For his on-stage flamboyance, Bright Chimezie was nicknamed “the Duke of African Music.”
Before modern Nigerian music went mainstream globally, Nigerian artists had always been innovative and experimental when it came to creating music, whether it’s inventing new genres or adding a unique spin to already existing ones. Segun Adewale pioneered Yo-Pop (a mix of funk, jazz, and reggae), Tunde King modernised Juju music, and Haruna Ishola brought Apala music into popular consciousness. While these men pulled their artistic weights in Western Nigeria, there was a unique sound that sprouted from the East in the 1980s which is, along with its originator, beyond remarkable.
Bright Chimezie was born on October 1, 1960 at Umuogba Ekeoba in Umuahia, the capital city of modern-day Abia State. He created a unique sub-genre of Nigerian highlife music known as Zigima: a blend of highlife and acoustics, with a poetic call-and-response style of vocal delivery. Beyond the rhythm and instrumentation, Zigima largely involves the use of humorous lyrics to address social issues, ranging from colonialism to economic exploitation and cultural identity. The name Zigima originates from “o zi gi ma”, an Igbo expression that means “the message that everyone should know”.
Chimezie’s interest in music began when, at the age of 10, he took on the role of a chorister and instrumentalist at his local church in Umuahia (which was then still part of Imo State). This love for music intensified during his secondary school days at Eke Oba Community Secondary School, Umuahia, where he enjoyed playing the music of George Benson, Bobby Benson, and Hot Chocolate. Shortly after completing secondary school in 1976, he joined the Modernised Odumodu Cultural Dance Group. The group, which specialised in storytelling through music, gained traction across Eastern Nigeria, until it was disbanded in 1979.
The Odumodu era didn’t last long, but Chimezie was by no means done with music. Taking a leap of faith, he left Umuahia for Lagos, where he played at several nightclubs, including Phoenician Night Club, Gondola Club and Tee Mac Connection at Mama Koko Hotel, Ebute-Metta, all the while working on music demos. He also had a stint at Nigerian Customs Authority, where he worked from 1980 to 1983, and played the role of lead vocalist in the organisation’s Customs and Excise Dance Band.
In 1984, Chimezie released his first album, Respect Africa, which was rolled out by the Rogers All Stars Recording Company. The record included songs like “Nne Oma”, “I’ve Got A Rhythm” and the hit single “Because of English”, in which he told the story of how he was punished by a secondary school teacher for speaking vernacular in class.
In 1989, Chimezie released the track “Oyibo Mentality”, a song which frowned at the portrayal of Satan as “black” and the demonisation of African traditional religion. In 1990, he released the track “African Style”, narrating his experience eating ogbono soup on a visit to Europe, which featured the memorable lyrics “in the year 1974, I travel to oyibo man country, ala bekee, obodo onye ocha” and “police, he’s committing suicide/the black man wey dey here, he’s committing suicide.”
In the 1990s, Chimezie shuttled frequently between Umuahia, Lagos and Abuja, trying to balance his music with his responsibilities as a family man. In 2003, he fully relocated to Umuahia to fully focus on his wife (Chinyere Oyidiriya Chimezie) and five children (Kelechi, Chukwuemeka, Chukwudi, Chinemeze and Chidinma). In a 2010 interview with Nigeria’s Vanguard Newspaper, he revealed why he left the mainstream music scene.
“By 2003, my kids were about to enter secondary school and if I had allowed them to start here (in Lagos), they would have taken up here as their first home,” said Chimezie. “I sell the African culture and tradition all over the world as an ambassador. So. I had to leave back to the East to groom my family.”
For his on-stage flamboyance, Bright Chimezie was nicknamed “the Duke of African Music”. His entire persona involved promoting African culture, partly influenced by the writings of literary icons like Chinua Achebe, Cyprian Ekwensi, and Elechi Amadi. This reflected in his fashion choices, which usually included sleeveless Ankara tops, a traditional cap, and neck beads. His dance routines also involved frequent acrobatic displays and rhythmic legwork. Before Zlatan Ibile and Poco Lee, there was Bright Chimezie.
Dami Ajayi, music critic and author of the poetry collection A Woman’s Body Is A Country, explains that Chimezie’s music is important to the culture.
“Bright (Chimezie) is philosophically sound”, says Ajayi, in a phone conversation with Netng. “He tweaked the highlife genre and created something different out of it. Generally, highlife is meant for revelry rather than social consciousness, but he was able to infuse poetic devices and humour, then carved a whole niche for himself, while at the same time promoting African ideology.”
Toni Kan, Nigerian author, columnist and public relations executive, believes that Chimezie was a trend-setter in more ways than one.
“When Bright Chimezie burst on the scene he was like a breath of fresh air”, says Kan, in a phone interview with Netng. “Highlife music was in the stranglehold of Osita Osadebe and Oliver De Coque and they were ‘elderly’. Their music was praise-singing and philosophical. Bright brought a new school flavour to it and he could dance. I believe it is not out of place to call him the precursor of modern-day acts like Flavour, Humblesmith, Ruffcoin and others.”
Chuks Nwanne, editor of The Guardian Newspapers on Saturday, explains in an interview with Netng that Bright Chimezie’s reverence for tradition reflects in his music.
“Beyond melody, his music is full of commentaries about life; he was more like a messenger. He used to be a fine dancer: he had his unique dance routine, which stood him out. He tries to do that these days, but obviously, old age is catching up with him. He believed strongly in African tradition, which he greatly promoted through his music. (The song) ‘African Style’ vividly captures Chimezie’s love for African culture.”
Nwanne adds: “He earned his nickname, ‘Okoro Junior’, from reactions to his Afrocentric style. He once attended a disco party, and asked the DJ to play him African music. From then on, everything he did on stage earned an exclamation in the lines of ‘ah, Okoro man.’ They meant it to be derogatory, but he liked it, and soon enough he adopted it as a moniker.”
Chimezie still performs today, showing up from time to time at small venues and events across Nigeria. On June 2, 2018, he appeared at the Hi-Life Fest in Enugu, an event sponsored by Life Lager Beer. In September 2018, he performed alongside Johnny Drille and Omawumi at the September 2018 edition of Afropolitan Vibes, which was held at Muri Okunola Park, Lagos. In February 2020, he appeared on the Boss FM 95.5 Show at Sheraton Hotel, Abuja. On March 21, 2021, he performed with his Ziggima band at the Macdon Classic Bar, Onitsha in Anambra State.
His music may not dominate the airwaves these days, but Bright Chimezie’s contribution to Nigerian music and culture is worthy of commendation. Whether he plans to incorporate today’s beats into his sound is anyone’s guess, but the Zigima movement lives on, and even if he chooses not to produce records anymore, his originality makes him worthy of being considered as one of Africa’s greats.