By Ejiogu Obinna

Not many people are aware of the history of Hip-Hop music. In the 1970’s, disenfranchised youths of poor households in America would use music to express the social, economic and political realities of their lives. It was the development of a form of poetry where the artist would show strength in the midst of suffering and a determination to get ahead.

At the 7 Seasons in Lekki on the 26^th of April, many of these sentiments were expressed once again. The city of Lagos, known for its heavy population, is filled with youths looking to stand out from the crowd and express their individuality. About 300 of them converged to witness “The Coronation IV”, a Rap festival that featured mainstream musical acts like Ycee and underground veteran “Battle rappers” such as Maximum and Holyfield. In addition to sponsoring the show alongside Martell and Don’t Drop the Mic Ent., Accountability Lab Nigeria was also well represented by the performances of its Voice2Rep program finalists. Adebanjo “Bliizzy” Boluwatife and Gbajumo “MC Lauda” Taiwo took to the stage to deliver socially conscious medleys calling for Integrity and Accountability in the Nigerian Society.

The Compere of the event started the show at about 8:30 pm, introducing Accountability Lab as “Young change makers trying to fight for the change that others choose to complain about on Twitter”; a tongue-in-cheek comment about the lackadaisical attitudes of many young Nigerians to the ills of the nation.   On his introduction of Bliizzy to the stage for his performance, the young man expanded on the MC’s definition, choosing to describe Accountability Lab as “an NGO that works with the public to sensitize anyone willing to listen and work on changing the nation.”

Bliizzy perfomed his set, which included a song inspired by J. Cole’s “Love Yourz” single where he gave some in-depth analysis into societal issues with lyrical dexterity. He ended his performance with a lengthy, fast-paced and lung draining freestyle, before thanking the audience for their support.

MC Lauda, a more rugged and street wise performer, delivered his verses almost exclusively in the medium of Yoruba, to the delight of the guests. Beginning his set with his Voice2Rep entry and the opening lines “I love Naija, I love my people…” he charged the crowd, saying “We have to speak out in one voice to demand accountability from our government.”

We went round, trying to gauge the reactions of the guests. Here are some of their contributions:

“I heard some dope lines from the Yoruba rapper. Lauda is his name, right? There are very few musicians talking on real life issues maybe due to marketing. Everybody wants to act like everything is okay, instead.”

“Their energy was A plus. There’s this pride about being a Nigerian, I think their songs go with that. This kind of music should be played everywhere. It reminds me of Fela Kuti back in the day.”

“I vibed to their songs. I don’t mind listening to songs like this as long as they’re delivered well and if the message is clear and creative. I can relate.”

“I believe hip hop is about unity and we need more diverse and catchy music. Their songs were nice but in today’s industry bad vibes sell more. For good vibes to sell they need to be catchy.”

The show closed out with a series of battle rap competitions where competitors threw verbal and lyrical jabs at each other. Their performances memorably left special guest Rap Veteran, M.I Abaga, in stitches at many instances during the show. ‘The Coronation’ proved to be a very apt name for the event, as youth leadership was a strong theme throughout the project.