“When you’re the only sane
person, you look like the only
insane person” – Criss Jami
“Just because a person chooses
to express themselves in an
extreme way doesn’t mean
they have an extreme
personality” – Susane Colasanti
“The person who follows the
crowd will usually go no
further than the crowd. The
person who walks alone is
likely to find himself in places
no one has ever seen before” –
Albert Einstein

Etcetera– real names: Pascal
Uche Ejikeme. A musician, a
writer, a critic and whatever
terms you’d use to refer to a
person that doesn’t give a
single phuck. He is the
nightmare of a lot of
celebrities.
I actually got to know about
Etcetera, the musician
sometime in 2009 while going
through Bellanaija’s website. I
was so impressed when I
actually read that he was a
Soft Rock artiste signed to X3M
music group. Soft Rock in
Nigeria, I asked myself. That
would be splendid if it were to
be true. Being an unrepentant
lover of Rock and Metal (plus
other similar genres and sub-
genres), I proceeded to
download a couple of singles
he had released. Lord knows
the awesome emotions I felt
when I listened to Biafra (Land
of the Rising Sun). I felt like I
was born and lived in the land
of Biafra when I heard the
lyrics to the song as he struck
the strings of his guitar. I also
listened to Hello, Michelle and
This is Not a Song. Afterwards,
I kept tab on him to find out
when his debut album would
be released.
In 2010, I copped the album
Yes I Am. I’d be lying if I said
the album was simply good;
the album was awesome and
such tracks as Ghost Workers
Beside Ikoyi Cemetry were
overwhelming. His voice
reminded me of the much
younger version of Rod Stewart
or rather, Steven Tyler of
Aerosmith (on the track
Postcard ). The mix of
traditional drums and guitar
riffs in some of his songs were
breathtaking. Up till this
moment, whenever I embark
on a long trip, I include some
of the tracks on the list of
songs I’d play throughout the
journey. I guess I wasn’t the
only that took notice of this
guy because he was nominated
for Hip-Hop World 2009
Awards in the following
categories: Recording of the
Year, Best Vocal Performance
(Male) and Best RnB/Pop
Album.
Fast forward to some years
later and I didn’t hear any
other material from him. I
googled Steve Babaeko, who
was running (and still runs)
X3M Music and all I got was
that they had signed a new
artiste fresh from MTN Project
Fame West Africa– Praiz.
Where was Etcetera then?
Nobody seemed to know. OK!
I’d have to let that one slide
and keep listening to his songs
while hoping more Soft Rock
artistes would spring up in the
country and in Africa as a
whole.
In the year 2014, I came
across an article that was
published by several popular
blogs in the country.
Surprisingly, the article was
written by the one and only
Etcetera. He was no longer
Etcetera, the musician but
Etcetera, the writer, the critic,
and the no-giver-of-phucks.
Where had this guy been
hiding since, I thought to
myself?
In the article, he took time
to expose some ills in the
music industry and why it is
tough for budding artistes
(especially the ones doing the
unconventional type of music)
to succeed in Nigeria. In the
article, he also went hard (no
pun intended) on On-Air
Personalities, accusing them of
taking cash and other gifts
before giving new songs more
air play on the radio.
A lot of people took him
serious because they felt since
he had been in the music
industry, he was in a good
position to speak about the rot
in the industry. Others (the
ones that felt slighted) didn’t
waste any time in labeling him
an angry person. Others called
him a failed musician. But as
usual, he didn’t give a phuck.
Weeks passed and he still
churned out more revealing
articles. His victims weren’t
just musicians and OAP’s; he
also targeted politicians and
religious leaders. I guess he
also got himself a job as a
columnist on The Punch
newspapers.
In my opinion, I don’t think
we should only speak the truth
depending on whose ox is
gored. Rather, we should
always speak the truth at all
times. And that’s exactly what
Etcetera is doing. People
actually prefer the ones who
follow the crowd and in
Etcetera’s case, he is walking
on a lonely road which many
are scared of taking. He
decided to make Soft Rock
music when a lot of people
didn’t do such. Whether he
failed or not is an argument
for another day but he
succeeded in getting people
like me hooked on his style of
music and inspired through his
songs and meaningful lyrics.
He made me believe that our
country’s music industry would
witness diversification in terms
of music genre and not sticking
to the same club bangers and
shaking-ass songs.
But I also have an issue
with his style of writing. Most
times, he tends to generalize
and make hurried conclusions.
For example, accusing all OAPs
of taking bribes before playing
songs on the radio is not right.
I believe that there are still
honest OAPs with integrity in
the industry.
In conclusion, we need more
people like Etcetera that would
look one in the eyes and speak
the truth, no matter what the
consequences are. That’s the
spirit we need in this nation to
move forward. We don’t need
to be sweeping the truth under
the carpet anymore.

Hasta la vista!


culled from: www.feelgoodinconline.com/blogs/