MI Abaga: Enter Yxng DxnzL The Rap Messiah

When Jude Abaga hit the scene with his Crowd Mentality single in 2006, Nigerian hip-hop heads welcomed the freshness of his idea, the audacity of his witty lyrics tightly packed in bars and a healthy dose of social commentary.

And when his debut LP, Talk About It, hit the shelf on December 11, 2008, there was an acknowledgment that the hip-hop torch held by the kings such as Modenine and Ruggedman could be passed onto the “Short Black Boy from Jos”.

That acknowledgment manifested in him winning the Best Hip Hop and Best New Act at the 2009 MTV Africa Music Awards and being nominated the following year in the Best International Act category at the 2010 BET Awards.

Despite these early successes, MI confesses to constantly battling a fear of failure. That battle has, however, shaped the way he makes music.

From J-Town to Choc City

When his tumultuous academic sojourn at the Calvin College, Michigan in the United States came to an abrupt end owing to financial difficulties, MI chose music as his fallback plan. Although his parents didn’t agree with that, they had an implicit trust in him to be responsible for his choice and make a success out of it.

“My parents are hardworking people. If there is only one thing they gave me, it was integrity. They were not about money.

“They already knew I was passionate about music and how I much I care about music. There was a resignation: an educated resignation.”

That resignation may have been quickened by a background steeped in music and his mother’s love for it. His father, a clergyman, didn’t have a single music bone in his body, but his mother, he says, is a talented singer. That talent saw her release an album, produced by MI himself, which was circulated mostly among his father’s church members. She was also featured on one of his early recordings.

With access to a church choir and instruments, MI and his brother, Jesse Jagz experimented with music early. Soon enough, they formed Rytchus Era Productions, a musical production company, and teamed up with Ice Prince, Ruby Gyang and a few others to birth Loopy Records.

His stock got bigger when he was signed in 2006 to Chocolate City Records, founded by entertainment lawyer Audu Maikori and Paul Okeugo.

 

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