I'm surprised at how people are translating this. "Baba" is not a jab at Obasanjo. Rather it is a jab at the leaders of Naija and the state of the country. It calls out the leaders of Naija for failing to do their job. And it speaks back to them when they try to silence his criticism: "I call you jagajaga and you curse me". "Baba" is reminiscent of "Naija my country". The message is that he loves Nigeria but why oh why are things still the same 10 years later.
I applaud Eedris for what he does. He serves as a voice for the streets and you don't have a lot of that anymore. Asa, Nneka, Sound Sultan and MI still do that but Eedris can relate to the people. He has tackled corruption and failing the people (Jajajaja), leaving Nigeria for "better shores" (Come Back Home), and sexual harassment (Mr. Lecturer). The four dabble in societal issues and I must applaud Omawumi for addressing sexual harassment (Na Who I Go Ask). He does not make club bangers, his songs have depth and meaning to them. His songs have a societal message and he's passionate about that. PSquare and DBanj make club bangers and they do that well. I like all 3 but there is music and there's music. DBanj is doing well for himself and so is PSquare but I won't say they are opening any doors. The doors were already opened by Fela, Trybesmen, Eedris and several other whose names I can't remember for the life of me.
Eedris is angry the same way Nigerians are angry, and I think he has a healthy avenue for his anger and his frustrations, and his music does that beautifully. Eedris is talking about what he had to go through and it was rough. Based on the part about 50-cent, he had to endure the same thing many Nigerians endure abroad, but he endured that at home opposite a foreign artist. He, among other artists, paved the way for today's artists and he doesn't want the title of an "artiste" dragged in the mud. Eedris is talking about what all Nigerians talk about on the blogs and forums. This time he's targeting the artistes who should be for the people who are instead for the politicians, or so the people. Now Eedris is angry because according to him, DBanj is tarnishing the name of an artiste and he is rightly upset. He is also upset at the politicians who are not doing what they should be doing. This is what Sound Sultan used to do, except he did not talk about it, he only sang about it. These videos sound like a documentary but the way the clips are edited sans questions and background information doesn't help.
Eedris actually gives DBanj a very good piece of advice, "make your money wisely". He's not hating, he just wants them to be true to where they came from. A lot of people were upset and rightly so when the ad for Goodluck came out and when the subsidy protests happened earlier in the year. Artistes, especially those who claim to be students of Fela, have always been critical of government officials. So for DBanj to do an ad for Goodluck is contrary to what Fela would have done. I like DBanj but him claiming to be a student of Fela was a no-no. It's something else to be inspired by his music or use his beats but DBanj is no student of Fela. Folks lambasted a lot of artistes who did not speak out during the subsidy protests, and I remember the Sahara intervew (bless that woman's strength to endure his silliness) and that's what Eedris is doing here. Now I have one question as to when this interview was done and why it was uploaded a week ago. I think this interview was done around the time of the subsidy protest but why is it uploaded now?
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