Lady Donli’s Millennials, music and mass appeal

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Of all the many events that usually color the Lagos weekends, the Enjoy Your Life (EYL) tour party, held inside the Patio court at Lekki, was the one that got my attention.

For an event that had been slated to start at 7pm, I got to the venue at about some minutes to nine pm having crossed from the Mainland through a frightful traffic of over three hours gridlock on this fateful Friday.

Standing at the parking lot waiting for my crew to unload our camera equipment, I watched as posh cars drive into the premises. I had expected men and women in their middle ages to alight from these very expensive cars, instead I saw Millennials in their 20s and early 30s bounce out of their beautiful cars dressed as if going for a morning jog or some beach picnic.

They had come to celebrate the evening with the artiste known simply as Lady Donli.

Fortunately, despite my late arrival at the program, I was to later discover to my relief, that even as at past nine this evening, the event was yet to kick off. It eventually commenced at about 9.50pm with a young Lady Feyisola Ogunbanjo announcing what the evening was going to be about.

Rather than have the artiste perform, it was going to be about the audience answering questions concerning the music career and character of the Lady Donli. I thought that was a cool way of actually getting the audience to know more about her. The mini auditorium was neatly but creatively roofed with rafters in Bamboo motifs, while its floor was all rug, lined at the edges exotically with chippings.

Then the evening began with the game of trivia. The audience was arranged in groups of six participants with a spokesperson representing each team in the quiz competition. He or she would answer the questions on behalf of the group. My team was group D and our rep made it to the final two but lost.
The evening ended with dance and interactions between the artiste and her friends, fans and among members of the audience who seized the evening to unwind and catch up with gist and events of the past week.

For me, I had come to learn some of the secrets of why the Nigerian music industry had gained the kind of global attention it had gotten and still getting till date. These very young men and women have formed the habits and skills to appreciate their own fellow Nigerians who are into the world of arts and entertainment. They now form administrative and appreciative wall of support to move their talents to any level.

Let us face it, the quality of lyrics of today’s music lacks the maturity and creativity the old school music had. Although, their beats and rhythm have taken their notes to notable levels of appeal which is getting the world to dance with us, as a country and as a people in the area of entertainment. 30 years back in the day, the kind of music we hear today would have found their patronage in the trash bin of impatient studio operators and talent hunts manager. But with the united fronts these children have come up with to support Nigerian musicians and the entertainment industry, in Nigeria, generally, they have woken up the sleeping giant that the country is to the entire world and restored her greatness, in this area.

I wish the politicians who are profiting off dividing and plunging the country into the pit of deepening poverty would borrow a leaf from what these Millennials are doing for the country with little or no support from the government.

So, the Nigerian music industry has asserted its originality and the force of its creativity has made it a dominant genre in global music.
I decided to have a chat with the major actors of the evening to go into their minds in order to find out the state of the industry and how they manage this art. What they told me is worth your attention.

Lady Donli… The name sounds at once like that of the wife of an Ambassador or some aristocrat. She said she sees herself as an Ambassador of all the things she represents. “You know… Peace, enjoyment, joy, pan Africanism, Nigeria…” she said. She said she hopes to represent some more as she grows older.

She may be 23, but Zainab, also known as Lady Donli, has mastered an art that she developed from a cross pollination of various influences.
She erupted into 2019 with her song titled Cash, the infectiously upbeat bop that some music buffs called song of the summer. Donli sums up the money-making gospel that drives her millennial audiences into a frenzy in “I’m addicted to cash.”

Born in Cleveland, Ohio, raised in Abuja and now living between London and Lagos, Donli moved to the UK fresh out of high school, and ended up studying law at the University of Surrey. It was here that she first heard Little Simz, an artist who, along with the likes of Aṣa and Erykah Badu, has played a pivotal role in her own musical journey.

The name Lady Donli was given to Zainab by her father. But her addiction to the theme of ‘cash’ is actually about the story of her life and how she came into the music business.

Zainab started putting out music in 2012, when she first moved to England, but wasn’t really making great music then. She was always writing poetry as a kid which she said her dad still treasures. That aspect of her art has always come to her quite naturally. Evolving her sound was a slower process.

