In the Nigerian music industry in 2019, tragic stories of artistes with declining careers alongside their misdemeanors were well reported. Fans’ impulsive cravings for such news coverage are massive. The huge conversation such story garner on twitter says it all. On the other hand, everyone loves an artiste with a good comeback story. Either the entertainer comes up as a supposed villain or an acclaimed hero when they stand up to face their challenges defeating all the possibilities of failures by churning out hit songs, those are a newsflash that comes up on primetime news. Music fans warm up to such. The doomsdays suddenly get forgotten; so we have seen with the comeback love stories of musicians like Tekno, Skiibii and, Ice Prince who are now poised on the edge of success. But how did they survive the bad times? What lessons are there to learn from them?

Words by Sesan Adeniji

One of the biggest comeback stories from any artistes in 2019 has to be that of Skiibii. You can call him the Lazarus of the Nigerian music industry – Ironically, his life typifies that. Although it’s been a long time coming, he got things right despite predictions that his music career was over. For me, his ascension to fame begins with the release of his single “Sensima” in November 2018. By all standards, that was a hit song across the country. He got the monkey off his back. And from then on, his story reads like a blockbuster movie. He released a follow-up song titled “Omaema” in March 2019. In relating to his career, he has turned the tide. The sad tale of his death and resurrection story that once halted the success of his career has vanished.

He released yet another song titled “Daz How Star Do” in May 2019 – at that point, the whole industry knew that it was a classic tune. With regards to pop culture influence, that remained one of the biggest songs of 2019. The biggest lesson learned, Skiibii never gave up on himself. He never bowed to his adversity. He took responsibility for his actions and never lay blame on anyone. He kept on working until he made it – The success took care of all his years in pain.

TEKNO

Another heartwarming artiste’s comeback story in 2019 is Tekno’s rise from the ashes. The damage to his voice box crippled him for months. After visiting several doctors, yet no specifics on when he will be cured. All he had to hold on to was faith. And in faith, he fought and battled despair for months. During those periods, he could not sing, produce songs, no performances and all he did was travel in and out of the country to see doctors. The therapy and surgery worked. He released the single “Woman” in January 2019. The song “Up Tempo” was released two months after. The release of the song “Better” marked his rise to stardom. That single had many covers made across the country. He released the visually captivating single “Skeletun” on October 8th, 2019. The video to that song had everyone talking. Tekno made his comeback groundbreaking. Although his crisis is one of the most emotionally wrecking any artistes can go through, he never gave up on himself, he never buried his head in the sand, he kept is focus simple – To become a superstar again. And he did.

ICE PRINCE

Another artiste in that ilk that fought for a comeback is rapper Ice Prince. When his career seemed to have taken a downward spiral, he released the single “Feel Good”. That was his comeback hit song. He humbled himself and worked with other artists – the song(Feel Good) they produced was magic.

Which other artistes defeated failure with a comeback story in 2019?