| Barrack O’ Grin… Dagrin died over a decade ago but his legacy lives on, but would it have been better if he came a bit later? |
I’m a big Olamide fan and I was never one of those that felt he wouldn’t be so big if Dagrin was alive, crap from the pit of hell because there was Lord of Ajasa before Akogun, and Lil Kesh pulled his weight right in the face of Baddo but today isn’t about anyone of them, it’s about Dagrin.
I’ve heard so much about the exploits of some folks of yesteryears and some would be quick to say they probably came before their respective times, now I’m asking those that witnessed the rise of Dagrin in full glare, did he come before his time?
Dagrin was a beast of a rapper who rose to prominence through his great use of local content, Nice did it on Afro-Pop and was a big hit in 2008 leading to the monstrous year he had in 2009, carting home the highest ever Hip-Hop World Awards (now Headies) on one night, Dagrin had big dreams and he wasn’t afraid to follow it through, but the rain stopped way too early.
You look at Bella Shmurda today and the new guy on burnt orange hair, I know the “new toy” syndrome is a thing in Nigeria, people jump on new jams quickly, but they’re also naturally get bored way too easily, hence the need for creatives to keep evolving, I doubt that applied to Dagrin.
In a very short period, Dagrin stole hearts and established himself as the warlord of the industry, everyone wanted to feature him, the street had a new hero and his slangs reverberated across spheres of the average Nigerian hoods.
There was this story that hit the street about a very popular producer in Nigeria that attempted to hijack Dagrin from Misofunyin Entertainment, he pulled a stunt that was supposed to leave Dagrin at his mercy, Dagrin equalized with just one catch phrase and the rest is history, that was how we met the Akogun of the Nigerian Music Industry, Oladapo Olaonipekun, the Lyrical Weyreh!
Every track on his CEO Album was a hit, he spoke to different areas of life and tried using lyrics to address social ills, his energy was out of this world, you could sense the depth of his prowess from every song, he was the real deal.
Social media was at its teething stage when Dagrin was the shiznit, you look at Olamide and MI today and you wonder what would have been had Dagrin been alive to benefit from the cult following that our social media offers.
I was with TOC and Capone on the other side of Victoria Street on the day Sound City broke the news that Dagrin was involved in a fatal accident; he was coming from a night club at about 1am and ran into a static truck around Mushin, he died two days later.
Boys stormed the hospital, they were going to raze it down to ashes if their hero doesn’t walk out of the morgue alive, it was hard to believe that the young blood that promised them good music for long, it was his lifeless body they saw off to the cemetery.
We have lost so many talents in the Nigerian entertainment industry but Dagrin hits differently, till tomorrow and you can ask around, many that didn’t witness his reigns wish they did, now I’m asking again, did he come before his time?
I don’t know the right answer and I will be happy to apologize if it’s a wrong question to ask, but would he live longer if he came later than he did? Would he be exposed to better management if he didn’t come at a time the industry was learning the ropes?
Gen Z’s won’t be able to relate, they were still enjoying Teletubbies and Pocahontas then, but to those that bought the CD of the CEO album in traffic and were at a few shows where the monster played, they would know the rave was beyond hype.
Forget all the bragging in Dagirn’s songs, he didn’t make as much money as advertised, imagine how much he would have made for all his hard work if there were streaming platforms and bigger investors as we have in the industry now.
Brands were just beginning to explore the opportunities with Dagrin before the candle went off in the wind, he left during the period of evaluation, I know a particular brand that was just sizing things up, trying to see how they can clean him up or make him a brand-fit… Death said no.
Do you remember Dagrin? What do you miss about him? Leave me with your thoughts and kindly do so with your name too. The question is: Did Dagrin come before his time?
