bankys story

And that’s the problem. Most of us probably met Banky W through his music.

Sometimes we reduce the man to just his music. But he's a lot more than sound and melody.

In 2007, after Rihanna’s ‘Umbrella’ successfully topped the charts, Banky W made the song his own back in Nigeria.

From ‘Umbrella’ came ‘Ebute-metta’ –rendered by Banky in the same Rihanna tempo and flourish.

‘From Ebute-metta..metta..metta…metta..eeeh.’

The nation took notice and so did I.

‘Ebute-metta’ was quickly downloaded into my phone.

It was during the era when flip phones were totally a thing.
Banky W play
Banky W (Twitter)

Banky W would go on to rule the airwaves after that, alongside several other pop and R ‘n’ B artistes of Nigerian descent.

His style was Craig David-like, complete with the sideburns-look of the UK artiste--for effect.

But I really didn’t ‘meet’ Banky W until much later.

This time, I met Mr. Wellington through his writing.

In 2009, then Chairman of the Editorial Board of the Guardian Newspaper, Reuben Abati, had written an article titled: “A Nation’s Identity Crisis’.

In the piece, Abati blamed Banky W and all the artistes of his generation for the nation’s loss of its identity.

Worse, Abati said Banky and his friends couldn’t sing.

He said all they knew how to do was rap. He scoffed at them for sagging. He derided the new generation artistes for being just businessmen without the rigour, intellectualism and finesse that goes into song composition.

He said they were prurient and empty.