Portable: ‘Revolutionary’, Trouble & Nigerian Music’s Enfant Terrible
The modern-day Nigerian artiste has a lot of promise. He is in a much more decentralised industry, where labels still have power but have their control of fate and possibility greatly reduced. In a world of music streaming, artistes with great organisation, the right team and a good A&R are shifting ideals positively. If you have the resources and the right buttons, it's possible. Conversations surrounding the requirements to ‘blow’ as success is termed in the industry, are a lot more widespread, and the social media, the right ears and good talent look more as likely requirements toward making a difference.
Olamide may listen to hundreds of young artistes seeking a way out of the trenches with a sonorous voice and an appealing aura around them but he will only get to choose a few. Many have been invited to the island and their stories change from thereon. It may have taken a social media post with minimal engagements but an eye for quality hardly focuses on soft appeals. There are harder undercurrents that suggest substance. When the broth is made, numbers then become an utmost necessity. It's a tight competition and finding what works may seek digging deeper.
This method of ‘shining the eyes’ to take the finest upcoming artistes and turn them to wonders has seen Mavins and YBNL do great in the last few years. Their structures are impressive, and Mavins especially have a growth system that ensures any artiste the label signs enjoys considerable improvement. They have couped brilliant artistes, with good marketability and that's to their credit. But how does the street kid who loves music but isn't as socially appealing survive?
Under normal music business circumstances, what happens at Mavins and YBNL are valid expectations. But it's not music if sanity cuts across, and this leads to the establishment of artistes who carve a niche for themselves from the heavy, usually elitist competition. Examples like Small Doctor come to mind when you think of one. While he's under no spell to think he's globally reckoned, he has just enough support and a great fanbase on the street to attain credibility that makes him marketable. When you win on the street, most of the time, you win in the world. Small Doctor comes from a rich list of street artistes who have competed impressively in Nigeria. Ajegunle has always been the hub of national street pop. From Daddy Showkey to Marvelous Benjy, Terry G, African China etc, it has had its version of hot kids (men). To see one from Agege, one of Lagos’ buzzing centres, gave an idea of the expansion of the street’s rendition. Not only did it offer a glimpse to what's potentially possible, it also gave life to other artistes who were building from other ends.
The streets are chaotic. They're nothing like what you may want to witness everyday. Even those who made it there know it's not the ideal lifestyle. Chaos is a sport on the street and its actors never run from trouble. They're slaves to problems. This explains why some artistes come from such places and move up to saner places to have a shot at peace. But the love is truly at home, and it is genuine in every form. The success enjoyed by Small Doctor and others who came before him is pivotal to the opportunities enjoyed by artistes like Portable now. However, “Omo Olalomi” as he prides himself is a world of difference. His love for chaos is class apart.
When he came with Zazoo and the song made massive airplay, he openly described himself as “Wahala”. To many Nigerian music lovers, Portable is indeed a problem and he has proven it many times.
Sporting a hairstyle that's as funny as pointing of his controversial ways, Habeeb Okikiola a.k.a Portable is far from your regular guy. To the most extreme, his approach flexes with the cliffhanger. His controversial video clips suggest his nature. He has a whole room of memes to himself from his catalogue of contentions. He's loud, different and is as entertaining as troubling. He's not distant from making headlines for the wrong reasons but also offers a part to an industry many artistes are not courageous enough to reveal. He is carving a niche for himself, in a manner many won't dare. Portable is nonconforming and looks as one never to accept being cheated by anyone. The way and manner he does this, however makes him an easy target. For those who have keenly observed artistes who have towed his path in the past, the prognosis is worrisome.
His fame is as fortuitous as planned. Coming from an area where real-time national prominence will always be a privilege, he understands his roots and knows many like him will get ripped apart if chaos isn't sometimes expressed. He has seen it and has experienced it too. Beneath the trouble and dangerous insouciance that comes with his personality, lies innate wisdom and an understanding of the limiting politics of Nigeria’s music industry.
In an interview with foremost music writer, Joey Akan, Don Jazzy, CEO of Mavins Records and arguably Nigeria’s most respected label boss said he uses Portable as example of how to stay afloat for his artistes. He knows how to stay in the eyes of the people, a claim the artiste himself confirmed in a a recent interview with Quincy Jonez on Echo Room. Sometimes, his actions may be seen as showmanship expressed in a borderline manner, but Portable’s style, however extreme has courted attention from far and near. Who is this guy? has become a regular question. He's the toast of the front pages and he has a level of talent to keep pushing his style and motive. How far that vehicle can move is a question of the patience of his listeners and his own strategy.
The path he's treading leaves his identity as iconoclastic, hardly revered yet frank. He's in our faces and I bet we have no choice about seeing him. Should his nature power him to the summit of his own projections, then his style must be studied and refined. His approach is as revolutionary as incendiary and that comes with its critical appraisal. Hopefully, it works for as long as he pushes but when trouble dines daily with a man, not much can be assured about what's to come.
Open clashes with show promoters, fellow artistes, and claims to ownership and foundations of society’s most divisive concepts do not keep a man out of trouble. He revealed his management has changed and he's better at dealing with his career but his image, first thought as battered has become a bruise to many upcoming artistes who think of themselves as refined and deserving of a brighter glory. Unfortunately, fate works differently.
There are many desirous of his kind of fame but are never willing to tow the dangerous paths he has. At some point, wisdom will be very profitable for Portable but if being the terrifying child works for him, there has to be a way to keep him out of harm’s way. Someone has to help him protect himself.