New music stars unveiled in grand style in Lagos

They are indeed stars to watch out for. Their performances were not just electrifying but held everyone spellbound. And not only were they dexterous with musical instruments such as the saxophone, keyboard, drums, guitar and trumpet, they dished out all genres of music endlessly.

And the audience couldn’t help asking for more. Still, the intriguing thing about them is that they exuded a kind of rare confidence associated with geniuses. Yet they are under 16 years of age.

Under 16 years of age?  Sure. This is the life-changing story of the prodigious kids set to take the world by storm whom members of the Music Minds Legacy Group unveiled on Sunday 3 December 2023 at the Yaba, Lagos residence of businessman, veteran artiste and band manager,  Yinka Alakija of the Prime Quest Band fame.

The event was tagged ‘8th Annual Music Minds Meet/Greet’ and Young Maestros Award Night.’  It was an evening of music, dance and memories as the Music Minds Music Band treated guests to all kinds of music, ranging from the music of the 70s, 80s, 90s to the present. Distinguished guests present included the former Governor of Ogun State, Aremo Segun Osoba, who presented prizes to some of the winners

The Music Minds Legacy Group, which has been in existence for eight years, is made up of distinguished Nigerians from different fields of endeavour united by a common love and passion for music.

The kids and the instruments they play are: Oyedokun Mercy, keyboard ; Oyebamire Nifemi,12 saxophone; Osho Oluwaseyi,14, saxophone; Owolabi Gideon,12, keyboard; Oyedokun Victor, 10, lead guitar; Elijah Divine,16, drums; Adetomiwa Omololu, nine, Saxophone;  Idowu Christianah, drums; Alaba Praise, 14, saxophone and Oladejo Caleb,16, drums;

The intriguing thing about Oladejo Caleb, who is visually impaired, is that he wasn’t born blind. He became visually impaired four years ago due to medical negligence. He did a scintillating solo performance that held the guests spellbound.

Still, another intriguing thing about these prodigies is that some of them are as young as nine years old and were the results of a talent hunt organized by the Music Minds Legacy Group as part of its Social Corporate Responsibility. The kids who were scouted from across the country were auditioned and at the end of the day 14 of them were shortlisted for the final competition from which 10 winners emerged.

The kids were auditioned to show their skills and dexterity in playing various instruments such as saxophone, keyboard, trumpet, guitar and drums. The winner, first and second runner-up in the different categories went home with not only cash prizes but also musical gifts.

Aside from the cash prizes, the winners will be trained professionally, acquire requisite knowledge to perform at events, network with relevant people in the music industry and signed on to bigger platforms, like record labels

In a chat with newsman, the Chairman of the Music Minds Legacy Group, Prince Yemisi Shyllon, said the organisation moved a notch higher this time by embarking on this selfless project which he called productive rather than consumptive socialization.

“In the past, we used to do a kind of socialization, which I call consumptive socialization. But we have decided to now be more productive. We now do productive socialization. In other words, we are building a new crop of young people that are in the music industry. In that process, we are giving back to society. And we are regenerating the music by introducing new talents that are below 18 years of age. And you will be surprised about our discovery.

“We have a blind boy who can play the drums, who can play many musical instruments. So that’s why we are here. We are here to promote selflessness and to give meaningfulness to socialization. We are a people of common passion in music. But we are involving our passion by using it as a means of giving back to society. We are using it as a means of regenerating the music industry and giving in a selfless way new talents that are yet undiscovered,” Shyllon said.

Mr Akin Fatunke, a member of the Board of Trustees also spoke in the same vein.  “This year we have decided to shift the paradigm to recognize young artistes, male and female, of between 18 and below who can play basic instruments, the drums, the guitar, the piano, the saxophone. We planned that we were going to put singers into the picture.

“And we have decided this year to do a legacy project to recognize the youth. That is exactly why we are here this evening. We have auditioned, they came, they competed, we have narrowed the winners and the winners  will go home with bounteous prizes this evening,” Fatunke noted.

