EVIL MEN (Part 2) | Featured Artiste: Marie

After Part 1, shebi na Part 2 remain? Don't worry.  Unlike Nollywood, there's no Part 3 or 4 to this saga (sheepish smile).  Just in case you didn't read Part 1, here it is.

Another point the movie, Evil Men, raised was Education, which is of course what I was interested in for reasons I shouldn't have to spell out.  Specifically, the question was whether or not to allow a dead man's sons go and learn a trade (i.e. become apprentices) OR send them to school.  [Side Note: If use the term 'Freedom' to refer to an apprentice finally completing his apprenticeship and gearing up to be his own oga, then what do we call an Alsatian dog breaking loose from its job of guarding a house to 'manage' its own 'business?' Strike out the possibility of a rabies infection.  Freedom too, or Rebellion? Okay, back to Planet Earth.  #OffOnATangent].

[Image Source]
The evil protagonist (antagonist?) wanted to the boys to learn a trade, citing financial reasons for not allowing them to further their education.  Of course, that was a lie, but it begs the question:  Quality of education aside, isn't it better to send kids to school rather than let them learn a trade, at least up to secondary school level? Or is money really a factor in keeping kids out of school? Of course money IS a factor, but .... Read on ...

Another issue raised was this: Building hospitals in rural areas.  One of the characters said something that I can't forget.  He said that it is not that people have not tried to build hospitals or improve their villages, but those who have tried have either: (A) Been killed, or (B) Almost died.  Of course, most people would not want to die just to improve their village or community.  I can't say that I blame them.  How much progress can you really make without the government's input?

Understandably, this man's words point to a part of Nigeria's dilemma, i.e. some of those who have tried to help develop their communities have been eliminated using diabolical and physical means alike.  Others have survived to tell the story and have decided never to venture on such a mission again.  Why do people do such rubbish? I mean, the development of the community is for THEIR benefit, so why are you destroying your 'benefactors' or helpers?  If I keep asking why, we'll be here till your grandchildren sprout their wisdom teeth (Picture it.  Throw your head back.  Laugh. Think of how old you will be.  Laugh Again.  Maybe Not.)

What this tells me is that there are good, kind-hearted Nigerians who genuinely want to see progress and development start in their own local communities.  By local communities, I am not even thinking of the metro areas like Lagos. I was thinking along the lines of rural areas, a.k.a. towns and villages (What's the difference anyway? One is more rural than the other, I suppose).  These forward-thinking individuals had the good intentions of giving back and helping to rebuild Nigeria in their own little way, but faced discouragement in one way or the other.  Can you blame them for giving up?  I mean, who wants to die when he is using his hard-earned money or funding from other interested parties and/organizations to build a hospital or school or similar infrastructures in their local community?  I don't know about you but I am more useful to Nigeria alive than dead.  *soundtrack starts playing, followed by 'To God be the glory'*

THE END

... Well, not really ... There's still some music to review :D

Featured Artiste: Marie

Marie's song "Iwo Ni" off her "Supernatural" album is featured here today.

Marie / FaceBook
Stevie Harlems raps on this track as well.  Marie actually has a music video for this single which I found on one of my YouTube visits.  Please watch and/or listen to "Iwo Ni" below:



THE REVIEW

Likes:  I like the general flow of the song.  It just works.  I have no complaints about the beats because they enhanced the song and did not weigh it down or detract from the vocals.  The songwriting for the verses (the parts Marie sings as solos) was simple and jelled with the general flow of the song.  Repeating 'Iwo ni mo feran' kept hitting the thrust of the message home, which is good because that's the part of the song that you'll most likely remember.  Marie's own adlibs which were more pronounced towards the end of the song were sweet but were a bit drowned out by the background vocals.  Thankfully, she pronounces the words of the lyrics well so I had no trouble figuring out what she was saying.  That's always a plus :-) The male voices in the background doing the whole 'gangster' thing (Repeating 'Eh, Eh!') were fine only because they were muted, relegated to the background and used sparingly.  They were not terribly distracting.

Dislikes:  The rap actually slowed the song down.  Why? The tempo of the rap was not the same as the tempo of the song.  The background vocals could have been blended a LOT better and the adlibs by the background vocals sounded a bit like they were screeching in some parts.  The soprano part basically needs to be toned down and the other parts increased a bit more to make it sound more balanced.   Possibly because she's singing soprano for the most part, she sounded like she was going off key in a few parts, but she was able to recover and get back on track.

