Take a moment to count the numbers of the unique artists in Nigeria that you once knew but are no longer operating on the highest level. For all the floss in the Nigerian music industry, the lack of diversity is one of the fundamental reason why some of the most talented musicians have exited mainstream.

Words by Sesan Adeniji

The dilapidated music structure such as record label incompetence to understand the artists, artists’ impatience and the myopic radio-broadcasting framework- a failure to give equal airplay to good music no matter the genre contributed to the massive exodus of great performers. There’s no justification why talents like Ese Peters are not presently operating on mainstream.

In 2013, I did an editorial on Ese Peters because good music doesn’t have a hidden place. It can’t be limited by language or territory. Good music breaks the bondage of any genre; it embraces age grades and conquers time. Those were my feelings the first time I heard Ese’s ‘Omote’. That song still holds me spellbound. This lad is a talented singer and songwriter gifted with a distinctive emotional vocal style that explores various dimension to love, hope and faith.

As a relatively newcomer to the industry around 2010 -2011, he released singles like Gone (Wetin I Go Do), ‘Stay With Me’ and ‘Walk Away’. Within that period, he dropped ‘The Acoustic EP’, a collection of acoustic renditions of his singles and of classic songs such as Asa’s ‘Baby Gone’ and Darey’s ‘The Way You Are’. This self-taught guitarist doubles as a music producer armed with nothing more than a warm voice and a gift of striking the right chords in his audience’s heart.

Ese who counts rock acts The Goo Goo Dolls, U2 and especially, John Mayer among his influences, considers himself a romantic storyteller and sees music as the perfect medium for conveying his narratives to his audience in an uncertain world. To him, music is political, spiritual and mental liberation, and he sees his mission in life as changing the world, one song at a time. Towards the end of September 2012, he released ‘Omote’, his debut single with AbOriginal Music. It been a while we heard from him and there’s a long search for the ‘Omote’ Crooner.