[READ] : An open letter to Olamide: Baddo, have you heard of the point of equilibrium?

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 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 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