Friday, August 12, 2022

MACHALA BY CATEREFE: CLOUT CHASING, STRATEGY OR LOVE?

 


Of a truth, Nigerians are talented! We might have 99 problems but definitely lacking amazing songs to vibe to isn't one of them. Before fans can get over one, we're being served another. Anyways, we're not complaining. The Nigerian music industry has been graced with another hit song, this time its not by one of the top Nigerian musicians but by a fan.

26 year old skit maker, social media influencer and content creator Oderhohwo Joseph Efe whose stage name is Caterefe dropped an amazing piece of music on Friday, July 29, 2020 tagged 'Machala', featuring young emerging singer, Berri Tiga, produced by rising beat-smith X.

Caterefe is known for his obsession for the Starboy Entertainment boss, Wizkid. In his single, he referred to wizkid as Machala because of his great achievements and global status. “Machala” translates to mean “Lion”, “King” “Man of the People”, and a synonym of “Odogwu”. It all points to the fact that Wizkid is a great man who is hugely appreciated by his people.

This buzzing record in less than a month of its release has debuted on the Billboard US Afrobeats Songs Chart, it currently occupies the 14th spot on the music chart, and also at number one on Apple Music Top 100 Nigeria. On top of that, it's one of the top trending songs on Tik Tok.

This achievement has generated mixed reactions on the street of social media. While some hailed him for the success, others accused him of chasing clout and trying to get reply from Wizkid. Wizkid's aide, Godson also rubbished the song at first but later hinted that Wizkid would be performing Machala alongside carterefe.

Amidst all these, the new music star claims that the song was inspired by his genuine love and admiration for wizkid. An aspect of machala lyrics also talks about how he supposedly met Wizkid in Ghana which inspired him to write a song about him.

Whether he is chasing clout or sincerely love wizkid, the fact is that the song is sweet to the hear, filled with Gen Z vibes and relatable hence it's worth the hype.  Carterefe's strategy of getting attention is also commendable and upcoming artists should take a cue from this. It's no news that the Nigerian music industry is tough to break into, gaining popularity through skit making and then leveraging on his love for a grammy award winning musician like wizkid is a highly thoughtful and commendable publicity strategy. 

If you haven't listened to the single Machala, then you're missing out on something juicy.

You can also listen to other Nigerian songs for free on epoh.ng.

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