It seems like spoken word season. Since we live the art, then we love this season too.
It is not news that people of the art are known to be non-conformist, radical, and revolutionary. The great Fela was one of them. He used his craft to lead from the front with his conscious music. Ndukwe Onuoha is staying true to this with his in the new spoken word album “Revolutionary verses”
Revolutionary verses is a 10 track journey into the Nigerian issue, shooting from the hips, taking no prisoners, speaking truth to authority, calling out politicians, looters of the treasury. He practically took our mindsets to the cleaners. In 18 short minutes Ndukwe does not flinch, and does not shy away from addressing controversial subjects, subjects like Biafra.
“Good bless this nation” starts up with booms, and gets switched up to address the unending Greek gifts of hope that the people feed on courtesy of their political leaders. “Tell them(why we Didi it)” is a short treatment of an angry people taking laws into their own hands and grief, another dedication to Didi.
With “In support of bloody revolution” Ndukwe attempts to rouse a people on the need for real change, change led by the people who need to take back their country, not by violence, but by a mindset change. This could pass for the theme song of a mythical Nigerian spring.
“For a girl (whose name we do not know)” addresses the plight of the girl child in the raging fight against Boko Haram. A dedication to all abducted girls and women, from Chibok, and everywhere in the North East. “Here lies the revolution” continues from where “in support of a bloody revolution” stops while “Memories” is a journey back to the past, basking in the sweet memories of those days of innocence, when “eat banana” meant an invitation to eat banana and not something else, when pussy meant cat. It is an ode to childhood. “Even now(change)” addresses Biafra, the message of change, a message of hope that the promised land is impending, but not today.
This is a decent work, it plants Nigeria even firmer on the map of spoken word poetry. We welcome it with open hands, and we hope you will too.
Listen here: