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| Jah Device |
The
automated security door of Access Bank Plc, Bukuru, opened. I stepped in and
made straight to the counter. I took my position behind a line of waiting
customers. Suddenly a guy approached from behind. On his head was a huge mass
of dreadlocks, encased in a supple woolen cap that is typical of Rastas. I
knew, there and then, that I was standing next to Jay Town’s most visible
reggae star of all time. He is one who definitely has a concert odyssey, in
view of his verve.
Every
day I listen to local radio, I hear names of ambitious young men and women
hoping to make an impression in music. Many often fail to cross the river,
lacking the ability to swim in the tricky waters of music-making. I dismissed
Jah Device as one of those who would surely drown. He however proved me wrong.
I got to know that when I watched him perform on the Nigerian Television
Authority, NTA. He performed with an amazing vim, skangking and whipping the air with his huge ropes of hair. Since
then, he has continued to register his imminence in my heart and the
consciousness of all Nigerians.
I
told him I was his fan, he responded with a show of appreciation and rhymed
with me when I noted that playing reggae music involves courage and sacrifice.
He did not only agree with my position but went on to narrate his own
experience that led him to recognize this reality. According to the reggae
singer, he is an accountant by training and a reggae music maker by practice.
He says a career in accounting is a toast, given the sparkling life it
guarantees those who engage in it. The sacrifice he made involved shelving this
aside to pave a way for a career in reggae music. Putting his certificates in
the closet is a huge opportunity cost of playing reggae music. “To do that, you
need to be courageous”, he said.
“Grow
your dreadlocks, don’t be afraid of the world!” are words of late Jamaican
reggae icon and the first superstar from the Third World. Marley made this suggestion
in his song, Rastaman Live Up from the Confrontation album. It was a respond to
the way people look at you when you allow those locks to sprout. That was even
in the highly liberal Western society. Thus growing dreadlocks in a
conservative African setting will, no doubt, involve a greater amount of
courage and sacrifice. This is what Jah
Device has had to build in his mindset in order to follow his dream.
Jay
Town’s loudest reggae voice talked of how his decision was vindicated by
surprises he has seen in his life. While reggae artists are found at one end of
the social gamut, clergy men are found at the other extreme –they are far
apart. Against this odd, however, Jah Device’s wife descends from a lineage of
clergies. Not just that, she is the only lass from such a family. Despite this,
her parents conceded her to a dreadlock-carrying reggae man.
Against
the deviant stereotype of reggae artists, he was able to catch the attention of
the Nigerian Presidency, leading to an invitation that saw him performed before
the President, Goodluck Jonathan, on May 29th, 2011. To consummate the deal, he
had to visit Aso Rock a couple of times … his hair locks hanging loose –dreadlocks
in a state House, a “Rasta” in a state house.
Jah
Device did not fail to recall the ironic conflict between reggae gospel artists
and other artists who find it difficult to reconcile reggae and generic gospel
music.
