The internet has snatched power from the mighty and handed it down to the ‘powerless’. Everyone today now has a voice, and this has created a system where anyone with a modicum of talent can stand up, cough into a mic, gather a huge following and in a couple of weeks attain the coveted “icon” tag.

That isn’t the worrisome part. This is.

The aforementioned ‘icon’, being backed by a questionable bunch of social media heavy weights, is given without recourse the most coveted title in music history; the individual is tagged a “Legend!”.

Never in the history of mankind has the word ‘Legend’ been abused as it is this generation. Internet fame, popularity and access to numbers has blurred the lines of success and excellence. So I drew up a well-researched list to help correct this worrisome trend and to put some other minds at ease.

What really makes one a legend?

Is it the number of his followers, the amount of awards credited to him, the duration of his career or eccentricity of his style?
Attaining the legend status takes more than just talent. One solid fact of attaining the legendary status is that you must be talented, or at least be ahead of the pack. But talent alone on its own has never made anybody a legend.

Ask shaydee.

Here are 3 distinct features (not in any way exhaustive) that marks one as a true legend, as far as music is concerned.

1. Distinct Style: Legends go the path less traveled and even when they go along familiar paths, they take the most unconventional routes, either in delivery, act, art or in expression. No one becomes a legend hiding behind the shadow of another. Naturally, legends are pacesetters, they are brave, daring and people with strong convictions. In cases where someone else has set the pace, legends go on to change and transform an existing genre eternally be it in delivery, style or expression. In so doing, they become the new goal or finishing point that all other upcoming acts desire.

2. Influence: To become a legend you must be bold, strong and unflinching in your message and voice. Legends are inspirational, they are points of inspiration to all, they hold a voice that shakes the world before and after them. They are real and authentic, real enough to become focal points and culture shapers. Most legends stand for a cause; they always raise their voices beyond music, to whatever it is they believe in unapologetically. From socially-conscious causes like racism, good governance, advocacy, self-image, equality, feminism or less strong opinions representing something their followers and fans stand for like sex, drugs, culture, travel etc.

3. Consistency: To become a legend, you must be consistent, prolific and unswerving in your style, your voice and what you stand for. Staying consistent emphasizes you and keeps you distinct among your counterparts. The duration of one’s consistency plays a role in marking him a legend. Legends are not built in one day. One of the marks of being a legend is unflinching influence crossing over generations, reaching both old and young by virtue of their consistency.

Being a legend may sometimes mean not being the most successful or the most loved, but it without a doubt leaves you with an indelible mark; a mark that has tainted everyone who has dared to walk this path.

It leaves you unforgettable.

Written by @tictacfoe for @Jive_ng

The internet has snatched power from the mighty and handed it down to the ‘powerless’. Everyone today now has a voice, and this has created a system where anyone with a modicum of talent can stand up, cough into a mic, gather a huge following and in a couple of weeks attain the coveted “icon” tag.

That isn’t the worrisome part. This is.

The aforementioned ‘icon’, being backed by a questionable bunch of social media heavy weights, is given without recourse the most coveted title in music history; the individual is tagged a “Legend!”.

Never in the history of mankind has the word ‘Legend’ been abused as it is this generation. Internet fame, popularity and access to numbers has blurred the lines of success and excellence. So I drew up a well-researched list to help correct this worrisome trend and to put some other minds at ease.

What really makes one a legend?

Is it the number of his followers, the amount of awards credited to him, the duration of his career or eccentricity of his style?
Attaining the legend status takes more than just talent. One solid fact of attaining the legendary status is that you must be talented, or at least be ahead of the pack. But talent alone on its own has never made anybody a legend.

Ask shaydee.

Here are 3 distinct features (not in any way exhaustive) that marks one as a true legend, as far as music is concerned.

1. Distinct Style: Legends go the path less traveled and even when they go along familiar paths, they take the most unconventional routes, either in delivery, act, art or in expression. No one becomes a legend hiding behind the shadow of another. Naturally, legends are pacesetters, they are brave, daring and people with strong convictions. In cases where someone else has set the pace, legends go on to change and transform an existing genre eternally be it in delivery, style or expression. In so doing, they become the new goal or finishing point that all other upcoming acts desire.

2. Influence: To become a legend you must be bold, strong and unflinching in your message and voice. Legends are inspirational, they are points of inspiration to all, they hold a voice that shakes the world before and after them. They are real and authentic, real enough to become focal points and culture shapers. Most legends stand for a cause; they always raise their voices beyond music, to whatever it is they believe in unapologetically. From socially-conscious causes like racism, good governance, advocacy, self-image, equality, feminism or less strong opinions representing something their followers and fans stand for like sex, drugs, culture, travel etc.

