OnoBello's Celebrity Focus 9Ice – We Still Expect That Grammy

Contrary to the normal reaction of sneering and snickering that greets individuals who speak of dreams seemingly too big to be possible, nobody doubted Abolore Akande aka 9Ice when he sang ‘…don’t doubt me I go bring home grammy…’ on his song – Street Crediblity which featured Tuface off his Gongo Aso album.

9ice sang that song in 2008 and his status in the Nigerian music industry at that time was such that his best of fans projected a maximum time limit of two to four (2-4) years for the feat to be achieved while even his harshest critics could only argue that it would take some time longer than that to achieve the feat, however, there was a general consensus from both camps that at the rate at which the Oyo State born artiste was going, the Grammy was a possibility.

The Gongo Aso album on which the song featured not only swept all awards within Nigeria, it clinched him international ones such as the MTV Base award and the MOBO awards. The Grammy was only a few more hits away it seemed.

  

Fast forward 2013 and its five years on from 9Ice’s record-breaking breakout year. Adigun Alapomeji is no longer (not at the moment at least) a contender for any awards within Nigeria, not to talk of international ones. Talk of a Grammy from him right now would sound like the rants of a disoriented fellow.

How did these happen, what led to this unwholesome transformation that has seen one of Nigeria’s most talented artists of all time become a somewhat forgotten hero?

Well, the reason is not far-fetched. Quite simply, 9Ice has not given us the standard and quality of music presented on the Gongo Aso album with his subsequent offerings since then. One might be tempted to say he raised the bar too high with his work on the album and while that might be true to an extent, mastering the trade of staying relevant in your chosen art is a skill every artiste who wants to be everlastingly successful must master. It is instructive to note that the likes of Tuface Idibia, D’banj and Psquare who where 9ice’s closest competitors at the peak of his dominance were already enjoying good success before him and have still remained relevant since then. Tuface has not and might not ever sing a song to ever scale the heights of African Queen but about a decade after that major hit, he still remains a force to be reckoned with in the industry.
D’Banj was at a recent interview asked if he had recovered from the success of his biggest song to date – Oliver Twist and he answered by saying that while he can never recover from the success of the song because it’s a classic, he has to move on from it, because there’s a quest to achieve more, likening the situation to a football match where a player wouldn’t say that because he scored three goals in a previous match, he can do without scoring in the previous match.

A few might point to the fact that 9ice has had to go through a lot since that album, from his marriage to and then separation from Toni Payne, to his falling out with a host of friends, colleagues and team mates, notable of whom are Ruggedman and ID Cabasa. However, to reach the top of the ladder, a lot of challenges, break ups and fallouts must occur and it is left to the individual to handle them and grow from them. Tuface broke out from the Plantashun Boiz and then from Kennis music, D’Banj separated from Don Jazzy, yet they remain relevant.

When The Going Was Good

9ice & Ruggedman	With Toni Payne	9ice & Cabasa performing

9ice seems to be giving revitalizing his career the best shot he can with the recent release of Ike Kan and Life Drama and while the impact this songs have on his career cannot be judged as yet, we wish him all the best with his career and pray – if only for the sake of enjoying beautifully-worded Yoruba-themed good music again – that he rises back to the heady heights 0f 2008/2009.