SOUNDSCAPE REVERIE
---Artist Review 2.0---
DAMASK ‘INASHA’
It
may be that being born Nigerian offers one an opportunity
to experience diversity in musical taste and genre
or that Nigerians themselves are lovers of music from
all over the globe. Even then it may not be the fact
that we are who we are but that good music is good
music period. In this regard I can only thank God
for the experience and ability to listen and appreciate
good music.
Dancehall,
an offshoot of roots/rock reggae came into being soon
after the late Bob Marley’s passing. It involves less
live instrumentation and more mechanical/technological
applications to create the music. It is more upbeat
than regular old roots rock reggae (rubadub as we
used to call it back then), hence the term ‘ragga.’
It is in this field of musicianship that one man rises
to the challenge, none other than – Ademola Lawal,
a.k.a damask ‘inasha.’ I haven’t had the pleasure
of meeting the gentleman but from all accounts and
reports he seems to be a very level headed guy with
a good head on his shoulders and a very broad musical
spectrum which I do admire. With the advent of the
first AM 419 Unda G mixtape volumes 1 & 2, I’ve
been pretty excited to hear more from the gentleman
and what he has to offer musically. Not only is he
the owner of his own record label – Seven eyes music,
he also collaborates with various Nigerian artists
as well; Pa J (I see you o boy!), Xpensyv Bodi, bigmomma,
Khamileon, Asha (where’s the website?) to name a few.
If there is one thing we need more as a community
worldwide it definitely is unity and music provides
a great juncture to do just that.
I
had the pleasure of listening to snippets from his
album, “Lagos Tunnel.” Though put together in 2001,
it sounds as fresh for today as it was back in that
year. From the boom bap-pish nature of the intro ‘Babanla
Iya’ to the dancefloor banger of the ‘Ringer remix’
damask displays his lyrical versatility and ability
to flip patois, pidgin and even sing-along rhymes
that are like warm milk to a breastfeeding baby…simply
nutritious.
His
latest release on his record label, the AM 419 unda
g mixtape volume 2, promises to be another Naija music
ethereal mix experience. I know folks might think
I’m over hyping the album but the snippets had me
laughing out loud. One must understand that not only
does damask do serious music but also he loves to
have FUN doing it and lacing it in his lyrics. He
and Pa J make one of the most seamless collaborations
I’ve heard in popular music today. May I take this
opportunity to request that damask and Pa J get together
and do a whole album of songs; I don’t care how many
just put something down for the masses! Abeg!
Be
sure to check out and purchase a copy of damask’s
debut album ‘Lagos Tunnel’ at the following record
stores: Tower Records, West Indian Record Mart, Simba
Music, African Music Depot, CDBaby, Eko Food and Farmer’s
International. Its just $9.99 y’all. I mean if you
fit carry 13cad troway for Kanye West dem you go fit
put sontin for ya broad pocket abi?
Check
damask out at any of the following websites:
www.damask1.com
www.seveneyes.com
www.soundclick.com/damaskinashamusic
Support
your artists!
God
bless you all.