Here's some more information on Marie:

Artiste's Stage Name: Marie

Artiste's Real Name: #IDontKnow

Connect with Marie:  FaceBook 

Featured Album / Song: Supernatural / Iwo Ni

Happy Ash Wednesday y'all.  Before you know it, Easter will be here.  Enjoy the rest of your week :-)

I was thinking on my be last nite... Why are some people just wicked for no reason? I still dont have an answer to that.

The truth is that for Nigeria and some other villages to develop, some people just have to die cos they have decided that as long as they are alive, there will be no emancipation.

Relentless ,hilarious post as usual, you know what they say about the black man having a black heart, maybe it is true, because i honestly dont  understand the way we do things

My dear you are very right. Good people are not encouraged in anyway to do the good they will. Education/Literacy level is one big factor cuz people hate change and it will only take people on the same level to first understand and probably accept the change/progress. Still within the sphere of evil men, the level of education of 'the ones' bombing around (for lack of a better name) is a pointer to that fact. But then again too much education can be another wahala (But it's preferrable jare).

Ah, the Nigerian factor. Personally, I think it's usually greed/selfish interest. Leme explain what i mean. Say, hypothetically, i have a well and people pay me to fetch water from my well. This means my well is my major source of income. If i hear somebody is offering to make water available to everyone thru several boreholes in my community, i'll plan to have them scared off, maimed or even killed because he/she's gona cut off my means of livelihood (which is myopic cos i can make money in another way but i'm used to the easy money and i don't want the change that's bound t happen). You get. This is a major problem with Nigeria. Check NNPC/PHCN bla bla issues that we have. I absolutely agree with Jemima on the blackman/black heart thing. Until we understand that it is not everyman for himself, Nigeria can not move forward. Sorry for d epistle jere

Atilola:  I am still wondering too and I still don't have an answer to that either.  The heart of man is desperately wicked, like the Bible says.  At the end of the day when you hear their justification for their wickedness, their excuses can be so lame that you wonder, "So you took someone's life just because of that?"  That's why they are Evil Men.

You know this thing you said about some people having to die is so true.  It sounds harsh, but you're not the first person saying it.  Moreover, it is absolutely true, because such people have decided that it is over their dead bodies that "So-so-so-and-so" will progress.  So shall it be ... for them ....

Jemima:  Thanks a lot for the compliments.  Glad you got to laugh at my dry jokes :-)

Having a black heart is not the preserve of the black man.  I refuse to believe this simply because evil rears its ugly head in other races as well.  I do agree that we have to change the way we do things and that will start with the way we think.  But it is something that we CAN change.  

Michael:  I'm with you on this one o, i.e. too much education is preferable to illiteracy.  I am not sure you can be too educated sef.  Knowledge is good, but wisdom is even better. 

You zoomed in on a key point though and that is the fact that many of these 'haters' are illiterates (though people wey sabi book dey use juju too).  You would think that they would want to see change, but they resist it like it is something terrible.  This proverb comes to mind: What an elderly person can see sitting down, a young child can never see it even if he climbs to the top of a tree (I know I just ruined it by translating it sef).  In this case, it is those who have tasted the rewards of a good education that can appreciate why it is so important to 'spread the cheer.' 

*crosses legs and grabs a "bazia" of hot tea and sips it slowly*

Epistelize o jere! Sometimes you have to go into details to carry your points across.  I certainly don't mind ;-)

I really really like your hypo.  That's a different way of looking at this issue, and it leads to the same conclusion that Atilola had mentioned: Some people have to step out of the way for Nigeria to move forward because they have decided that their own lives alone will progress and the whole country will remain stagnant.  Or better still, to borrow your term, they are just "myopic."

But like I said to Jemima on the black man / black heart thing, I totally disagree.  We cannot afford to label our own race as being INNATELY evil.  That's already a stereotype that must be gotten rid of.  There are many dimensions to evil and this is just one example.  

True that! Knowledge is good but wisdom is better...sank in real good. God bless where it came from.

Jemima: This your boss sha. I get your point. But I cannot ascribe more wickedness or evil to my own people. It is a stereotype that has been perpetuated and just isn't true. We cannot say one group of people is more evil than another, or afford to make it a racial issue :-(

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