ESSAYS ON THE MYSTIQUE OF KSA THE SAGE
By Tunji Ajayi
The Hypnosis 4 – (Week 4)
Wisdom is learnt at the feet of the elders. Yes! The reliability of this aphorism came to the fore, to my benefit, in repackaging this book entitled “King Sunny Ade The Legend! - Cultural Communication Via a Genre of African Music.”
From nothing, nothing emerges, because something cannot come from nothing. Every good house starts from a solid foundation. The foundation for this book had been laid since 1997 when I was inspired to write on the enigmatic King Sunny Ade in the (2009) first edition of this book which was published by Outskirts Press, Denver, Colorado, USA. Shortly after completion of that edition, I ran into one of the greatest books written by a revered writer and mentor, Timothy White. Thus, I became more curious to edify the 2009 edition, regardless of its having been nominated for a coveted award for excellence in the USA.
Creative writers the world over are never contented, even with the best rated of their writings. They are the most querulous men I have ever come across. Until a writer's literary work is finally published and perhaps gets to the shelves, he is never satisfied with it, and quite often will continue to amend, write and rewrite. Inflamed with passion to make his writing better, a writer is inclined to edit and re-edit his literary works. As he includes more information, his often copious flow of thoughts, ideas or new facts are also included. Thus, he writes and rewrites his own work again and again. Creative writers, and indeed most artists, especially in the liberal arts; including musicians naturally enjoy working hard to achieve perfection in their works.
Timothy White authored one of the greatest books ever written on an artiste, entitled Catch a Fire which was first published in 1983. Using the first edition as a foundation, his revised and repackaged Catch a Fire in 1989 with additional information on the life of reggae maestro Bob Marley arguably ended up being the "best available document on his (Bob Marley’s) life and work,” according to Marc Leepson in the USA Today.
I have therefore benefitted from the immense wisdom of Timothy White who used the first edition of Catch a Fire as a veritable foundation to build the expanded and enlarged version of his work on Bob Marley. This reviewed edition of the book King Sunny Ade The Legend! is an amplified version of the 2009 template edition which, though not formally released, still earned nomination for the 2010 Association for Recorded Sound Collections (ARSC) Awards for excellence in Historical Recorded Sound Research in faraway USA. The template has served as a useful foundation on which this literary work is built with more information on the juju music legend and more colourful images from the maestro himself.
Millions of foreign and local fans have enjoyed the scintillating and sinuous beats of this wonderful artiste for many decades. The deep messages he is passing across in Yoruba language, though may not be clearly understood by them; they are as wonderfully interesting as the percolating beats with which the deep philosophical messages are enveloped. With many of the lyrics explained in English for the benefit of his teeming audience, reading this work will reveal clearly the depth of his lyrics, as well as the mystique and philosophy behind his genre of music.
But here is a caveat: In his book, Olódùmarè: God in Yoruba Belief, Bolaji Idowu, a renowned professor of religious studies made a confession thus: "To translate Yoruba verses and sayings into English and yet preserve their exact meaning is not an easy task. However, I have tried to meet the difficulty by being rather literal and keeping very close to the original in my translation." In similar vein, while translating the Yoruba musical lyrics into English, I have done exactly what the learned professor did, viz, "being literal and keeping very close to the original meaning in my translation."
And just like the erudite scholar believes that "truth shines by its own light", I do hope that this work will speak for itself. Since a knife does not carve its own handle, I am thus relieved of the uncharitable act of pouring eulogy on my own writing.
Until next week when we meet again on this page for our weekly “Essays on the Mystique of KSA The Sage” - Hypnosis 5 Deo Volentim; bye for now.
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*‘Tunji Ajayi, author, biographer, creative writer and documentarian writes from Lagos, Nigeria
Lagos, 2017
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