Find topic. Think about Topic. Blog. (Wanted by Tiwa Savage)

Stop. Space. Return.

I like that line. I'm not quite sure why, but I do. There are some lines that work like; get cape, wear cape, fly. 

Get cape, wear cape, fly. 

That's all I need to do really. Yeah. What I've got to do is only a little bit different. 

Find topic. Think about topic. blog. 

Yesterday I watched Tiwa Savage's music video to that song, Wanted. You know the one don't you? It's alright if you don't. Some of you aren't from around here, so it's excusable. All good stories are best told from the beginning, so that's where I'll start. Tiwa Savage is a Nigerian musician. Her journey's been long, confusing and probably painful, but she's persevered and she's made it. Well, she's Nigerian made it. That means she isn't filthy rich, but she's done well for herself. I've got pictures of her on the blog somewhere. I'll pull them up.

I took these at Music Meets Runway. My camera's noisy and that's okay because I like noise. It adds character. And back to Tiwa. She's a capable singer and dancer, but she isn't a dancer's dancer, and by that I mean that she doesn't dance as well as her back up dancers, and that's alright. We don't really ask for much here. To be honest she doesn't even have to sing when she performs. All she's got to do is stomp about the stage like a deranged person and yell at notable parts of her songs. We don't ask for much as a people, that's why Goodluck Jonathan is Goodluck Jonathan, and Dbanj is the most popular popular music star of a generation. But Tiwa isn't like us. She tries hard. She tries so hard that it's painful to watch sometimes. We expect people to be naturals. We expect them to pick something up, give it a go and be brilliant at it. The truth of it all is that most people aren't naturals, and everything takes work. The truth of it is that sometimes your best is not good enough. I know it seems like I've gone off on a tangent but I haven't. This will all make sense when you watch the video below.



I didn't know what to do when I saw it. I'm a blogger, I'm meant to talk about things like this. I'm meant to influence thoughts, and inform conversations, but I couldn't bring myself to talk about it. If I said I liked it, your opinion of me would have been tarnished by it, and if I ignored it, you would have said, "what's up with Afam? He's given up on the good dear old blog hasn't he?" There was also the problem of Tiwa Savage herself. These people put money in my pocket and I don't really want to spoil my market. I don't fancy being called a bastard every time I ask Tiwa if she's interested in posing for a quick picture.

I thought I'd be able to get away with pulling a cheeky one. Yeah, I made a couple of GIFs and stuck them on the blog without saying anything about them. I thought I'd be happy with that but I wasn't. My conscience wouldn't free me.

After doing a lot of thinking, I've decided that the truth will set me free. The video has an idea behind it. It isn't a good idea or a bad idea, it's just an idea. That idea isn't very well executed, and that's the bottom line. The cat suit could have been better made, the make up could have been stronger, her hair could have been better, she could have made less faces and touched herself less, and she could certainly have done without side humping the floor like a Roxanne knock off. You're meant to sell the fantasy, and there's no fantasy in the three minute long clip. It's all too real. When you're depicting something that many consider a vice, you glamourise it. If cigarettes had been sold as cancer sticks from the get go, nobody but the suicidal would have bought them. And I think that's all I've got to say about that.

Happy Days,
Afam