A lot of things have been said about Sound Sultan, and the summary of everything is, Sultan was a great guy. He was an amazing human being, inside and outside. He cared deeply about everyone and was genuine on many levels. He was funny, and he always made people feel good around him.
I remember when he called me on a video call, and I saw he was in the hospital. He was just showing me around. I couldn’t process, and I asked him like ten questions in five seconds. Like, “what’s going on?” I thought it was a video shoot. I thought it was a set. I was like, “Ah guy, what are you doing again?” Then he flipped the video and showed me his face. And when I saw him, I broke down.
But you see, the thing about him is that Sound Sultan was still living his life about others even up until the point of death. Even in the hospital bed, he would send me songs that he had written for his artiste or Angelica. He would send me songs and say, “please help me do this or help me do that.” I wasn’t finding it funny because, in my mind, I’m like, “guy, are you alright? You need to get well first.” But I then realized that this was actually the fuel that was fueling him and making him feel happy every day.
There’s no more sound sultan, you know. I tell myself that our industry vampire is dead. It’s really difficult, but I take solace in the fact that he lived a good life. He lived a very, very, very, very impactful life. I take solace in the fact that he was very exemplary. He has shown us that it is possible to live right, it’s possible to live well, it’s possible to be selfless, and it’s possible to be a good person.
We operate within an industry where everybody seems to have an opinion about the other person, but I have never heard Sultan say anything evil about anybody before. I have known him now, for well, maybe over ten years. Sometimes, when we’re in gatherings that lead to people bringing up conversations about somebody, he would just laugh. He would say, “Ẹ f’ilẹ, ẹ f’ilẹ, ẹ fiyẹn lẹ” (leave them, leave them, leave them be).
I think for everyone here, there’s so much to learn from this man. Sometimes we live our lives as though we have control over it. I was telling someone recently that we have conversations like “I will see you tomorrow.” We are so used to sleeping and waking up that we think he’s normal. And because of that, we are not aware. I feel like Sound Sultan was aware of his life every single day. He lived his life as though it was the last. Every single day, he lived it as though that was the last.
I am super grateful to have met him. I am super grateful to have seen him. You know my religion tells me that God came to earth in human form, and that was Jesus Christ. I didn’t meet Jesus Christ, I only read of him, and I still read of him. But Sultan, I can say very comfortably that Sultan was my own Jesus Christ.
Because I saw it, I felt it, and it was real on many levels. Sultan was everybody’s guy; the way he was my guy, he was everybody’s guy. There were people that I saw with Sultan that even I questioned him. I’m like, “Guy, what are you doing with this person?” He would say, “Ẹ f’ilẹ, ẹ f’ilẹ, ẹ filẹ jọ” (leave them, leave them, leave them be).
But it is what it is. I am grateful that Sound Sultan lives on because he has affected so many people, and I pray that his family will find comfort in the life that he lived. He was a good man, and he was a great guy. God rest his soul.