The Spoken Word Poet, RezthaPoet (Adebola Afolabi) has finally dropped a new single, titled ‘Lines of a Young Man’s Wrinkle’. This post-Exposit album single, had been performed live to a selected class of creatives and critics before its release on 9th of May 2018.
‘Lines of a Young Man Wrinkle’ subjects the 21st century African person under a cosmopolitan microscope where there is a battle between conscience, culture and survival. With the fluid borders of global exchanges predicated by the internet, identity has the capacity to shape itself into acts of fraudulence in pursuit of wealth. The new values which silences the legit and hard working young man amongst his peers, and acknowledges the masked internet superstar raking in money through internet scams is the core of the ‘Lines of a Young Man’s Wrinkle’. The yahoo boy is the new hero of the landscape, shaping the picture of social expectations.
This extends to the burden of culture in modern times, where young men, educated but underemployed are expected to live to the expectations of paying remittances to their families. The society places a burden on men, more than ever, to assert their masculinity and become successful breadwinners for their families. In order to satisfy this demand they are faced with either taking the fast, criminal route; or the steady, often harrowing but legitimate route. The society also puts a premium on those that are able to “hammer” quickly, irrespective of how the funds are sourced. This is the crux behind RezthaPoet’s new single, “Lines of a Young Man’s Wrinkle”. Rez gives vivid imagery to the conundrum of living as a young man in present day Nigeria.
Asides the message the single touched in our society, “Lines of a Young Man’s Wrinkle” has gone through strict A&R from heavyweights in the creative industry. The audio was first recorded with a South African soul artiste, then with some beautiful Nigerian singers, before the Poet collaborated with Freeborn who infused her awesomeness to make the single a must listen to.
Born Adebola Afolabi – Business Consultant, Poet, Poetographer and Spoken Word Artist.
REZthaPoet delves into different cultural and artistic shifts by using the spoken word poetry genre to educate, engage and entertain a growing and displaced middle class. His work, Exposit (2015) also embodies a beautiful hybrid of language, traditional folklore, transatlantic artistic developments and an accessible poetic content. He has graced several stages in Nigeria and across Africa for over eleven years. He has also worked on collaborative art projects with visual artists and music artists.
RezthaPoet performed at A Local Act for Peace, a one-day cause festival championing peace in the world. The event showcased artists and artistes in the UK, US and Nigeria was simultaneously beamed across three locations; Stockholm, New York, Lagos. He also performed in major culture events such as the Lagos International Poetry Festival, the Lagos Books and Arts Festival, and Artmosphere Lagos. He has been a panellist, guest and performer at the Lagos International Poetry festival (LIPFEST), Lagos Biennial Festival (with outSPOKEN), Lagos Book and Art Festival (LABAF). He also performed at the Kwani Open Mic event in February, 2018.
You can listen to the single here or here
Credits:
Artiste – REZthaPoet
Featuring – Freeborn
Producer – Stomatique
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