The Buckwyld n Breathless: Disruption concert, held at the Eko Hotel and Suites on Saturday, September 3, 2016, was epic. That last word is thrown around these days but it seems about right in this case: Several parts of the concert were of a large scale: the number of stars that performed, the number of songs on offer, the mammoth reputation of its two headliners, and finally its length. These were the good bits. But the show ended at 3am after starting three hours late—so that even the duration of delay was epic.
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When the show finally kicked off—after an introduction by Kenny Ogungbe, the 2baba Peace Awards and performances by several unknown artists excluding Ruby Gyang, Uzikwendu and Yung L – it mostly made up for those lost hours. This was mainly because of the hilarious showmanship of M.I Abaga.
The short black boy – who it must be said remains short and black but is now a man—appeared in a shiny black suit. As the event’s band played the James Bond theme, the man also known as Jude Abaga fought a group of balaklava-wearing criminals. He won each fight with the laziest of kicks and punches, and then launched into the eternally thrilling ‘Action Film’.
The crowd responded to the mock-fight with laughter. The crowd responded to the song with dance and video phones raised high.
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Reviewing MI 2 a few years ago, I had the thought that that album was Jude Abaga’s attempt at wooing the Nigerian audience, at letting them know that he could roll commercially and still keep it real. Last night, it was clear that the plan worked. Those words written so long ago by the rapper were sung back at him. At one point, he called upon a fan who was going with him word for word. Unfortunately, the fan couldn’t quite deliver what only minutes before came with ease.
Besides that fan, many other persons will share the stage with MI. Djinee came on for ‘Safe’. MI’s brother, Jesse Jagz, sang ‘Wetin Dey’, Ice Prince sang ‘Oleku’— with MI, all three sang ‘Nobody Test Me’. With Djinee, all four sang the remix to ‘Overkillin It’. Nosa joined in, performed the chorus on ‘Brother’ from MI’s The Chairman album, and sang his own ‘Pray for You’.
Amazing performance going down now at #BuckwyldNBreathless! @mi_abaga
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Ruggedman came on as did – surprise, surprise! – Kelly Hansome, whose entry was remarkable. He came just on as his name was mentioned in that infamous line on ‘Beef’:
‘Kelechukwu, clap for yourself, well done’.
READ: M.I Abaga delivers the best 1-hour performance of his career at Buckwyld ‘n’ Breathless
The crowd shouted its approval at the idea. Mr. Hansome then performed his own hit song ‘Maga Don Pay’. Waje also came on, did vocal pole-vaulting and told her audience ‘They don’t call me Waje for nothing.’ The crowd appreciated her vanity and clapped. She later joined MI for ‘One Naira’. Of course, the lovers in the crowd had probably paid anything from 5k for regular to 30k for VIP but together everyone sang ‘whether na one naira.’
The gate fee seemed about right though; the regular ticket was a bargain given the catalogue of both artists. A different concert, only days before, had pegged regular tickets to see a single artist at 20k. And yet, because MI’s part of the concert was so flawless give or take the odd microphone issue, two things must have occurred to the audience:
1. Considering how long the individual sets were, why wasn’t this an MI- or 2face-only show? MI in particular could have gone it alone.
2. How was 2Baba going to sustain the tempo given MI’s terrific stage management?
For the first, it seemed more like a business idea than an artistic one to bring both artists together. Perhaps the idea was to marry fans of both artists together for this one night.
For the second, the audience didn’t have to worry. 2Baba went the opposite way. Where MI’s performance appeared tightly scripted, 2Baba went with a structure so loose it seemed to surprise even his own band of instrumentalists. At one point, he went offstage only for Vector to take his place with a performance of ‘Shiga’. When he returned, 2Baba said something about being emotional and then joked that he had to pee. No one could tell if the joke was the truth or if the truth was the joke. It mostly didn’t matter. Nigeria loves 2baba. And 2baba loves his audience.
He jumped offstage and shook a number of fans even as guards surrounded him.
The most touching event of the evening came when 2Baba invited the son of the late OJB onstage. Together they performed the deceased producer’s ‘Searching’. It felt good to know that the young Ayokunle Okungbowa can sing. The music gift may yet remain in the family. 2Baba also sang with Tanzania’s Vanessa Mdee and Sound Sultan.
The Buckwyld n Breathless organizing team do deserve some applause: they succeeded in getting disciplined and ultra-talented dancers, the sound production was great and the backing band hardly made life-changing, concert-destroying errors. So much on offer smacked of professionalism. Besides the late start, Buckwyld n Breathless: The Disruption proceeded undisrupted. This is a minor miracle in Lagos.
One last note. The concert featured lots of elaborate setups—including a lap dance, a false talk show, and an action film montage. But all of these clever set pieces would have failed if the music was inadequate. That was not the case because over the course of their careers both MI Abaga and 2Baba have made very good music.
If anyone had forgotten this fact, the Buckwyld n Breathless concert was an excellent reminder. Someone else might say it was an epic reminder.
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