God’s time is the best is a popular saying in this
part of the world; some are quick to invoke this
phrase when faced with life’s sometimes
unbearable disappointments. But not everybody’s
lifestyle depicts a firm believer in the phrase. As a
kind of shortcut to success, people tend to cut
corners to get what they want, no matter whose ox
is gored.
As humans, we expect things to happen
immediately we wish for it, in many cases, we have
had to settle for less, or more, only if one is wise
enough to decipher.
In 2008, when 9ice released his platinum album
‘Gongo Aso’, he featured some rappers in the 8th
track, titled ‘Bachelor’, apparently, only few people
are aware that our ‘case study’ rapper delivered
the first verse in that song, and ever since this
rapper has been trying every strategy he has in his
kitty, just to be heard, but every effort proved
abortive. Unsurprisingly, this particular episode
takes front row in every successful person’s life
stories.
Remilekun ‘Reminisce’ Safaru is a rapper that has
been around for so long, and fortunately, he is still
around to tell his story; he has had ups and downs
in the industry and now is the time to reap the fruit
of his labour.
Albeit, few might not concur with his style of
music, like the way he praises internet gangsters
(yahoo bois) in his songs, but that was an
experiment he tried, alas! And it worked. Ever
since, this guy has not looked back. It has been up
and up he goes!
Ostensibly, Reminisce is a patient guy, an essential
individual quality which majority of us lack; we
want to sow and reap on the same day, forgetting
that it takes lots of rain and sunshine, before a crop
matures for harvest. Perseverance is an important
habit one has to imbibe, especially in Nigeria.
Patience they say is a virtue (surulere).
Another vital lesson to learn from this rapper is
that, he never for once, incommoded himself about
the success of his contemporaries. His close pals
like Jahbless, 9ice and co, recorded hits upon hits,
while he languished in the background. Honestly,
that must have been a bitter pill to swallow, but
yet, he didn’t shake a bit or act in any way that
could make people impute him with envy.
Such experience would make a man chafe or
perhaps, give up on his career out rightly, but he
kept his guards and marched on. More so, younger
rappers came and got big breaks almost
immediately, but yet he was unfettered.
In actual fact, waiting for God’s time sometimes,
requires some intelligent observation of oneself,
more like self awareness. Questions like “am I
doing the right thing?” or “am I not as good as I
think?” should constantly reverberate in one’s
mind, there has to be a form of self assessment to
get the true picture.
Actually, Reminisce started as a rapper who flowed
well in English language but no one cared to listen
to him, except for hip hop heads like this writer,
who can identify a diamond in the dug. Luckily, he
must have assessed himself intelligently and
decided to toe the hard path of tweaking his style a
bit in order to blend with the trend, and then
returned with the monster hit ‘kako bi chicken’.
Judging from the first line of the track, “oh you
rappers… I’ve moved on to greater things; I’ll be
back in a jiffy” He was obviously stating that he
was changing course. Unfortunately, Reminisce
has reneged on his promise by not going back in a
jiffy; he is really comfortable at the top.
Fortunately, he discovered his strong point and
worked on it judiciously. Many people often chase
the unachievable, while ignoring the strength and
opportunities within, just like in the book Acres of
Diamonds. By utilizing his emotional intelligence
and self awareness, Remi discovered he could
actually perform better in his mother tongue rather
than strain himself on the foreign language, he
sings and raps in Yoruba, and now, he is better for
it and he doesn’t hesitate to flaunt his versatility
and ability to switch flows in both languages.
A veteran rapper, who has defied several, advises,
to change style and re route his pattern of music in
order to achieve commercial success could tap
from this aforementioned idea, or what is the
essence of spending your life on a career that can’t
guarantee full financial returns. If it’s not making
money it is not making sense!
Not trying to over emphasize his artistry qualities
and humility, Reminisce appears to be a very good
team player, with the way he features artistes on
his track, he probably understands that two heads
are better, or is it the countless collabos he has had
with Olamide and those fuji-style singers who often
do the adlibs in his songs, this guy knows too well.
Indeed, Reminisce deserves the attention he is
getting from the crowd, though he might not be as
big as the A list artistes in Nigeria, but his story is
worth learning from. As he drops his sophomore
album on the 15th Nov, I pray to God to help him
‘fantasi’ the album. Goodluck man. Shot i ye
e!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



Culled from tooexclusive.com

Alaga ibile eyan Solomon Grundy