Review

Wizkid’s 'Ojuelegba' video is a lesson in nonchalance

Simply put, the new video by Nigeria's star artiste is not a representation of the song. If anything, it is a true representation of the Wizkid’s current mentality.

 

 

Wizkid finally dropped the video of his smashing ‘Ojuelegba’ song, and frankly I am at odds with the video. Simply put, the video is not a representation of the song. If anything, it is a true representation of the state of Wizkid’s mentality.

Wizkid released his Ayo album in September 2014, and he received mixed reviews. People expressed both joy and disappointment at the basic pop concept of the album, citing a lack of lyrical depth, But ‘Ojuelegba’ has taken everyone in and ultimately remained timeless has been touted as the saving grace of the Ayo album.

A music video is a videotaped performance of a recorded popular song, usually accompanied by dancing and visual images interpreting the lyrics. This should have held true for the Ojuelegba song.

Wizkid starts the video on a good note. There was a bus with a conductor calling out to passengers to board his vehicle to Ojuelgeba. Wizkid boards it and proceeds to go on a ride. Many would expect a drop at the popular Ojulegba ‘under bridge’ scene to make an appearance.  But no, only a B-roll, of some street signages such as the famous Ayilara and Itire road made the cut.

The video devolved (yes, devolved, and degenerated) into a joke. The Ojuelegba video ended at the 1:25 mins mark. The moment shooting left the street, the video went on a downward spiral in quality to a dark room with scenes that lack inspiration, or if inspired, were executed wrongly.

A cheap-looking studio would have done justice in interpreting the show. No. Not for Wizkid and creative team. An abstract scene with highlights that were an attempt to show symbolism failed in translating effort into effect.

Wizkid (and Clarence Peters ) threw in a dining scene at the 2:50 mins mark, which would have been great at a local restaurant or ‘Buka’, but in that room, it lacked spirit. That scene cued in another equally below-par one of him conveying wealth and success at another dining table.

Simply put, Wizkid lost a good chance here to make a classic visual to accompany a timeless song. One can argue that shooting a scene at the real Ojuelegba would have been quite an uphill task to manage, but with the right set-creation, you can have an ‘Ojuelegba’ created even in London. ‘Half Of A Yellow Sun’ with all its tricky and emotional scenes was shot in Cross Rivers state, Mavins’ ‘Adaobi’ video with its Eastern Nigerian flavour was shot in a village in Epe, Lagos State.

Funding is no excuse. A video is a reasonable investment for an artiste, and the funds for this wouldn’t be a huge inconvenience for Wizkid.

The main underlying reason for this isn’t incompetence, neither is it linked to the material resources or a dearth in creativity. It is simply nonchalance.  Wizkid’s head is at a place where he lacks the hunger to keep firing on. He has become complacent, and it is beginning to show.

Ojuelegba video is just the latest manifestation of that nonchanlance.