Nigerian music star, Banky W and Adesua Etomi had their traditional marriage ceremony over the weekend, and some Yoruba boys decided to remind the world that they are still the gods of agbada. Well, from the pictures, the event was glamorous. And I join the rest of the world to wish the couple the best in their union.
Because our celebrities decided to turn somebody's wedding to a fashion show, Ebuka and Masterkraft became the talking points of the event for their "outstanding" outfits. First of all, besides the fact that Ebuka and Masterkraft are celebrities, anything else hardly connects them. By what they do, these two live in different worlds. Ebuka is a lawyer, TV host, media and on-air personality, and compere. He hosted the last Big Brother Nigeria show is a receiver of multiple media awards. On the other hand, Masterkraft is a record producer, disc jockey, band director, pianist, and songwriter. He has produced hit songs like Phyno's "Ghetto Gospel" and has won many music awards.
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As a celebrity compere, Ebuka is meant to always strike the public with a sense of appeal. That is how he worms his way into the heart of event owners and organizers. That is how he stays relevant in his field. In his world, beauty is what excites the eyes so it's his job to sweat on fashion and styles. Nobody cares about how he does it; if he's starving to look good or he's borrowing the clothes. To stay ahead of the competition in his world, Ebuka knows that he must move from following trends to leading trends as far as fashion is concerned. Remember his wardrobe malfunction during BBN where he wore a very skinny trouser that got him showing the entire world the size of his 'thing'? That was him goofing in his art. That could have cost him his job. Of course, he got the bashing of his life.
Enter Masterkraft. In his world, fashion, style, class, etc, are all defined by rhythm. He sweats to create sounds. Nobody cares if gets that perfect rhythm while ejaculating or while defecating. Most music producers have studios in their house because they can get an inspiration anytime and they must get to work on the spur of the moment. They can be completely naked while working on a beat. Masterkraft belongs to a world where beauty is what excites the ears. For him, fashion is inventing a rhythm that can turn Phyno's blahs to a hit song. His mental, physical and every other energy are channelled into making good music. He's too focused on how he is going to light up an event with music that he has little or no time to worry about what he's wearing to the event. It's a natural pshyc.
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At the 2016 Global Entrepreneurship Summit in Silicon Valley, former president of the United States, Barack Obama shared the stage with Mark Zuckerberg. One was the most powerful president in the world and the other, probably, the most powerful techie in the world. These two men came from different worlds and where they came from defined their dressing. Obama dressed in his signature suit and tie, while Mark dressed in his usual t-shirt on jean and sneakers. The dressing did not make Mark inferior to Obama before the audience because the audience understood the psych behind their dressing. When he was asked the reason behind his signature dressing, Mark said, “I really want to clear my life so that I have to make as few decisions as possible about anything except how to best serve this community. I'm in this really lucky position where I get to wake up every day and help serve more than 1bn people, and I feel like I'm not doing my job if I spend any of my energy on things that are silly or frivolous about my life, so that way I can dedicate all of my energy towards just building the best products and services.”
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The key point in Mark's response is that he dedicates all his energy towards his job. Back to Ebuka and Masterkraft. Besides Banky W's wedding, Ebuka attends every other public event with a compere's state of mind. He is aware that he can get an impromptu invitation to compere an event he attended as a mere guest. He knows that he is his number one advertiser and seizes every opportunity to give himself the best advert he can get. The same goes to Masterkraft. As a disc jockey, he can get an impromptu invitation at the event, so the last thing on his mind will be latest agbada design or fashion in town. Nobody knows what he's been working on and how many hours he probably had spent in a studio working before coming to the wedding ceremony. Nobody has the slightest idea of what is going on in his head just because he's yet to find that perfect rhythm. Ebuka exerts his energy to please the eyes, but Masterkraft exerts his to please the ears. Style and fashion mean different things to them.
The truth is, this agbada saga is a perfect illustration of the sad reality about life. The society wants people to fit into a life they don't belong. Conformity is the only common language we understand. We bash people for not fitting into the life we want, and if they try to fit in but fail, we bash them again for failing. Many people are struggling in life because they are trying so hard to conform to the dictates of the society. Others have given up on their dreams because they were overwhelmed by pressure from the outside. This agbada ridicule may not really affect Masterkraft because he is way out of the danger zone. But imagine that this happened to an upcoming music producer; his self-esteem and confidence will be badly bruised, and he'll likely shift his focus from the thing that really matter to him. Ironically, the same Nigerians that almost conferred the title of Ezemuo I of Humility on Mark Zuckerberg for wearing t-shirt and jean to Nigeria, are now the ones bashing Masterkraft for not wearing an award-winning agbada to a wedding. This is the society we live in.
On lighter note, God bless that Igbo boy, Ebuka for rescuing Nigeria from the hands of those Yoruba demonds. If that defeat is too much for them to bear, let them go and compete with their Yoruba pepper.