Some of her African influences include the likes of Oumou Sangare. Lady Donli had always found the soundscape of African music very interesting. She never ceased to wonder “how we’re so similar and so different at the same time.” Said Lady Donli.

‘Addicted to Cash’ actually came from a really stressful place, according to the Law graduate. She had graduated from university, left her home in England and returned to Nigeria. She was staying at her dad’s house and travelling back and forth to Lagos, because that is where most of the music is. One weekend she decided not to go back to England. She began sleeping anywhere, in a studio, on a sofa.

“Me and my band were in the beginning stages, still getting used to each other. We were jamming, and I was like ‘guys I’m so frustrated, and I’m so broke!” She said.
So, she decided to make a song about money and the quest for having cash. The song came from a place of frustration, but it makes her happy to see people dancing to it.

Her passion for music started out as a form of self-expression, but the older she grew, the more it became about more than that. The new album, Enjoy Your Life, is about spreading the message of happiness and love “in the way that it should be, could be and about treating people better.” Said Lady Donli

This philosophy resonates in her lyrics and melodies, which she says is all about enjoyment. Zainab makes sure she surrounds herself with a certain kind of energy. “I don’t have too many friends, and I don’t go out that much. I surround myself with people who inspire me. Youthful experiences and love are my biggest catalysts at the moment.” She said.

In her musical orbit right now are friends which include Santi, who she said is her friend and one who inspires her in the way he creates his music and curates his content.
She is also falling in love with Ghanaian artists too such as La Même Gang. Lady Donli loves seeing African artists doing their own thing because they want to create. “The content they are putting out is wonderful, it’s so deliberate, bang on all the time.” Said the Queen of Cash.

The industry seems to have grouped her, Santi and Odunsi, together with this new wave of Nigerian artists going against the grain of the Nigerian music industry. She said the comparisons came at points where the Nigerian entertainment industry was experiencing paradigm shifts. This was because artistes, including herself and others, were putting music out on Soundcloud without relying on the conventional system. The industry is high on payola and this was a rebellion against that.

“I think being Nigerian is a vital part of my identity, it influenced the music I make and the ways in which I make my music, but it doesn’t define me.” She said.
The music she makes is not solely Nigerian, even though it comes from Nigeria. She is influenced by the sounds and places of the country, but she can go to Toronto and be influenced by the underground scene there or by the underground in the UK. Her identity as a Nigerian, she said helps her find balance, making her to understand herself better as an artist, because a lot of Donli’s biggest influences these days are Nigerian artists from back in the day and they are the foundations of the music she tries to create.

She went back to her hometown, in Abuja, to hear and study the instrumentation of the indigenes. She went to the church to listen to the choir and the way they sang, just so she could have a better understanding of the music in her area in order to show the world this is where she comes from. As she evolves, Donli believes her music is a lot about identity, and being able to show people that there is pride in identity.

For Zainab, moving away gave her the perspective to realize how important that was and her experience with an attendant at a little Rastafarian temple in Ottawa, validated that decision.
She was out in Ottawa talking to this attendant who said to her ‘you make music, this is a gift. There’s power in this gift, because you can spread so many messages and affect so many lives.’ That experience had a big impact on Lady Donli.
What began as a form of expression has become bigger than her and even though she said she has fulfilled her personal desire to express myself, she believes she can do that all the time when she sings around the house.

Uppermost on her mind now is the need to ask and task herself on how many people she can impact… How many people she can make feel better or gain some soul-lifting and liberating message through her music. “The picture keeps growing, as I’m growing too.” Said Lady Donli.

Mayowa Balogun is a 25-year-old Nigerian entrepreneur, born in Port Harcourt, lived in Zaria, Sagamu, and Lagos till he moved to the United States at the age of 16.
The Ekiti State-born music manager is Yoruba, but his mum is from Edo state. Currently, he manages three artistes including Lady Donli. The two other artistes he manages are Lasgidi, an Afrobeat singer and Rapper who lives in Dallas, Texas, Louis Olu, an R&B/ Soul Singer.

