Rapper is right about being insulted, but his bitterness is petty

It’s a hard life being a former star or losing your relevance in the Nigerian music industry.

The system chews you up, spits you out and tramples on you. And then you wake up one, day, frustrated, disrespected and down. You look all around you, and there’s nothing you own. Your fans have jumped ship, your music is stale, you can’t find acceptance, the cheques have stopped coming, and the concerts have dried up.

At that point, it’s just you, your elevated but bruised ego, and the memories of how you used to be a champion and the people’s hero. These thoughts hit you hard, you feel like you are drowning, and when you turn on the TV, there are new kids on the block, owning what you used to have. Walking the roads you once ran on, and making the money that once belonged to you.

At that moment, nothing else matters, your brain, which has been peppered by a long abuse of alcohol and synthetic drugs, heats up, and then you scream “fuck it.”

From that moment, you begin to rant your heart out, and you make sure people listen.

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Eedris Abdulkareem has hit that all time low. And he is having his fuck it moment. A legend of sorts, the story of Eedris is one of Nigeria’s most regaling treasures. The rapper who dominated with the most iconic conscious single ‘Jaga jaga’, once fought off 50 Cent at the peak of his powers because he felt disrespected.

His discography is stacked with 6 albums, some of them, almost classics.

But the culture has moved away from him. The music industry shifts at every point in time, as competition becomes stiffer, and the law of natural selection favors the young. This pushes the older musicians away, and they leave the spotlight.

Eedris has left the spotlight. He is one of Nigeria’s forgotten hero, facing one of the most distracted Nigerian generation, who do not care for the gems of the past. And where he once sang jewels from his mouth, he is spitting insults and needless knowledge.He is attacking his children.

"We made it all happen so you all came back to make money, so show some motherf**king respect fools," Abdulkareem says, reminding us all of the hard work they put in, which created the industry of today, and paved the path for today’s artist to shine.

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Eedris Abdulkareem 

(360 Nobs )

People with doubts in their hearts will dismiss the man, but deep down he makes perfect sense. The industry has enjoyed a lot of eras, with different stars ruling them. And the struggle of each era, created a formula for future eras to run with and refine. Eedris and his counterparts fought for Nigerian music to break the influence of foreign content, and increase the penetration of local music.

If that didn’t happen, Davido and Wizkid will not be generating the amount of financial value that they have today. Someone hustled to achieve something. They are enjoying the  benefits.

And yes. Older artists are disrespected regularly by younger folks. They are disrespected privately, and it rarely makes the news. 2face Idibia stood Daddy Showkey up at a studio after agrreing to submit his vocals for a collaboration. Oritsefemi was once denied entry into Wizkid’s home. The list goes on.

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Eedris Abdulkareem

And that’s why Eedris is angry. The younger kids ruling the game are too wild. They lack manners, and would rather not be in business with their predecessors.

But Eedris of all people should know this. He has been in the game long enough to know that the culture is one of disrespect, beefs and disses. He has been cast away from the spotlight, just as he should, and everyone has moved on.

I wrote an article recently about how artist should diversify their cash during the prime, and utilize their earnings to live a fulfilled and happy life when they leave the spotlight. Did Eedris do that? I don’t think so. If he did, he wouldn’t really care.

The music industry does not cuddle you when you leave. It excommunicates you. And that’s what has happened to Eedris. He ought to take it on the chin, and walk away. Bitterness is too petty to be disguised as news.