Co-written by Henry and Chiagoziem
This week, Patoranking’s God Over Everything was released and it gave reggae music in Nigeria a big shot in the arm. Veteran reggae artist Blackky has gone on record to say that even he appreciates what Pato has done for the culture.
Look at this young man (Patoranking)… he is actually playing reggae and he is not ashamed or scared that if he pigeonholes his sound, people will be put off. Now look at what has happened.
We were slightly underwhelmed by GOE as a body of work but that doesn’t take anything away from the cultural importance of the project. Patoranking is only one of a handful of artists in Nigeria today in the mainstream that practise reggae/dancehall music in its purest form, the genre has fallen far behind other forms of music in the country.
However, it hasn’t always been the case. In the late 80’s and early 90’s, reggae, dancehall and all their offspring were dominant forms of music. Blackky led the charge for dancehall, importing the style that Shabba Ranks had globalized and tuning it to a frequency that Nigerians could easily understand.
Back then, Blackky was a force of nature, a fresh-faced swashbuckling singer, he too jolted the system but in a different way. The Black man built a reputation as something of a rebel and a crusader for sexual liberties in an otherwise conservative society, and he was very comfortable with the notoriety that it came with. His music was railed on by pastors, by parents, elder siblings and by the broadcasting commission but somehow, Blackky was able to back it up with undeniable hit records.
His concerts were something to marvel at. Just after the release of About Tyme, Blackky went on a national tour of sorts, one of the few acts who did it back then. From schools to regular event places, the Blackky craze packed venues full. Fans were known to defy heavy downpours to skank to his refreshing brand of reggae.
This week (1st August to be exact), Blackky commemorated his 25th year as a professional artist, yes time does fly and yes, you are that old. After winning the Lekki Sunsplash Talent Hunt in 1990, he got signed to a record deal with Premier Records and the rest is African dancehall music history.
Blackky – Lekki Sunsplash Talent Hunt (Twitter)
Edward Inyang (yes, that is Blackky’s full government name) went on to have a distinguished career that birthed 6 albums, a number of NBC broadcast bans and a handful of awards. Most recently, the City People Entertainment Awards 2016 gave him a Special Recognition Award for his contribution to Nigerian music over the years, from 1991 to date.
“Rosie” is his biggest record and the song has remained with us ever since, re-appearing from time to time in TV shows and movies and in the repertoire of many live bands across the country. However, there are other memorable songs from the singer’s catalogue that aren’t talked about as much as “Rosie”. So on the silver jubilee of Blackky’s career as a recording artist, what we want to do is talk about 5 of them.
Sugar Stick
The unforgettable “Sugar Stick” was on the debut project About Tyme, as was “Rosie”. The song was “Tongolo” on steroids, Blackky had earned the moniker Master Toaster at this point and the risque singer was the Moses to the Koko Master’s Jesus. But hol’ up, at least even D’banj was more subtle, Blackky didn’t have that word or its variants in his vocabulary.
Roses are red, violets are blue /
Blackky, you know how to screw /
It’s 2016 and “Sugar Stick” is still considered one of the lewdest songs in Nigerian music history. Blackky talked matter-of-factly about the things he would do to different ladies with his 20 foot (insert word that rhymes with finish). A newly-formed NBC did their best to quarantine this deviant plague from the ears and eyes of Nigerians by placing a broadcast ban on it but today, the song is a favorite for many Throwback Thursdays on radio stations nationwide.
Blackky Skank
Blackky is a dancehall artist through and through, he calls his music “African dancehall” because he adds his own twist as he did with this record. Skanking is a dance style that originated in the 1950s or 1960s at Jamaican dance halls, where ska music was played. It evolved to incorporate many steps in many different forms of music. “Blackky Skank” introduced a different dance step that, Blackky later explained, even the dancers on the set of the video did not understand at the time.
Today’s youth have experienced the term used in different settings, there was the widely popular “Migraine Skank” of ’09, even JJC tried to float the “African Skank” a few years later. So in a way, this is the most “now” sounding record of Blackky’s catalogue if you ask me. This song can still ring off in the club today. If there was ever a song of Blackky’s that’s a candidate for a modern day remix like Black Reverendz did with “Ayangba” and Seyi Sodimu did with “Love Me Jeje”, I’d go with this.
Bang Belly
By 1992, Blackky had established his lane as a sex symbol and he treated that lane like it was the Autobahn and went full steam ahead on his sophomore project Black & Krazzy. The self-descriptive “Bang Belly” was the first track on the project, it does not get more intentional than that. The song was a playful denial of an unwanted pregnancy and contained a message to both irresponsible men and promiscuous ladies.
In the video, Blackky denied that the child was his because it looked nothing like he did and even suggested that the (intentionally chubby) video model got an abortion. If you thought Burna Boy’s claim that he only slept with a lady once, so he couldn’t possibly be the father of her unborn child is ludicrous, don’t be too mad at the young boy, his reggae forefather used the exact same excuse in the video. The Black & Krazzy album also included the widely popular “Yansh man” and “Blackky’s House”, the former received an NBC broadcast ban as well.
Killer Disease
This is the side of Blackky “they” don’t want you see. As much as he glorified sex and made a living talking about risky behaviour, the Black man also presented the harsh realities of what could come along with it. HIV had become a scourge in the early 90’s and Nigerians were still grappling with its devastating effects. Strange things were happening and not just in Nigeria, even Americans didn’t fully understood what HIV meant.
The year before, basketball player Magic Johnson had announced that he had contracted the dreaded virus and players such as Karl Malone openly refused to play against him in the NBA for fear of contracting it. There was so much confusion and misinformation about how the disease was spread in those days, so Blackky had one simple piece of advice –
Don’t stick your hose in every water hole you see
That advice is still relevant today. He teamed up with his producer, the iconic Kingsley Ogoro to shoot a daring video. Like they had already done by flashing images of women in bathing suits on TV with their previous work, the duo pushed the boundaries of what was culturally acceptable by staging Blackky’s funeral in the video. This was especially shocking in a country where death isn’t toyed with.
Leave Me Alone (LMA)
Fast forward all the way to 2010, several years after Blackky had left Premier Records. The singer had dropped a number of albums with the prestigious label, including About Tyme, Black and Krazzy and Blackout, but this time, he was moving ahead with his own imprint – Blackville Music.
They say I have no children or a wife /
My destiny cannot be changed, only delayed /
Unmarried and getting along in age, “Leave Me Alone” is Blackky’s form of rebellion against societal pressures but now as a mature man and seasoned vet. Now past his prime, Blackky still wanted to communicate with his fans, who had grown older and had matured too. “Leave Me Alone” was released as a single on his sixth studio album, the stoically titled Reggae Icon.
Reggae Icon, indeed.
Blackky is still making music today, he didn’t just disappear off the face of the earth. Get acquainted with him on Twitter and support his music catalogue.