and Faze released their albums too, of course with Blackface’s album being my favourite. Dude is a “mad” singer! Give it to Blackface any day, any time, if you are talking about musical craftsmanship. I can vibe to some of his songs till this day.

However, there was a but! Blackface was being bitter when he should be getting better. Grace had set in. Mercy had reshuffled the cards. 2face had become the biggest star of the era.

Obviously, even the brightest of the stars cannot occupy the sky alone. No party will dance to one singer throughout the show in the hip-hop genre. Such is rare given the nature of hip-hop songs. What Blackface ought to do at the time was to concentrate on growing at his own pace and remaining a collaborator and partner in progress with 2face and not becoming a competitor and rival. While 2face got busier with making songs to maintain his stardom, Blackface was more occupied with feud and wanting to establish to the whole world that the African Queen which brought 2face in the limelight was his song. Meanwhile, in the heat of the ownership of the hit track, Faze had concentrated on growing at his pace, producing albums and hit tracks like ‘Kolomental’ and ‘Kpo Kpo Di Kpo’ which were club anthems at some points. In a Facebook post that I could not verify beyond Facebook, 2face came public on the ownership of ‘African Queen’, saying it was Blackface’s but he gave him his consent to sing it and that he even returned to offer him 2 million and a plot of land after the song became a hit but Blackface rejected it as being small.

Matter-of-factly, it was and remains insignificant who wrote ‘African Queen’. What counts is that the track “blew” 2face to stardom and the ownership changed nothing; not even when Blackface decided to release his original version of the song years later.

The story of 2face and Blackface is not so different from that of Oritse Femi and his former group member, Chi-Junglist. They both were the Junglist Boys and after their breakup, Chi would rather castigate Oritse Femi than concentrate on growing at his pace. You may have to be an Ajegunle boy like me to ever know that Oritse Femi ever had a group that released two albums. It was known to many of us in Ajegunle at that time that, Chi, like Blackface, also thought of himself as the better singer so he became bitter when mercy and grace reshuffled the cards.

While the crux of this piece is not to condemn or ridicule Blackface or Chi-Junglist, it is important to make clear that ability and competence is not a parameter for God’s mercy and grace. Everyone who desires a peaceful life must, therefore, think in terms of collaboration than competition. Misunderstandings and breakouts are normal but they should not result in enmity and rivalry. The world has space for everyone if we would grow at our pace.

One Fuji artiste, Sule Alao Malaika, makes a remarkable example here. While many rated him next to Wasiu Alabi Pasuma and Saheed Osupa for many years, Malaika consistently grew at his pace without openly rivalling anyone, that today he can only be considered on equal footing with the aforementioned duo.

Most significantly, your only competition should be with the person you were yesterday; not with anyone else. When you do not compete unhealthily and squander your energy, you grow gracefully at your pace. Would you not rather be a collaborator than a competitor?

Dr. Ganiu Bamgbose writes from the Department of English, Lagos State University.

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