Veteran Nollywood actor Taiwo Ajai-Lycett, another distinguished member of the Music Minds Legacy Group said the group wanted to bring back not just music but one that was philosophical, make meaning and hold society and our leaders accountable.

“We are trying to bring back music.  Period. Both music of the old days and modern times. I think we had lyrics that mean something, not money, money, money. No. So we want music, philosophical lyrics that will talk to our people, that will stimulate their imagination, that will inspire them, that will galvanize them to do something. Do you notice that our population were apathetic? We don’t complain. Do we? Suffer heads. We don’t. We need to raise people who question, who hold our leadership accountable, who hold our society accountable, who see how the culture is moving because culture is not static.

“We have talent here. We have the knowledge. We have the know-how.  We don’t have to always be looking outside, to respect ourselves. We want to respect ourselves. We want our children to be inspired from the beginning so that they can make music, as the music comes to them. Because, you know, creative people are ruled by the Muse. They hear things some of us don’t hear. Let them bring it to glorify our culture, to develop us, to stimulate us, to inspire us. And you know the young have the gift of possibility. The future is theirs. So it’s good to help them unleash their possibility. In other words, to set our world on fire, give us a cake in the pans. You know, Go and rock our world. This is all I have to say. I am waiting for these children to rock our world,” Ajai-Lycett said.

Asked why the focus on kids under 18 years of age, Shyllon maintained: “We focus on under 18 because we are looking to the future. We want to help the young ones because the people that are over 18 are already made. But we are looking for children who are going to make a difference in the long run.  And we are discovering them while still very young. And in the process, we would expose them.”

However, the high-point of the event came when 10 young instrumentalists were announced as winners and prizes, both cash and kind, presented to them. In the keyboard category, Adetomiwa Omololu, a nine-year-old kid emerged as the winner, while Oyedokun Mercy, 14, who came all the way from Oshogbo and Owolabi Gideon, 12 years old, were the first and second runner-up respectively.

In the Lead Guitar category, Oyedokun Victor, 10 year-old, emerged as the winner. While in the Drums category, Idowu Christianah emerged as the winner, while Elijah Divine, 16, and Oladejo Caleb, 16, secured the positions of first and second runner-up.

In the Saxophone category, Alaba Praise, 14 years old, was announced as the winner, with Oyebamire Nifemi, 12, and Osho Oluwaseyi, 14, securing the positions of first and second runner-up, respectively.

Asked what criteria the judges used in assessing the stars, Fatunke said the judges looked for their dexterity with the instruments, their zest, their knowledge of the instruments as well as that of the music industry.

“The way it went is that they sent the recording, for about five minutes, of the notes they wanted to play. They submitted it, and it was not strange to our judges. So they looked at it. And they asked them how long they had been playing, and on which key. In fact, in the process, we tried to even help them find their feet. Like I said, thy are young stars, they are just coming up, they are raw talents. And what we intended from the bottom of our hearts is to how to now raise them further,” Fatunke said.

One of the judges, Mr Damilola Adejare, better known as Dami Jare the lyrical polyglot, said they focused on instrumentalists because they wanted to showcase those behind singers.

“Too many times, we appreciate the singers alone. But this time around, we wanted to see the people behind the singers, the people creating the beats, creating the chord and arrangement,” he explained.

In his speech, Mr Mike Odion, Chief Executive Officer of Premier Records, appreciated the organizers of the event and applauded the young talents. He promised to include the young talents in their company’s project for  2024.

“Next year we would be embarking on some projects. And from what I have seen here, I would make sure that these talents are part of that project. We need to showcase them to the world.  And I assure you that by this time next year, you will be seeing different lads. And they would have made their mark,” he said.

The judges and trainers, who are also members of the Music Minds Legacy Group, included popular jazz musician Yinka Davies, Temitope Odebiyi, better known as Topsticks and Damilola Adejare, aka Dami Jare the lyrical polyglot.