Music Lovers! How are you doing? I have a treat for you today! I am going to write about this young man that I am very proud of. He swooned the hearts of many women across the globe. A man who used his voice to re-define an extension of royalty and in a way staked his claim in the music industry. If I had any doubt of this fact it cleared when I was in a lounge in Los Angeles, in there I heard a young lady of Asian descent (Japanese, yes, I asked) singing the lines “…the girl of my dreams! You are my African Queen, you make my heart…” Music Lovers, I am proud to present to you, 2Face Idibia.
Born Innocent Ujah Idibia, this Nigerian (this was not a mistype, he is Nigerian and proud to be) has used his talent and blessed the world. Music Lovers, believe it or not living, in Enugu in Nigeria I got to attend one of the functions that he performed at IMT that a friend took me to. Now, if someone told me that this same skinny dude moving the crowd was going to move a crowd bigger than the one I was a part of, I would have doubted it, joke is on me! Like I always say, beautiful music comes from the most unexpected mediums and 2Face for me then is that medium and I am proud and happy that he proved me wrong in 1995.
His hit single “African Queen” has melted the hearts of women all over the world and gave the fellas a way to make their ladies, feel like the Queens they really are. It was not always just 2Face; he joined up with his mate from IMT (BlackFace) and Faze and formed the R&B/Hip-hop group Plantashun Boyz which did have fair success. 2Face also know as 2 Baba, has been actively pursuing his career in the music industry since 1996 and just short of a decade he began to rake in awards and stocking his trophy room with hardware ranging from MTV Europe Awards to the World Music Awards in 2008 where he won “Best Nigerian Act” and Akon took “Best African Act”
Come to think of it, I hope 2Face reads this and Music lovers, if you know him personally, encourage him to read especially what I am about to say now. 2Face represents a host of young Nigerians and Africans alike that love what they do and want to keep going till they stop breathing. Problem is in Africa, in Nigeria, that daydream is usually dulled and blurred with the dingy cloth of hardship or “SAP” as we used to say in Nigeria (please, unless you REALLY want to know, do not ask what that means). In a way, he is a ray of hope for the younger generation. I want him to be the “Obama of Nigerian Music” and yes I would love to interview him, hint hint….
Pic courtesy of FlyGlobal Music Culture/sources: WMA | MTV Europe| Wikipedia |
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{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
nkiru okonkwo 01.15.09 at 10:13 PM
I’ve loved him right 4rm d days of plantashun bois, and “African Queen” made me love him even more. He’s truely an xample of what determination & hardwork can make of a once poor man. Definitely an icon of modern African music. D dude is doing his thing.. More grease 2 his elbows
Queen V 01.16.09 at 5:43 PM
I was not familiar with 2face until this post so I went to youtube to hear the song “African Queen,” it has 800K views, nice.
Kelechi Ukoha 01.17.09 at 8:13 PM
There are more artists to come that you have not seen or heard of. That is part of my job, to bring these great artists from all over the world to you!
Kelechi Ukoha 01.17.09 at 8:15 PM
I will do my best to remind him to keep his elbows greasy!!! He is a great person as I have been made to understand and from my experience no matter how long ago and brief, humility was definitely a word that qualified his demeanor.
olicious 01.18.09 at 10:33 PM
ey you should listen to a Nigerian artist called M.I. he is incredible! you can check out some of his songs on his profile on http://www.truspotradio.com.
I loved 2face, but he is getting kinda old and boring for me now. He needs to give me something different. his last CD released in December was a far cry from the African queen days.
My two cents!
Kelechi Ukoha 01.18.09 at 10:51 PM
I will definitely look into M.I. and see, they could make it to the “Voice” I understand what you mean by the quality of 2Face’s last CD. Hopefully he sees this and gives “his” fans the fire that they once had for him back in the day.
mukungu 01.21.09 at 9:15 AM
To say the truth..i knew this arist’s name and of course the song ,but i never knew that he was from Nigeria (a place where most of my good friends are from .. oh lam so shamed!!) Thank u kelechi for the knowledge.
I have to say that lam learnign alot from this website.
Stacie 01.22.09 at 6:43 PM
2face made everywoman feel like an pure african queen with the true vibes . The song was first hear off the movie phat girls