“It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog.”
The above, time-honoured, statement by the celebrated American writer Mark Twain, continues to ring true a century after he first expressed it. In fact, it is a Truth that pre-dates the man himself. However, the immutable wisdom in that quote seems to be lost on the current generation of artiste managers in Nigeria. In recent times, the artiste management fold has shown unmistakable signs of acute incompetence, indolence, and a dearth in creative ideas, which has stunted, and in some cases aborted, the progress of many talented artistes. This sorry state of affairs has further perpetuated the stereotype that certain kinds of Talent or Music cannot ‘blow’ in Nigeria. These days when someone declares that they are a rapper or a soul singer, inadvertently, people start to feel some kind of condescending pity for them that is conveyed via that cold, How-could-you-do-this-to-yourself-look that seems to trail them everywhere. And soon enough, the artiste gets tired of this pariah status, and decides to “diversify,” to switch sides, to dumb the music down.
It’s the job of the manager to say, “hey, I fell in love with you because of this art form and I am convinced that Greatness resides in you and I can’t wait for the world to hear your thoughts and words because they will eventually love it. Now you are going to go back into that studio and make me the most fantastic rap music your heart can muster or go and sing me some great soul music, the type that is alien to the world and leave it to me to deliver your message!” This is what it should be! The Manager should be the artiste’s most loyal believer and an unshakable pillar of support in times of self-doubt.