Mayowa said that the manager is like a parent to the artiste who must learn to take care of the needs of his artistes just as a parent must learn to manage the moods, sentiments, desires and needs of his children. As a manager, Mayowa said you must know virtually something about every part of the industry. “You must know something about production, distribution, the administrative and business side of the industry.

Most importantly, you must know how to play counselor to your artistes especially knowing how to cater to their emotional needs.” Said Mayowa.
He began his journey into the music management world as Blogger and music writer years back. He had cut his teeth as a Blogger on ‘not just ok.com’ which was a major online platform for music development in Nigeria and Africa.

“It was a massive website way back then. It was so massive artistes like Dbanj used to premiere their music on the site. It used to be really massive at the time but not as strong today.” Mayowa said.
For all these efforts, Mayowa said the manager makes his money through a 10-20% commission on every kobo or dime the artiste makes.

Back in the day, the mode of distributing music was through albums. Later, it transited to CDs and now the game has radically departed from what it used to be to streaming as explained by the vibrant music manager. “Streaming is the way to distribute your music today. You have apps like Sportify. Boomplay is very big in Nigeria now…” he said.

Another big time streamer that is coming back now, according to Mayowa, is one of the major telecoms firms in the country. “There is also Udu x. What is happening right now is that people are no longer buying CDs. You can spend $10 a month or N500 and you would have access to as many Nigerian music as you want. So, that is the way Nigerian artistes are making money now… by placing your music on streaming services.” Explained, the music manager.

But people are still buying the Compact Discs, though as memorabilia. In the past, Mayowa said, artiste could sell as many as one million CDs a week. Even though not as much as before, the young music manager maintained that CDs are still selling till date.

Mayowa’s paternal passion to protection of musicians stemmed from his lamentation over the experiences of great artistes such as Bobby Brown, Michael Jackson and their likes, who were doing all that hard work selling tens of millions in album sales and still ended up broke. He wondered what their managers were doing watching their artistes fall into poverty after all that multi-million-dollar success. His undying appetite to protect artistes against the vicissitudes of anti-prosperity factors and circumstances to successful artistes and indeed, anyone with talent, continues to draw his generosity and humanity to the needs of an industry, whose players are often vulnerable to the harsh environment of the Nigerian economy.

He has thus made his vision to ensure that his artistes are never poor all their lives and their children enjoy the sweat of their labour. “What is the point of making all that great music and sacrificing all that effort and energy to make people happy, only to end up poor and sad… So, I have made it my life’s mission to ensure that my artistes and their generations never know poverty for the rest of their day in this life…” Said Mayowa.

Feyisola Iniobong Ogunbanjo is a young, vibrant, multi skilled and multi-talented individual with strength and vigor who takes problems as challenges and who is a solution provider with the willingness to learn and unlearn and change opinions based on new information. She was the organizer and hostess of the evening.

A media executive and a brand manager among others, she began her music promotions way back her days as a Computer Science undergraduate at the age of 17 in American University of Nigeria (AUN) in Yola, Adamawa State.
“There were lots of curfew in town and so, we didn’t feel the impact as much as people in town because we were shielded from the madness of the terrorists…” Said Feyisola.

Her first artiste was Tiwa Savage. Her activities as the campus Public Relations and Promotions Officer earned her a promotion to become the Vice President of the Students’ Union.

For a young student staying in the campus of a University within the axis of the insurgency that has plagued and devastated the North East for over a decade, Feyisola said it could be scary sometimes. But the knowledge that the security given the University was strong enough to fortify the campus against the terrorism going on in town was reassuring enough for them.

The 25-year old has been in the business over ten years now, but she actually came into the field professionally in 2015.

Clearly, these Millennials all know what they are in for and they sure know how to generate and develop their path to the global stage where they have securely placed the fame and fortunes of an industry that greatly desires the hand of government to move their efforts towards bringing a nuclear prosperity to the players and ultimately the people of Nigeria.

In Brief…

T.H.E.M.E.S agenda and Lagos road infrastructure

The one in all cardinal programs of Babajide Sanwo-Olu’ s administration in Lagos State is the provision of world-class infrastructural amenities to help the growing inhabitants of the state and function as the improvement driver of a imaginative and prescient of being Africa’s mannequin metropolis, a worldwide financial and monetary hub which is a elementary ingredient for financial progress and improvement.

