Before I delve into how the D-Day went, let me just give you some facts about Geneva.
1. It is the third most expensive city in the world. So, it is definitely not the town to go shopping like you are on Oxford street.
2. Shops close by 6pm everyday, and don't open on Sundays. Apparently, they do this because it is a family-oriented town. I am still trying to correlate this with the fact that prostitution is legal, lol.
Anyway...\
I was presenting on Thursday, and it was just when I was about to sleep on Tuesday, that is got the idea to take my clothes off on stage. I wondered if I would be able to pull it off in such a short time, plus this was a very formal audience. I was happy about the fact that the taking cloths off concept came to me because
1. It distracted me from the fact that I was slower than usual
2. It distracted the listeners from the fact that I was fast for them (I hope so).
3. I just felt the extra efizzy would be good for my spoken word career, lol.
4. It was good for those people who did not speak English.
At the instant I was performing, the piece was being translated to different languages. So if you don't understand it, all you need us to fix your earphones, and switch to the channel of your language. I just felt they wouldn't enjoy the punch lines, alliterations, and word plays, and all those poetic jargon, after being translated. So the extra drama was a form of compensation for them.
These is the mic, earphones and channels they use to switch between languages. Nigeria, what's the way forward o?
As looked around the room that morning, many things dawned on me about the crowd
1. 99% of them were not the colour of my skin
2. They were far older than me, and the crowd I normally stood in front of
3. They did not belong to the class I belonged to, they were political.
they did not understand poetic jargon like alliterations, punchlines, imagery, word plays and those words
4. They did not speak the way I do
5. THEY WERE DIFFERENT
The thing is, it is very easy to woo a familiar crowd, tickle their ears and give them what they want to hear. But in this case, you cannot really tell what would impress this crowd, or what they want to hear, because they we well, different. So I prayed... I prayed hard. There was no need coming all the way from Nigeria, and crashing my career on a global scale. I could have easily done that in Nigeria. God, please, help me.
And help me, God did. Let's just say I almost ran out of complimentary cards by the time I was done. This group of people that hardly clap were almost forced to stop clapping. The lady in charge who used me as experiment was impressed, and Michel Sidibe, the head of UNAIDS was tripped. What more could I ask for?
Empty seats waiting to be filled with listeners who would later listen to me |
My game face on. Lol |
Michel Sidibe (the brain behind UNAID), and a teenage girl born with HIV |
Famzing with the people in high places |
Beautiful Fatima. She was married off at the age of 14, and infected by her husband |
And the covering came off completely |
So who can tell how many pieces of clothings I had on the ground by the time I was done with the performance?
Out of all the youth delegates that were present, it was just me and one other girl that was quite neutral. It was either they were gay, HIV positive, or both. And let me quickly mention that I just found out that the new political word for gay men in MSM. Don't think too far, it means Men who have Sex with Men.
Ehm, Toinlicious and Sykik. That is my hair with 60% shrinkage o. i.e, you can only see 40% of the length.
If you want to know how the clothes began coming off, watch this video below. And please, pay attention to the message. Feedback highly needed. Thanks
Happy holidays madam. Welldone on the Geneva gig
ReplyDeletestores and shops do not open on Sundays in most european cities...and the close early, sucks right.
Happy holidays and happy new year in advance
Ehn, ehn. I was familiar with just the UK jare. Thanks
Deleteghen ghen...I got carried away with the poem...you spoke so well. *clapping things*
ReplyDeleteyour hair at 60% shrinkage is so freaking long...kilode....can I have some, I can't seem to retain length anymore?
I counted 5 pieces of clothing on the floor...was Geneva that cold ni abi it was all for the performance. that gown please, send it to me...it will fit me like a glove:)
Yes, I know you are lepa like me, lol, but I still aint giving you, cos it will be useless when you get pregnant, amen.
DeleteYes, Geneva was that cold o. So it was both for the performance and the cold, lol.
You're bold. I give it to you. :)
ReplyDeleteYour hair is long oo...at 60% shrinkage...
As for the other parts that I noticed, errr...let's talk behind the scenes..lol
But in all, your speech was informative. I couldn't hold back the smile when I saw you performing..
What did you notice? Oya talk jo.
DeleteThanks for the compliment. I appreciate.
