One-time hit maker, Marvin Akuba, aka Morachi, believes that his efforts paved way for the dominance of the younger musicians, including Davido, Wizkid and Olamide.
He said this during a recent interactive session with journalists in Surulere, Lagos, insisting that today’s musicians were only enjoying what some of them had done earlier.
Morachi, who had been out of Nigeria for a while, said, “I am one of the pioneers of music in Nigeria, and the media can testify to it. But for the standard I created then, the new artistes will not been having it easy as they have now. The videos I did then were of top quality.”
According to the singer, he left the industry because of bad press. After releasing his hit single, ‘Hapuya Lyke Dat, in 2007, all his other songs were on the fringe. All efforts to make more popular music hit the rock.
He narrated, “After my hit single, there was actually a follow-up but some things happened that my fans did not know about. There were some politics that played out, but it has now made me to become a politician myself.
“But to be honest, ‘Hapuya Lyke Dat’ was not the type of music I wanted to do from the start. Afterward, I tried to do my kind of sound but the industry did not allow it to fly. I tried a n o t h e r one, it did not go anywhere too.
“The only single that was close was ‘Ibu Onye,’ yet something did not let the song travel far. I tried to do something differently with the video. After going through the pains to deliver it, the media claimed I was too fetish and a cultist. At that point too, I lost my only sister and the media said lots of things that were untrue. They also connected it to that video. There was a lot of bad and negative press and that killed the song. It would have been the next big thing. I just felt I should be left alone at that point in time.”
He maintained that the song most people condemned then was the one artistes were tapping from now.
“To be honest, a lot of people are still tapping from the song ‘Ibu Onye.’ Runtown, in his song, titled, ‘Gallardo,’ featuring Davido, tapped from it.”
Morachi stated that the growth of Nigeria’s music today was because of efforts made by individuals who had the drive and passion for what they believed in, not the government. But , he quickly pointed out that it would have been a better place if the government was strongly involved.
“It would be a waste of time to wait for the government, though. If they did not do it many years ago, what makes you think they can do it now? I do not think the gove r n m e n t will do anything; it is better we concentrate on our drive and passion.”
