The room was filled with people. Photographers, make-up artistes, assistants, bodyguards, different people doing different things at the same time. And there were as many of them, as there were gadgets scattered round the room. On a right hand corner, a Dell laptop lay idle, ignored; its screen blank. It’s almost impossible to know that’s where the music ruling the room was
The music: that’s the only sound reigning. Everyone else did their job as if they had signed an oath to quietness.
Then as time flies, occasional clicks of the camera make brief but pleasant sounds; appearing to complement the music, rather than violate it.
A phone rings: “Hello, please call me back; I’m at Sunni Neji’s photoshoot.”
Then everything goes quiet again, allowing the music to dominate as the photographers take angles and shoot without ceasing.
The shoot lasted for nearly all day, and the music that played was nothing anyone in the room – except Neji had heard before. The song, “Obokun,” fresh from the studios, is the singer’s latest single; the first off his forthcoming sixth LP.
And for someone whose last album met lukewarm reviews, it’s obvious that Neji does not turn deaf ears to criticisms.
“Off Da Hook,” his fifth album, performed poorly commercially, angered loyal fans, and did little to elevate the singer’s career beyond the point where his fourth album “Unchained” (which contained the smash hits Oruka and face me) had taken it. And it wasn’t because Off Da Hook was a collection of terrible songs – most of the cuts were painstakingly put together, and musically brilliant. But the 11-tracked album contained mostly R&B/pop songs – a big risk for an artiste believed to hold the key to the future of contemporary highlife in the country.
The direction of the songs, and the A&R direction for the period, showed that the musician was dumping his highlife garb, for something supposedly more urbane, more trendy.
Needless to say it did not work.
Fans he had won singing songs like Mr. Fantastik, Roforofo, Oruka and face me, revolted. Critics unanimously asked for the ‘old’ Sunny Neji.
And now, it may have taken a while, but that Sunny Neji is back. The 43 year-old singer has gone back to the drawing board. And his first offering ‘Obokun’, is excitingly refreshing. The highlife feel is unmistaken, in his lyrics and in the music. And as his characteristic of his music, he picks a theme for this one too: a preference for plus-sized women, amongst other things.
Since his debut album (Captain, EMI) in 1991, Sunny Neji has earned himself a reputation as one of the most gifted Nigerian vocalists. And, apart from the fact that he has remained consistent and scandal-free, it has also helped that exponents of original African music consider him as a major protagonist of the fading highlife genre in Nigeria
The new single is already finding its way to playlists across the country, and there’s contagious enthusiasm in the singer’s camp. His manager Tony Anifite told E-Punch “that’s the first thing we get when people listen to the song: that feeling of, yes, this is Sunny Neji!”
He continues, “In a way, it worked for us. Because, after Oruka, there was a lot of anxiety. People were waiting to see if he could take it to the next level. So it’s just well that Off Da Hook came to bridge the gap and create some space between Oruka and this coming album.”
No date has been announced for the upcoming album.
The Punch: Sunny Neji makes rebound
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