3. Consistency: To become a legend, you must be consistent, prolific and unswerving in your style, your voice and what you stand for. Staying consistent emphasizes you and keeps you distinct among your counterparts. The duration of one’s consistency plays a role in marking him a legend. Legends are not built in one day. One of the marks of being a legend is unflinching influence crossing over generations, reaching both old and young by virtue of their consistency.

Being a legend may sometimes mean not being the most successful or the most loved, but it without a doubt leaves you with an indelible mark; a mark that has tainted everyone who has dared to walk this path.

It leaves you unforgettable.

Written by @tictacfoe for @Jive_ng

Roy Ayers once said, ‘the true beauty of music is that it connects people. It carries a message, and the musicians are the messengers.

According to research, music is a medium of healing.

A song has the innate ability to influence any mood. It can make you feel loved or fall in love, make you want to die or stay alive, make you want to take control of your life or just completely let loose.

What is Music Therapy? It’s the use of music to address certain emotional, social, and cognitive needs of individuals. It’s more like administering music as a tool to slip past the pain by gathering insight into the workings of someone else’s mind. However, I feel it my duty to tell you what this article isn’t. This article isn’t an endorsement of musicians as therapists, one has to be certified professionally to become one. This article simply highlights the importance of a meaningful song, one that heals and serves a purpose.

I have had cases where I was completely broken and music was my go-to succor. I have heard of cases where people remained alive simply because of the message a music artist passed across using his music.

The question yet remains, with the unrivaled success of the Nigerian music industry in the last decade, can any Nigerian song have a therapeutic effect on its listeners?

90% of Nigerian artistes make songs that will never outlive them. They make them to garner instant commercial appeal, doling out ‘meaningless’ lyrics to cater to an attention-deficit generation. Apart from the likes of Johnny Drille, Simi, Adekunle Gold, Ric Hassani and other undiscovered artistes exploring alternative sounds, the rest of the pack are simply recycling lyrics.

Something that sadly has come to be called art.

I have never found the need to listen to a Nigerian song when I’m sad and I bet the story must probably be the same for you. I look forward to a time when our artistes will use their songs to better the lives of their fans, especially in down times.
That’s probably a long shot though.

But till then, on a scale of 1-10, Nigerian songs in terms of therapy is more like a 2.
Even that, is probably a hype.

Written by @ruthdulac for @jive_ng. Do follow for us for more.

Okay, so the 60th Grammy award organizers went overboard when they conscripted IBM Watson to employ a unique digital fan experience that helps create real time emotional audience responses as well as live red carpet fashion analysis of celebrities.

A little too much, right?

Wrong.

After 60 years of hosting Music’s biggest award night, the least the Grammy Academy can do is to evolve the overall audience experience to something a little more intimate.

Now, coming home to our own home-made award shows, there’s a startling difference in the way the organizer(s) think a music award should be crafted; hence this article.

Here are 4 reasons why no Nigerian award can be as awesome as the Grammy is.

1. The Artistes are bigger than the system.

So they never show up for the awards. Come to think of it, why should they? The awards after all don’t have any value whatsoever on how their songs do afterwards in the market. No spike in album sales or endorsement deal initiatives. Nothing.
The music award system just isn’t that powerful; at least not yet.
That’s why Wizkid could walk into the 2016 Headies award mid-way into the show and practically stop the proceedings.

2. The organizers have a day job.

Yes, they do and it must be something in the 9-5 variety, because of the apparent decline in the production of the award shows these days.
They are generally poorly managed.
Sound production is usually skewed, presenters ‘a little green’ and award recipients, a little misplaced.

3. The shows are usually done at the end of the year.

Dumb move.
Everybody and their mothers know that December is peak season for artistes in Nigeria. They are usually busy doing gigs!
Promoters are stumbling over themselves to create poorly-titled events that are as meaningless as they are unnecessary;
and they need artistes of every variety to make these events ‘pop’, hence the overbooked status of every artiste with a semblance of a career.
So putting your event in that same season is a reflection of how much thinking you have invested in the event itself.

That being said, awards in Nigeria are not altogether useless, they have something to offer, despite how elusive that something sometimes is.
*Drops Mic*

Written by @musicbyblaq for @jive_ng