An open Letter to olamide from a Fan

I am a fan of yours and I have
followed your growth from the days with Id
Cabasa and the Coded Tunes crew, to your
days under Toni Payne's management. Parting
ways with her was quite risky but I felt it was a
move worth making as you needed a fully
dedicated management to grow your career.
That move paid off and you're now better off
for it. Pitching your tent with 1805
Entertainment, your immense talent and the
void left by Dagrin's demise meant only one
thing – A top spot for you! I am glad you fit in
perfectly. A bolder move to start YBNL Nation
and you going ahead to drop your second
album on the YBNL Nation/1805
Entertainment imprint was another risky move
that still paid off. At that point, I knew the "god
of music" was behind you. Though it wasn't so
surprising to see the street embrace the
album cos of it quality street wise content, the
rate at which the "butties" accepted you too
was alarming. People preached the YBNL
gospel and gladly talked about how good the
album was. Even my cool friend Barr. Fola
Alade became an advocate of "Razz being the
new Cool", no thanks to you. But while we
where enjoying Jale, Street Love, Jesu O kola,
Stupid Love, First of All, Ilefo Illuminati
amongst other beautiful songs, dear Olamide,
you unconsciously killed the album! Yes, you
unfortunately killed it by releasing too many
materials not so long after the album dropped
and you shifted our attention off the album.
To make matters worse, some of these songs
were not half as good as the songs on the
album and they also were not well promoted,
Confession, Tonto Dike, Baddest Nigga That
ever liveth, e.t.c. Needless to say that some
were also really good, cos some of us still
have Turn Up and Durosoke topping our
playlists. Baddo, have you heard of the point
of equilibrium? That's the point when the law
of diminishing return sets in. It happens to
everything and everyone. In simple terms, it's
the point where you get to the peak, have
nothing to extra to offer and the drop starts.
To some, the drop might not be deep while to
some, they would never rise to that point
again. Unfortunately, this happens a lot in the
music industry. While we agree that you are
HOT at this moment and the inspiration is
much, brother, please do not wear yourself
out. Ma le ara e ni ere. Truth is when you
saturate the market with too many materials,
we get tired easily, we don't pay full attention
to them and the songs end up not getting as
much love as they should. Keep recording,
keep saving them in the cloud and don't push
too many songs within a short period. Let the
fans yearn for more, let us savour the
goodness of some of what you already have.
On a final note, I love the way your personality
is gradually evolving 'cos building a brand of
yourself should be beyond your music. I
foresee a near future where corporate brands
that want to connect with the streets would
come to you, simply because you are the link
between the streets and the corporate world.
A celebrated grass to grace story. The true
voice of the streets. Oremade, a Lagos-based
marketing executive and entertainment
enthusiast, can be reached via seunoremade@
yahoo.com or on twitter @seunoremade