MC Loph
They say all art aspires to the condition of music, which might be why the premature death of any musician seems to carry more poignancy than that of artists in other fields. And when a musician dies, we watch their videos with a heavy heart, re-experiencing the pleasures they've brought us and grieving for the loss of what could have been.
The world's just lost Heavy D, the Jamiacan-born US rapper who was heavily popular in urban Africa (and you can listen to a Swahili version of the Heavy D hit Now That We've Found Love over at africanhiphop.com).
Meanwhile Nigerian hip-hop fans, who haven't quite recovered from losing DaGrin last year (known for blending Yoruba, English and Pidgin, he died last year at the age of 23 from injuries sustained in a car accident) were crushed again in September when MC Loph (Obiajulu Nwaozor), the young nu-highlife/hip-hop artist, also died in a car accident.
Ironically, MC Loph, who was from the Eastern part of Nigeria, had had his biggest hit with Osondi Owendi (below), his tribute to a fellow Igbo artist, the highlife musician Chief Stephen Osita Osadebe who died in 2007.
That track/video had featured MC Loph's close friend, fellow Igboman and nu-highlife/hip-hop artist Flavour N'abania (famous for his track Ashawo (Nwa baby). The two were frequent collaborators; also check Mama.
Now Flavour has released this fitting tribute to his lost friend.
Every premature death is a tragedy though, whether the one who died was an artist known to the whole world or someone known only to his or her family, and each death is a reminder of life's brevity. To paraphrase Bradez, the Ghanaian hiplife/hip-hop duo in their Twi-English freestyle (below) over a Sarkodie track, life is too short to be taken for granted, so make the best of it.
Here's to life, and to us all.
