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If ever the
expression ‘an army of rappers’ can be excused, then nothing better
captures the sight of Chocolate City commander MI and his trio of
lieutenants – Jesse Jags, Ice Prince and Brymo – when they took the
stage at the IndigO2 Millennium Dome, London, on the evening of April
28.

Dressed
identically in immaculate white jackets, white shirts and bowties,
Nigeria’s newest – and I dare say, most successful – crop of rappers
emerged onstage one after the other, heralded by a cartoon-animation
video of the prelude track on ‘MI2: The Movie’, his sophomore album.

“They call… they
call… they call me MI. Are you ready to dance with the devil? Let’s
go!” concluded the skit, as the renowned ‘short, black boy’ stepped
onstage to feverish cheers from the audience, who had gamely borne the
efforts of several comic and musical acts in the first half of the
concert.

Chocolatiers

The men-in-white
took their business of entertainment to heart. Their movements were
choreographed to exude practised grace. These ‘Chocolatiers’ had come
to offer their own brand of confection to the Diaspora; and ladies
dressed to the nines, trotting on high-heeled shoes, and young men
sporting designer wear and adopted accents stood side by side in united
admiration for MI. Most had forked out between 30 and 75 pounds for
this privilege.

Rap music is the
forte of the self-assured, and none exuded the confidence and swagger
(pardon this clichéd street slang) better than the Choc Boys. MI,
backed by Brymo, whipped the audience to a frenzy with a rendition of
“Action Film”. Its chorus, “I would like to take you on a ride,” was
nothing short of a promise of what the evening entailed. Extempore raps
were on the cards as Jesse Jags boasted the wealth of his lyrics: “They
call me Scarface, but everyday you can take my lines to the bank, they
call it Barclays.”

MI might have
visited London to promote his sophomore album but he was not about to
have the adoring crowd forget the self-titled debut that had set him
apart as the fastest-risen icon on the Nigerian music scene, in only
three years. He proposed a musical equivalent of Truth or Dare with his
label mates: concert-goers were given an opening cue to one of his old
songs and then were expected to rap the rest to prove their knowledge
of the track. Their reward was an item of clothing off one of the
rappers.

“I’m a girl
pleaser,” MI cued, and the audience screamed in response: “Big booty
squeezer, teaser looking for a diva for sheezer. What you need is a
geezer, cool like a freezer, rule like a Caesar,” finishing the hook of
the hit, “Teaser”.

“Anoti”, “Fast
Money Fast Cars”, “Mogbonofelifeli Remix”, “Nobody Test Me” and
“Forever” followed in the same pattern until all four pristine jackets
had being taken off, sometimes sparking catfights between eager hands
as they were thrown into the appreciative crowd. Jesse Jags, perhaps
not eager to stand before the crowd sans clothes, insisted that “one of
those lines just ain’t right,” effectively ending the game.

Rap Beef

MI without further
ado introduced one of the most popular song of his new album, “Beef”,
with a pep talk about “people that just be hating” – a reference to
musician Kelly Handsome. Many eagerly rhymed along with him: “See
musicians tryna beef me for real, son/ maybe they’re doing it to
promote the album/ they know that using my name will help them sell
some/ so Iceberg it’s all right, you’re welcome/ But I’m not in the
league, help me tell them/ The Super Eagles don’t play against the
Falcons/ see (ugly) pikin dey form handsome/ Kelechukwu clap for
yourself, well done!”

One wondered
fleetingly if the same crowd wouldn’t be just as keen to mouth the
words to “Finish You Boy”, Handsome’s newly-released response to MI’s
“Beef”. Perhaps the Nigerian crowd themselves are the fuel for the
Tupac/Biggie-like scenarios recently plaguing Nigeria’s music industry.

Proving his
dexterity as a lyricist, MI revealed the meaning behind some of his rap
lines that might have been taken at face value: “Some sow broke, others
wealth reaping,” and “How I would Fri as I Sat in the Sun through the
weekend” – a play on weekdays, which express his struggles to make a
name for himself in the industry.

Rhymes for Jos

But it wasn’t all
beef and self-aggrandisement as MI calmed the crowd’s excitement with
“Wild Wild West”, a song dedicated to the city of Jos. Accompanied by a
video showing graphic images of the 2010 crises, MI told of his anger
at the destruction that had “cancelled the (peaceful) name” of the
place he calls home. “Better get your gun, better get your vest, in
J-Town it’s the wild, wild, west/ I just wanna cry, I just wanna know
why my people struggle to unify/ orphans, coffins, bastards, caskets,
mass burials, how’re we gonna move past this?” he lamented to the
solemn rhythms that accompanied his delivery.

Not many of the
goings-on affecting the lives of the masses seemed to escape MI’s pen.
He may have moved “from a legedis-benz to a Honda” but he had expended
the effort to interview the street thugs of Lagos, and documented same
in a video that introduced a song inspired by the soundtrack of an old
Nigerian soap opera famous for the popular character, Jagua. “My head,
my belle” is a song for the poor, one that encouraged them and yet was
an apposite reflections of their circumstances.

Rounding up

Tracks like “Number
One”, “Slown Down”, “Represent” and “One Naira” featuring Waje, who
arrived sans make-up, straight from the airport, Ice Prince’s hit
single “Oleku” and Jesse Jagz’s “Jargo” rounded off the evening.

The album launch
was organised by Coko Bar, one of the more popular UK-based Nigerian
entertainment promoters. Acknowledging the management of Audu Maikori,
Chocolate City founder, comedian Seyi Law cracked a joke at MI’s
expense, saying, “If no be for this man (Maikori), MI Abaga for dey run
for gun now for Jos.”

Seyi Law and
British comedy act Kevin Jay, who has perfected Nigerian patterns of
speech and Pidgin English, had earlier reduced the audience to fits of
laughter with their hilarious takes on Nigerian life. Other acts
included 2kris, the duo of Nigerian-born brothers; and Tipsy, a
feminine incarnation of Dagrin’s street style who performed a tribute
to the late rapper.

MI may have been
accused of diluting his style with ‘MI2: the Movie’, but every song is
a brilliant reflection of the Nigerian struggle and aspiration,
eliciting open adulation from the fans who crowded the IndigO2 and were
crushed to see him leave at the show’s end. The emotion appeared to be
mutual as it was a reluctant MI that was finally coaxed offstage by
Coko Bar founder, Ropo Akin.

But not before MI had handed out all the accessories he was
wearing. Eventually stripped of almost everything but the clothes on
his back, and with several demanding fans left to satisfy, he had tried
to lift some off the other Choc Boys. But they, unlike MI, were not as
obliging. Hopefully, many a fan who left the show with a valuable
memento in hand, wished the short black boy a long reign as “African
rapper number one.”