First of all, I was like "Is she going to rap?" Fast talker without biting her tongue for words...wow! You were also very expressive with your body language...nice moves. Your use of words...muah! Inspiring message you passed across. Well done girl! You removed 3 clothes. One on your hand while answering the question and 2 on the floor that you picked up as you were leaving the stage. Sykik 5 ke! http://frediliadtruthuncensored.com/
ReplyDeleteTrust me, rehearsal is hard. The speed+alliterations+rhythm+intonation. It is very hard o, but then that's why you must nail it in the rehearsal.
DeleteSo who is right, you or sykik?
wow! great job!
ReplyDeleteThank you ma'am.
DeleteWow Atilola! A job welldone. (ok x-factor commentary, lol) I think the message was passed across beautifully with the right use of words so that it was meaningful to anyone really! It clearly touched on a range of societal issues and driven towards the end with a focus on the feminine gender. Your body language exhibited passion for the subject and helped to give more flavour to the rap like wordings! Love it!
ReplyDeleteGosh, when I saw 'x-factor commentary', I thought you were going to thrash me. My heart was up, lol.
DeleteThanks. I really appreciate your commentary, lol.
Wow! Wow!! Wow!!! What a nice piece. The poem was on point, the speech was eloquent, the delivery was muah.
ReplyDeleteSeest thou a man dilligent in his business? he shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before mean men. Proverbs 22:29. Your diligence has announced you to the world.
You had 3 pieces of clothings on the ground by the time you were done with the performances. You could have done 'better' by removing the gown....
Looolll. Alakoba. You don't want me to get more jobs, abi? I see your plan.
DeleteLoool
Deletewow... u killed it!
ReplyDeleteThanks mama.
DeleteThat was very good, wonderfully powerful.
ReplyDeleteI shared it on my google+ I hope you do not mind.
If at all possible, would you share the words with me. I start work back on Jan.2nd. and it would be good to have something positive to add to my wall of motivations and affirmations.
Happy New Year
Peace & Happiness.
Rhapsody
http://rappingonamelody.blogspot.ca/
http://rappingonamelody.blogspot.ca/p/guestbook.html
https://plus.google.com/101099217204323189067
http://www.shelfari.com/rhapsodyphoenix
http://twitter.com/rhapsodyphoenix
http://pinterest.com/rhapsodyphoenix/
https://www.facebook.com/RhapsodyPhoenix
http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/4442621/rhapsody-phoenix
No probs. You can share on whatever platform, I will mail the transcript to you.
DeleteBlessings...
DeleteI came by to say thank you for the honor of your words and kindness and to wish you a outrageously fabulous week.
peace.
Great job!
ReplyDeleteYou had 5 pieces of clothing on the ground by the time you were done.
Thanks you sir. I wonder why people can seem to agree on one number of clothing, lol.
DeleteWell done Atilola! Inspiring.
ReplyDeleteHappy new year :)
Thanks very much ma.
DeleteWell done Atilola, i am really proud of you!
ReplyDeleteThank you.
DeleteSuch an amazing piece.
ReplyDeleteYea. Really amazing. Long time
DeleteVery useful and supportive article. I wish I can do all of that in a short period of time
ReplyDeletehttp://www.friv1.co/
You had 3 pieces of clothing on the floor after you were done. You are so bold! How did you do all that without shaking please. And ahh I see an inner thug waiting to break lose. I love the message. A transcript of the poem would be really useful. And can you teach me how to walk in 6inch heels because I'm slacking. Happy new year!
ReplyDeleteLol. Shaking ke? That's one of my careers na.
DeleteAs for the heels, you have come to the right teacher. I have a PhD in that, lol.
Nice one girl!!!! I finally got to see it. It was mesmerising!!! Well done
ReplyDeleteActually, you should have been the first. Glad you liked it.
DeleteWell done ati... Well done. xxxx
ReplyDeleteReally good. Keep it coming.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis is amazing. Love Love it!!!!
ReplyDeleteSo glad for you. Yes, It drew me in. Message so on point.
More and more to come. :)
Beautiful..... Awww. Great performance, very deep message too.
ReplyDeleteHi Lola, you are doing something different. First time seeing anything like this (Spoken Word performance). It's refreshing. Well done! I arrived from Madame Sting's blog.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much!
ReplyDeleteGreat job! You had 5 pieces of clothing on the ground by the time you were done.
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Glad to visit your blog. Thanks for this great post that you share to us.
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Well done! Proud of you. You have gone and are going places. Keep up the good work. The message is real!
ReplyDelete