Just honestly baring my heart out

I honestly don't know what to write, but I know it is Monday Morning, and I must put up a post. I might just bare my heart out a bit in this post, and give an honest rant.

Sometimes, I get really tired, with the workload coming at me, left, right, and centre.

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I serve on so many leadership positions, and it can be overwhelming wearing several hats. I thank God for having several teams of wonderful and selfless people though, if not, I'd have been dead by now.

The African Naturalistas staff I work with are just the bomb. They do all they do with a good heart, and expect nothing in return. The African Naturalistas cosmetic production staff are so effective and get the job done, but mehn, the workload is too much for us. The bad part is that I can't seem to hire more people till we move out of where we currently are. The space is just too much for the amount of work we are currently doing, and we are still expanding despite that. I can't wait to get out of that space, which should be later this year by God's grace. I will tell you the reason later.

The Rhyme and Reason team is going strong. To be honest, I don't think they need my energy anymore. They extracted it a long time ago, and multiplied it. Now, they are just on another level. We a starting a special academy soon, and that too will take it's chunk of time.

Speaking of Spoken Word, I am getting more work lately, and I am happy about it, but it is putting me in more tight corners. Everyone seems to be wanting special themes, which require that I write and rehearse new pieces in just a few days, which would have been nice if I wasn't previously encumbered with so much work. Still, I can't reject these jobs, because they are jobs many of my Spoken word colleagues would kill for, and to be honest, I don't charge small money. I'm not saying I charge millions of naira o, but compared to my colleagues, I know my fees are far more. So what I am saying is that I have to go for these events despite the fact that I am busy, cos they are the kinds of event I want, and they pay the bills!

I have paid my dues, by making sure I hone my skills, and strive for excellence, so now that I have been elevated, I have no need to complain. I should up my skills, busy or not busy.

I was not happy yesterday morning. I had taken time out to do a spoken word video shoot for a program, and it basically took two whole days of my week, only for it to be struck out of the program because of some reason that didn't make sense. This was a video whose script I wrote in three hours, under intense pressure, after writing it two previous times, and they kept changing the brief. I took two whole days to do this shoot, and African Naturalistas suffered for it. Yet, it was cancelled.

The bad part, I was not informed. I found out only when I went backstage to find out when it would have been aired. If not, I would have been sitting in the audience like an idiot.

The worst part, they got a guy to read my script out, who did a terrible job, reading it like a newscaster. This is exactly why I hate releasing my script. You can't just interpret the voice intonations and mid rhymes. And they even removed some sentences, and inserted theirs.

Till now, no one has called me to apologise. And all these, I did for FREE. But it's all good sha, God dey.

One thing was that I made sure I left the event with a heart free of offence, cos I need a clean and clear heart for Thursday, to perform something I have no idea of. I have not even started writing, and it is a very big event, and they are paying me, so lack of excellence is not an option... even if they were not paying me.

I honestly don't know how I would go through the week. So many products to make, so many orders to fulfill, and personal goals to achieve... plus I have a photoshoot this week, and my hair is currently a mess. I know that I would not go to the salon this week, cos I want to let my hair out for the shoot, something I hardly do in reality.

I have never done this kind of post, where I would just come and rant real time, on the blog. But you know what? I feel better doing this. Not everytime superhuman superwoman... sometimes, we just have to be real with ourselves and with the world.


Optimist vs Pessimist. Who is right?



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An extreme Nigerian optimist and extreme Nigerian pessimist happened to be very good friends. How they could stand each other without strangling each other was really a mystery to everyone. The optimist believed that nothing was really wrong with Nigeria, and every bad thing currently happening in Nigeria is actually a good thing in disguise. His personal national anthem was TY Bello’s song, The Future, which he listened to every morning and night.

The pessimist on the other hand, saw nothing good in Nigeria. In fact he spent all his waking moments talking about the impending doom of the country, such that everyone wondered why he had not found a way to bail out, even if it was just to the neighbouring country of Benin Republic.

The irony of it was that both of them were on the same social standing, jobless youths, struggling to make ends meet. This is an example of how their conversation usually goes, when they happen to be together.

Pessy: I am telling you Opty, there is nothing good about this country. Every single sector is in a rot. I am jobless right now, and doubt I will be getting any job anytime soon. The unemployment rate in Nigeria is something else. Imagine I went to look for job. After going through 10 stages, can you imagine? 10 stages! I was told that I couldn’t get the job because I was over-qualified. Didn’t they know I was over-qualified right from the very first day? Why waste so much of my time?

Opty: Take it easy, Pessy. Remember that when one door closes, another one will open.

Pessy: No, I disagree. Whenever one door closes, another slams in your face.