The dedication to infrastructural renewal, enlargement, upgrading and regeneration is borne out of the incontrovertible fact that it is a prerequisite to environment-friendly and built-in transportation, wellbeing, waste administration and training system. Thus, the strategic function of the Ministry of Works and Infrastructure to the total efficiency and supply of the main pillars of the improvement agenda of this administration tagged: THEMES.

This was why the first task, of the Governor to the State’s Adviser on Works and Infrastructure upon her assumption of responsibility, was to conduct an evaluation tour of some essential roads throughout the State. Engr. Aramide Adeyoye noticed first-hand the trauma Lagosians endure on many of the roads and reported her findings to the Governor who felt the pains of the people and directed that palliative measures to be carried out to alleviate the sufferings of the residents instantly.

Many who do not know what it takes to embark on road rehabilitation and wished all the roads in the State were motorable, were not happy with the administration, seeing the deplorable conditions of most of the roads. Conventional and social media were abuzz; however, the narrative is altering very quickly, now that proof of the authority’s resolve to tame the monster of unhealthy roads is changing rapidly and positively.

The on-going road repairs, which the State has tagged Zero Tolerance for Potholes Initiative amply attest to the decisive drive of the administration to make road infrastructure in the State top of its class anywhere in the country.

Driving along the streets of Lagos would reveal that roads had been rehabilitated in so many places connecting Mobolaji Bank-Anthony; Sheraton part (Ikeja Sure), Ogudu road, Herbert Macaulay Road, Ogunnusi road, Apapa road, LASU-Iba road, Iju Road, Ajah Badore road, Ridwan

Onifade/Ademoye road, Arida bus stop, Ikotun Oduduwa road, and TOS Benson (Ebute Roundabout inward storage). Others are Cele-Ijesha hyperlink bridge (Okota road), Ijesha Lawanson junction by Otun Oba bus stop and Ishaga road by LUTH, Ondo Road Ebute Metta. Rehabilitation work has additionally been finished at Agbado road (Lagos-Ogun Boundary to Ayinla Bus Cease), Ifako Ijaiye.

As a part of the Roads Restore Programme, Sanwo-Olu moved to work on Junction enhancement Scheme to resolve bottlenecks at essential junctions. 60 of such junctions have been recognized, and in the first section, upgrades have begun on four of them.

Not too long ago, the administration accomplished and commissioned 31 roads in Ojokoro Native Council Improvement Space, marking a watershed in Sanwo-Olu’s stride to carry the dividend of democracy to the good people of Lagos and most particularly the dwellers of Ojokoro LCDA, who are now the direct beneficiaries of the 20.216km community of roads challenge.

The Pen Cinema flyover is one other huge infrastructural challenge the Lagos State Government is eager to complete. As at Friday, January 3, 2020 when the Governor went on an inspection of the Lagos-Badagry Expressway and Pen Cinema Flyover, Agboju had been completed whereas with an assurance that Pen Cinema Bridge would be delivered in six months’ time.

The State can be seen doing rehabilitation/ upgrading of the six-kilometer section 1 of the 11-kilometre lengthy Ijede road and upgrading of Oniru Community roads under a Public Infrastructure Enhancements Partnership (PIIP) association.

It is now sure that the proposed 38Km Fourth Mainland bridge challenge which has been dominant on the to-do-list of the State strategic transport plan will quickly see the light of day. Following the Request for Expression of Curiosity (Request for EOI) issued on 27th November, 2019 and the public bid opening ceremony held on 18th December, 2019 at the Bagauda Kaltho Press Centre, no fewer than 39 development corporations throughout the globe expressed curiosity in the development of the Bridge.

32 corporations have subsequently crossed the first hurdle in the jostling for the development of the proposed bridge.
From the clarification of the Works Adviser, the proposed challenge includes road and bridges with a design pace of 120 kilometers per hour. It will begin at Abraham Adesanya in Ajah, on the Eti-Osa-Lekki-Epe axis and extend to the North West route in the direction of the lagoon shoreline of Lagos Ibadan Expressway by way of Owutu/Ishawo in Ikorodu.

