Greetings!
I don't know if it's happening in other continents, but in Africa, especially in Nigeria, success in music now largely depends on massive hype and promotion. It's no longer like the old days of compact discs when we intentionally bought the CDs of music we genuinely enjoyed. In this streaming era, the songs that top the charts are often the ones heavily promoted and hyped. Many times, these songs are even promoted through criticism, which somehow drives people to stream them. This, in turn, propels them up the charts effortlessly.
Where am I heading to?
There’s so much to say about how hype, criticism, and promotion are spoiling things. These factors make good, original music go unheard while less impressive songs gain prominence due to the influence of the artist involved. Yes, one day, I will come back to talk about Wizkid. I’ll be ready for his fanbase (FC) to come at me with attacks, but let me be clear—I love Wizkid.
The song I’m focusing on today is Champion by Kcee and Theresa Onuorah. When this song was being produced but had yet to be released, the internet went wild with trolls aimed at Kcee. This happened because people learned he was supposedly copying Flavour's style by featuring the legendary Theresa Onuorah in his song.
First of all, who is Theresa Onuorah?
Theresa Onuorah is a woman from the early days of music, known for her exceptional contributions to the Igbo highlife music style. Her peak era was long before most of us millennials were born. A few years ago, Flavour and a musical group featured her in a song, which became a huge hit. That collaboration brought the old Igbo culture into the contemporary music scene and was widely celebrated.
Seeing the success of that project, Kcee decided to produce a song with Theresa Onuorah as well, likely hoping to leverage her legendary status and bring attention to his name. Because of this, he was labeled “copy copy,” even before the song was released.
The anticipation and criticism
Before the song was released, the hype around it was immense. Everyone was waiting for Kcee to release the song so they could determine if it was indeed a “copy copy” or if it had its own originality.
Unfortunately for me, I didn’t realize when the song was released. It wasn’t until I stumbled on a review of it on Facebook that I rushed to YouTube to watch and listen.
This is my point:
By the time I went to watch the video, the criticism had already tainted my perception. I approached the song with all the negative opinions from the reviews loaded in my mind. When I finally saw the video, everything seemed to align with what people had been saying about the song.
Let’s take a look at the video:
As many have noted, Theresa Onuorah’s performance in the song is outstanding. Her verse and the chorus are incredible. Everything about her contribution is unique and unlike anything else. However, for Kcee, his part felt off. The lyrics didn’t align well with the nature of the song. This particular aspect drew most of the criticism, with some people even suggesting he should quit music. (Lol! I love Kcee, though—he has some great songs, but this one missed the mark.)
One thing I must commend, however, is the high-quality and classic costumes used in the video. The visuals beautifully showcase Igbo culture. The beat is also top-notch—100%!
Maybe in my next article, I’ll compare this song with the one people accuse him of copying, so we can properly evaluate the differences.
Thanks for reading.
Video source: YouTube
Thumbnail: freepik