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Nigeria: Where Has Jeremiah Gyang Been?
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Daily Trust (Abuja)
12 July 2008
Posted to the web 12 July 2008
Nasiru L. Abubakar
Jeremiah Gyang, the Jos, Plateau State born accomplished songwriter, arranger, percussionist, vocalist and producer, seems to have beaten a retreat from the Nigerian music scene. But as he informed Weekend Magazine in a recent interview, all these long months of absence are not without a purpose. The multi-talented artiste said: "Shortly after the release of my album Na Ba Ka! (Hausa for: I have given you), I experienced a lot of new, fast, and overwhelming things, so I needed a break so I could stay in focus."
Speaking further, Jerry, as he is called in some quarters, informed that he has figured that "there's a world out there that moves super fast, and I never knew that I was supposed to get paid for shows. Funny, right?" he said rather chuckling, adding that "Anyways, I met so many different people, and all of a sudden, my life was becoming more and more about celebrity. You know, about 'Jeremiah Gyang' instead of just Jeremiah, just me."
Does that mean all the successes recorded by the artiste through his works came as a surprise to him? Weekend Magazine put the question before Jerry and he said: "No. I believe that what I had before what you know, was success. Now, what you know (what became popular), is a fruit of success, just a function. Life is real. It's not a joke, whether we like it or not."
Gyang said the reason why his video is not being seen in a while is all part of the regrouping process. "I now know that team work is true success. I am now setting up a team for all that."
Will Gyang's new album see him towards gospel, as Na Ba Ka, or would it as be more secular? The artiste, again, waxed philosophical. "As I have said in the past and gotten so many people to hate me, it's going to be an expression of where I've been and where I'm going. You know, I'm neither religious nor political - musically that is."
Talking marriage, he said "Well, I'm still begging a lady fame stole me away from. If she ever forgives me, then I'll be calling you for that." He however did not say how soon or long his fans would have to wait.
Jeremiah who was born into a musically inclined family - his father who was an accomplished vocalist as well as an instrumentalist - and wrote his first song at the age of 7, learned how to play both the guitar and keyboard proficiently by the age of eleven, has produced songs for a number of Nigerian artistes just as he featured many other on his projects. Jerry is what you can call a musicians' musician.
Gyang plays all the key instruments proficiently (guitar bass and acoustic, piano, keyboard, drum, conga) this probably explains why his production skills are so deft.
But it is the quality, originality and hard work which Jeremiah put into his works that combine to make him an outstanding personality on the Nigerian entertainment scene. He joined Quest Media Studios in 2002, where he worked for two years as a songwriter and producer. It was while he was at Quest media that he embarked on his own album project in 2004. That result is the groundbreaking Na Ba Ka, an 11-track album that brilliantly fuses beats reminiscent of congo-kwaito rhythms with melodious Hausa laced R&B rhythms - a sound that has been dubbed by some as the Hausa Rock fusion.
Jeremiah calls his genre of music the 'newsbeat' i.e. the inspiration for his music is drawn from the North, East West and South of the Planet Earth. His production credits include Age Beeka, Modenine, Sergeant Plus, Princess Lola, Six Foot Plus, OD, Daguerros, Seun, Terry Tha Rapman, Rikeino, Naydo, Pherowshuz, Chi-chi, Bouqui, among a host of others.
The title track of the album and first single of the album- Na Ba Ka- has been described as the 'revolutionary' by the International Academy of Design and Technology Toronto, Canada in terms of its instrumentalisation, synchronisation and vocal arrangement. It is currently part of a Sound Technology Research being conducted by the Academy.
In terms of popularity, Na Ba Ka has been number 1 on every major chart in Nigeria from the MTN top ten to the Glo top three mobile chart. "It won't end" was also in the top ten charts in Israel in November 2005.
The album (some rendered in either Hausa or English or both) also includes hit tracks like Kasi Tala (the last day) - a track inspired by his Birom background, reminiscent of the Ipi Tombi group of South Africa, Wakar Najeriya (Nigeria's song), a song written specifically for the COJA African games held in Nigeria in 2003, Gimmie, Ban da kai (but for you), Im gonna be, African child and Gbedu among other tracks.
Jeremiah Gyang has received many awards and nominations in his eventful career. They include Best artiste in the Federal Capital Territory - Cool Fm and Hot Fm; Best gospel artiste 2005 -Abuja Artistes Awards; Best composed song 2005- Rise magazine; Man of the moment -True Love magazine December 2005; The Next Big Thing- VWorld (v mobile official magazine).
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Others are: Top ten rated album for 2005- City people/rise magazine; No.1 Northern act- City people; The Northern influence - Bubbles magazine (2006); Best producer- Countdown magazine; Best musician 2005- by the Young Achiever Awards (YAA); Album of the year - Hip hop World Awards; Song of the year - Hip hop World Awards; Producer of the year - Hip hop World Awards; Best New artist- Hip hop World Awards; Album of the year - Nigerian Music Awards 2006.
I wonder why this interview fails to mention that Jeremiah is under contract with Chocolate City music and that he is still been unable to settle with them thus his inability to move forward.
Secondly, the interview mentions nothing about Chocolate City role in making gyang who he is.I think as journalists ,we have a duty to tell the whoe story and not some parts of it.
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