Opty: Just look at you. You need to always look at the bright side of life. You still have a chance to do something for Nigeria. Even if you didn’t get a job, you can think about a good idea, and become an entrepreneur. Don’t you know that today is first day of the rest of your life?

Pessy: The rest of my life, you say? With Boko Haram in sight, today should also be seen as the last day of my life so far. Don’t you also see those terrorists in Jos, roasting people, with all the smoke rising in the air?

Opty: I think Jos is the place to be. Haven’t you thought about it that wherever there is smoke, there must be barbeque and asun ?

And the optimist-pessimist banter continued…

Opty: Think about it well Pessy. They are doing it so they will build our fighting spirit. They are actually doing it intentionally to help us. They planned all these problems happening to us. They want us to be so frustrated that we won’t be able to take it anymore, and then we fight for change. So you see, the government is actually working for the interest of the Nigerian populace, contrary to popular opinion.

Pessy: But by the time we get so frustrated, as you claim, we would have started self-immolation.

Opty: I can see that you refuse to see the light.

Pessy: I see the light. It is a very bright light, the light of the Nigerian Armageddon.

Opty: Okay, let me tell you a true life story, something that happened in Delta State, just to let you know that you can achieve something in this blessed nation of ours, should you ever put your mind to. An Urhobo orphan was living with his uncle’s family. His uncle’s wife maltreated him, and made him work like a slave. He ran away from the house at the age of sixteen to Sapele, where he became a street trader, sleeping under make-shift sheds. Piece by piece, step by step, he persevered and made something out of his life, and is now one of the biggest and richest business men in Sapele. All these happened in this same Nigeria you complain about. Now what is the morale of that story?

Pessy: Well… the morale is that Urhobo relatives suck.

Opty: Gosh Pessy, you so incorrigible. I am tired of your banter. I need to go now. Please, can I borrow some money from you?

Pessy: I think I have a little extra change here. Take, though I doubt that you will pay back.

Opty: Well, that is why I am borrowing it from you. I knew you wouldn’t expect it back. You should always borrow money from pessimists. They don’t expect to get anything back.

The Success called The Excision

Right now, words fail me to describe how I feel. It has been six months of pain, sacrifice, extreme sacrifice, sweat, doubts and fear, hard work, running from sponsors to sponsors, Friday night prayers, and so much more than I can begin to mention. In the end, God came through for us.

The Excision was a success!!!

It was all God.

At a point, we went down, things were not going as fast as we wanted, but we forged through in the midst of darkness, while putting on brave faces, and God came through in the end. I had the best team in the world. Mehn, those guys were great. The quality of the artists was great.

Will you believe even when you do not see? Will you have faith? Be encouraged. If it is from God, He will see you through it.

We did a live stream of the event, and you can watch the event by clicking here. The whole event was about three hours 30 minutes, so it is safe to scroll forward.

See some pictures below

Ezekiel singing Nigerian worship

Or.Raw.Day doing 'That Girl'

Janette...Ikz live

Preston Perry and Jackie Hill Perry in 'The Fall'

Ezekie and Janette..Ikz in 'Ready or Not'

Me and Plumbline performing 'St Jones Gospel'

Plumbline performing Bloody Kingdom


Gaise Baba thrilling the crowd. I love this guy

Jackie Hill Perry doing 'My life as a Stud'

Me and Plumbline

The crowd: Can you see me on stage? Lol

Cross section

Preston Perry doing 'Jesus is God'

Cross Section

Ezekiel performing 'Letter from Satan'

IBK Spaceship Boi performing 'Sticks and Stones'
The hall... before it started getting filled up
DJ Mordu. DJ with a good heart

At the press conference a day before the event

A reporter asking questions
 
Answering questions from the reporters
For more pictures and information on how the event went down, you can follow us on Instagram here, Facebook here, and twitter here.


Rhyme and Reason is finally here!


Have you heard? That come June 11, 2016, We would be having our second Rhyme and Reason concert in Nigeria, tagged The Excision.

Now, this is not a hype post or campaign post. This is my own event, as in the one graced me to do with hands and intellect. In short, na my event. So you must to come, lol.

As you know, I am only associated with quality, so we are bringing world-reowned Spoken Word artists, Janette...Ikz, Ezekiel, Preston Perry, Jackie Hill Perry, and quality domestic acts (me included). You do not want to miss it. 

Please see the trailer below.


You like it right? The good thing is that attendance is free, but you have to register to attend by going to www.rhymeandreasonng.com. Venue is The Dome, Freedom Way, off Admiralty way, Lekki, Lagos. Time is 4.00pm

For more details about the event, you can check our website here, hit us up on facebook, follow on Instagram, or follow on twitter

See you all there. And when you see me, please shout my name, and say hi to me. Thanks.