In Nigerian music history, Flavour N’abania will forever be remembered for his great impact in making Igbo Highlife fusion popular. Do you know why?
It is popularly said that ‘variety is the spice of life’. One thing that surrounds Nigerian music is well enough varieties. Is it the genres; Afrobeats, Afro-pop, Afro-jazz, EDM, instrumentals, Gospel, Jazz, Fuji, and highlife e.t.c. It is also our variety of local languages been used by our favorite artists from different parts of the country. From the plateau of Jos to the streets of Lagos, or from the Sunny skies of Kano to the creeks of Yenegoa. The music cut across all tribes and individuals giving a common goal of pure and quality entertainment.
There is a question that creeps into my heart when some artistes release quality work of art, who will replace these acts after they are gone?
Such an act is, Chinedu Okoli better known as Flavour N’abania or Flavour.
Flavour is one of the raw musical talents in Nigeria and the African continent as a whole. His superpowers include singing, songwriting, composing and a multiplayer of musical instruments with the energetic and sexy performance that captivates the audience most especially the Ladies. He is one of the major pride of the Igbo community and made the language global through his music.
We all know he is heavily built on the Igbo cultural musical beauties. He kicked off his musical greatness from is the cultural background which is the Eastern region of Nigeria especially these states like Enugu, Anambra, Abia, and Ebonyi State. His musical foundation was live Igbo highlife which is a distinct form of Igbo night-life which was accompanied by bowls of Isi Ewu and cold bottles of beer.
Flavour’s music gives a reminisce of the earlier highlife musician like Oliver De Coque, Bright Chimeze, Sir Warrior, Celestine Ukwu, Oriental Brothers, Chief Osita Osadebe e.t.c. Flavour’s songs are like a modified and upgraded style of these legends. The guitar is one major instrument of the Igbo Music, let’s not forget the brass which was another key to this genre of music.
Let’s Talk Flavour’s Igbo Highlife Fusion Songs
One of Flavour’s major hit song ‘Ada Ada‘ which was a wedding entrance theme song in Nigeria that year happened to still be one of the best songs to date with memorable lyrics.
Let us analyze the song, brass and horns gave an exciting intro that birthed the sweet lyrics a woman would love to hear from her lover for the rest of her life. The cool original highlife beats that surround his voice till the outro of the song which ended with slow stroking sounds from the guitar. Igbo highlife music appreciates good and sweet life, nature can’t be appreciated without appreciating women especially “the complete African Woman“.
Flavour’s music is one of the creative work of art that appreciate African women. A total African Woman is an epitome of great beauty with noticeable hips and heavy behind (ass), shining melanine and creamy skin with juicy lips. Flavour’s music is one music in our generation that will appreciate women from every part of the continent using his Igbo and his sexy body to appeal to them.
Artiste of today will always print women as sex objects and not thank goodness for this creature, we could enjoy Flavour appreciating them in tracks like, “Nwa baby”, “Adamma”, “Kwarika”, “Shake”, “Sexy Rosey” and a whole lots more. Flavour makes Igbo language and the music romantic, he poetically and rhythmically makes songs sweet and pleasant to the ears of his audience, he preaches true pure African romance through his voice and his songs like “Oyi”, “Ololufe”, “Chinny baby”, “Gollibe” e.t.c.
The lyrics in his songs show that African men are truly romantic and romance is done best with our local languages and traditionally. Personally, the song “Virtuous woman” by Flavour is a great classic piece that every woman who loves herself should listen to. It is a song that appreciates the struggles, pain, selfless unending love of a true African woman. This song cut across every age grade of females on the surface of the earth. No matter the evil of the world, a woman would pray, care, protect, provide and still remain beautiful for her man.
Is Flavour N’abania a gospel artist?
Now let’s talk about one thing Flavour would never forget in his entire life as a human, giving thanks to the creator of the universe, which means he also does gospel genre after adopting the blind Liberian boy, Semah G. Wiefur. Semah’s effect brings the God factor of Flavour out to the world.
Flavour’s work would not be totally complete without giving many accolades to one of the creative music producers we have in Nigeria and Africa, Masterkraft. This producer has to be the only producer that interprets Flavour’s musical imagination with the wonderful melody to give major hits that the whole continent can vibe to.
Any track or song Flavour has been featured becomes a major hit from Nigga Raw, Solidstar, Omawumi, Tiwa Savage, Timaya, Tekno, Adekunle Gold, Fally Ipupa, Diamond Platnumz, and the list is endless. He brings this flow of melody into the soul with his appealing signature “OYORIMA!!!!” which in his own words means ‘Let’s Go’.
Does Flavour N’abania uses Jazz, or is he a Magician?
Flavour is the whole genre of music but he has a secret weapon. Not what you are thinking though!
Flavour has a secret weapon which is like a nuclear weapon, you can as well refer to it as a Jazz or Magic, that shakes any stage or concert venues he performs. The weapon is ‘His performance’. Flavour is a performer with sexy and energetic, and power-filled performance that sweeps his fans off their feet and his fans are majorly the Ladies, every country or continent he performs ladies loves him.
After all this hard work by this ‘Eastern Giant’, different questions drop in my mind and the greatest of them will be, WHO WILL REPLACE FLAVOUR N’ABANIA? or WHO IS READY TO TAKE THE SAME PATH THIS IGWE HAS CREATED?
Do we have? Is there any other proud eastern citizen of Igbo highlife fusion?
People will say we have Phyno, Zoro, Ụmụ Obiligbo, Tekno e.t.c but give it a deep thought, these are just rappers and lyricists, their genre is hip-hop, afro-pop not real or enhanced Igbo highlife. Should we also say Humblesmith, whose genre is not yet defined in the industry?
When the time to talk about the history of Nigerian musical content creation and distribution, the inclusion of Flavour N’abania may surprise many people, but only those who knew his impact in making Igbo Highlife Fusion popular will understand the decision.
Flavour has created his own genre and a new one that the world knows him for, the genre can be called “IGBO HIGHLIFE FUSION“, it contains RnB, pop, Gospel, classical, makossa and every genre you could infuse with the Igbo language.
Now a question which I believe will take another decade to answer is,
WHO IS CHALLENGING FLAVOUR N’ABANIA?
With this summation of mine, do you think Flavour N’abania deserves a spot in the Nigerian music hall of fame for his efforts in making Igbo Highlife fusion popular as we see it today?
IGBO KWEZENU!!!!!!!!
Leave a Reply