Skelewu palaver paves way for bett er music videos

[Mirror]

It seems that the hullabaloo that ensued from the Skelewu video mess has turned out to be positive for the music industry.

Since the Nigerian music sector has been seen to be on a rise in recent years, and Nigerian music videos have been said to have advanced greatly consequently, it was therefore understandable that uproar greeted the poor effort that was the initial Skelewu video because people were eagerly expecting it and when it came, and it was disappointing, they vented their rage in frustration.

At this point, it is pertinent to note that Skelewu's first official video is not the first video that will disappoint Nigerians but it is the first that people were really able to let their true feelings about it be known, and this is because of the increasing access people have to the internet where they can let their opinions be known without censorship, editing or caring whose ox is gored.

One of the trends of the industry all along has been that songs that became very popular without videos mostly always ended up having disappointing videos. 9ice's Gongo Aso and Street Credibility as well as DJ Zeez's O4kasibe are good examples.

Their videos, when they were eventually shot and released, did not meet up with the precedents the songs had set, and so they didn't last long on the airwaves and didn't get too much bashing either as the media didn't help fans air their opinions.

But the brouhaha and controversy that ensued from Skelewu's video(s) have made all those involved in the music video sector realise that they have to sit up, and they have indeed done so as the music videos being released now are quite good indeed. One of the frustrating things about videos is that you watch a damn good video and then you watch a trashy video and then you discover that they were both directed by the same person and then you'll start wondering how on earth it was that the director who did the extremely good video was the one who also did the totally trashy one.

And that is Sesan for you. Sesan is right in the thick of the Skelewu video mess and the Nigerian music video sector. He has directed many videos for D'Banj. He it was who directed Skelewu's first official video that was so vilified that its singer, Davido, had to go and shoot another one with Mr Moe Musa in order to appease Skelewu fans. Now, Sesan has a latest video on air that will help a lot to redeem the glory he lost over Skelewu.

The video will also aid Iyanya a lot in his quest to maintain his Kukere glory. The video in question is of Iyanya's latest song, Le Kwa Ukwu, and it is being critically acclaimed for its plot and cinematography and is winning more fans by the day ... unlike his Skelewu video. Another video that has come after Skelewu, and has a plot that matches its song's lyrics is Niyola's Toh Bad.

Directed by Kemi Adetiba, and released last Monday, Toh Bad is a video that will challenge other directors to come up with something as good as it in terms of locations, props, costumes, cinematography and most importantly, its plot.

The golden girl, Tiwa Savage, maybe on account of being managed excellently by Tunji 'TJ Billz' Balogun, hardly puts a foot wrong, and she didn't do so again with her latest video, Eminado, which was released last week Monday. Eminado is a very popular song that her fans have been waiting for its video. And the video's coming coming can't be categorised as a disappointment, even though its lyrical interpretation wasn't its director, Clarence Peters' focus. He shot it as just a fun video and people are really having fun watching it.

Yet another fun video by Clarence Peters that has just been released is Burna Boy's Yawa Dey. Like P-Square's Personally and Tiwa Savage's Eminado shot by him, Yawa Dey is also not about really interpreting the song's message, but getting across visuals that will entertain people, albeit in a sensible manner, and Yawa Dey, Eminado and Personally videos do just that.

[Folami David]

I don't like his kind of music cos it is always lyricless. But i believe that is who he is so i can't change him!

[Glory Skales Charity]

Nigerians should stop focusing on videos and shift attention to the music itself. So many useless music this day

[Nifemi Donald]

The Skelewu is just a dry song as far as i'm concerned. Our music can be better trust me.