Sanwo-Olu visits Lagos Island sites for urban regeneration

In line with the administration’s plan to embark on urban regeneration of identified communities in Lagos, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu early Saturday morning visited some locations in Lagos Island.
Accompanied by the Deputy Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Honorable Sanni Eshinlokun and some members of the State Executive Council including the State’s Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Dr. Idris Salako, the Governor went round the Onala playing ground; the demolished Jankara market; the Isale Gangan regeneration site; Adeniji Adele; Ebute Elefun and some areas around Idumagbo designated for redevelopment.
Sanwo-Olu restated his administration’s commitment to urban regeneration, saying that Lagos truly needs regeneration especially Lagos Island.

The Governor assured residents of the affected areas that his administration will ensure a complete renewal of the entire community, emphasizing on building of drainage channels, road upgrade and construction to ease vehicular movements of people and goods.

It will be recalled that Governor Sanwo-Olu, during electioneering spoke on the need for urban renewal especially in some communities in Lagos Island. The Governor also said sincerity is the major issue militating against urban redevelopment in the State.

He said: “When you want to take people’s properties and you want to regenerate, they must first see sincerity of purpose – what are the additional plans that you have for them before you could regenerate?”
He assured Lagosians that his administration will provide a stop gap for at least two to three years, adding that “you need to do what we call proper enumeration”

“Once you can enumerate properly and determine who the original owners of properties are, and you sit and have an agreement, then the regeneration will start.”

He also assured that his administration will work out a proper model before embarking on the project to ensure strong confidence.
“I have said, the major thing is sincerity of purpose knowing full well that you are not out to circumvent them or to short-change them.”

“Once that is put on the table very clearly and transparently, we will get a success of it.”

Speaking on the Governor’s visit, the Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Dr. Idris Salako said Lagos Island regeneration plan is an important focal point for urban renewal of the Babajide Sanwo-Olu administration, noting that it is the heart of Lagos; Isale Eko, which is a historical centre.
Salako said the Government has also considered its potentials for socio-economic and cultural revival, noting that the regeneration of Isale Eko will bring up its thriving arts and cultural vibes with local markets and commercial activities.

He said: ”Governor Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu in line with the THEMES agenda of making Lagos a 21st century economy will tap into this dynamism and turn the potential into real investment opportunities and growth, in order to reverse the decay, slums and lack of effective services through the revitalisation programme for Lagos Island.”

He stated further that as part of the regeneration programme, the Government will commence immediate re-planning of Jankara by preparing an action plan for the area.

”Work will also include infrastructure upgrade and resurfacing of the failed portion of the roads and de-silting of all drainage channels around the area and those around Adeniji Adele. The Onola playing field is also to be transformed to a befitting sporting centre that will help take the youths off the street and develop their potentials,” Salako stated.

19.39km road network in Ojo Local Government set for construction by LASG

Sequel to its promise to embark on road rehabilitation and construction, the Lagos State Government has commenced the process for construction of 19.39-kilometre road network to resolve the problem of flooding in Ijegun, Ijagemo and Ijedodo in Ojo Local Government.
The Special Adviser to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu on Works and Infrastructure, Engr. Aramide Adeyoye made the disclosure during a visit to the area in the company with the member of Lagos State House of Assembly representing Ojo Constituency 1, Mr. Olusegun Akande, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Works and Infrastructure, Engr. Olujimi Hotonou and his counterpart in the Office of Drainage Services, Engr. Lekan Shodeinde and a retinue of engineers to validate the design of the road.

Adeyoye observed that the topography of the area made it prone to flooding in addition to blockage of the channels as a result of construction of illegal structures.
Noting that the new design will address the issue of flooding, the Special Adviser stated that the project will be executed in phases with the construction of bridges to ensure the roads are above water level.
He maintained that upon completion, the road will bring relief to residents and change the socio-economic life in the vicinity, especially along Ijagemo and Ijedodo roads as well as the Lagos-Badagry Expressway.

Also speaking during the tour, Mr. Olusegun Akande urged community leaders and residents of the area to support the project by cooperating with the government in removing all encumbrances that might delay its completion

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