Davido’s emergence as the 2014 ‘Best African Act’ at the last BET Awards confirms the waves about Aye is not a fluke.
I am so surprised at myself. The first time I heard Davido’s Aye was at the last Africa Magic Viewers Choice Awards when he performed live on stage and the hall erupted into a dance when he sang Aye. I wondered to myself then why I had not heard the song before then.
At a few more events and private parties later in the next few weeks, the song would stir up a storm. It is gradually becoming one of the most enduring songs in the new age era of Nigerian music and could very well be the song of the year so far. All these period, I just assumed there was no musical video shot for the song yet. Then, I stumbled on the video on Youtube and I was completely bowled over.
If ever there was a video which interpretes a song, it is the ‘Aye’ video. Beautiful concept! So African, so refreshing. Full of life, vervy and exciting. This is the best video so far I have seen from Nigeria this year. I think Clarence Peters re-invents himself when it comes to shooting concepts with African hues and themes. You can see his touch with great videos such as ‘Kedike’ by Chidinma, Ada by Flavour and now a superb Aye by Davido. I can bet that the ‘Aye’ video has done much to make the song popular and it’s certainly my favourite song at the moment.
One of the things I love about the song is the lyrical composition. The song is written with a modernistic touch while borrowing rhythms from strong African roots. Davido says She no want Ferrari…they say love is blind but na you I dey see o’ etc which is a pleasant ode to the great songwriting styles of the 80s and 90s when music made a lot of sense lyrically. And it is not a bland composition. It has its intro, chorus, verses and bridge with captivating mid-riffs at a point.
The beat of the song is not really new but Davido just enhanced it. The beat is popularly called ‘five and six’ among musicians here in Nigeria and it was popularised into Nigerian pop music first by Alex O in 1988 with his ‘Come on and Dance’ hit ( Remember Na na na na na na ..come on and dance chorus then from his debut album Gettin’ loose) and Onyeka Onwenu went further with the beat in Iyogogo; a classic. Sammie Okposo regenerated the five and six beat in the millenium with ‘Wellu Wellu’ a monster hit and thereon the beat seemed to go off the radar until M.I and Flavour smashed the charts with Africa Rapper Number One which utilised the beat. Thereafter, other music Producers started using variations of the beat with Flavour’s Ada being the forerunner. Until Davido’s Aye changed the indices.
I really am impressed with Davido. I’m told he has songwriters on his payroll which is one of the reasons why his songs sound very different from each other. I think the next big industry within Nigeria’s music industry is the songwriting department. Sound Sultan, Harrysong and Blackface are showing that it can thrive and other young turks are following too. If Davido wrote Aye, kudos to him. It is a great song and a great video too.
Charles Novia is a film director, producer and writer.
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