The Paradise is Here And Now
Obongjayar on His 'Paraside Now' Tour
Before seeing Obongjayar live, his music occupied the space of experimental afropop in my head — less main-stream but still approachable. He was able to draw me in and keep my attention. Yet, there seemed to be a limit in how I could engage with his music. As with a lot of artists, seeing Obongyajar live revealed how much of a talented and incredibly powerful performer he is on stage as well as gave me an new appreciation of the depth and dimensions of his work.
Obangjayar's music blends and crosses the genres of afrobeats, black rock and afropop and resists falling neatly into any of these. His show reveals how much he yields to his art form, casting a spell on himself and the crowd. He pushes and pulls and dances and sings and prays and eases the crowd into an almost-spiritual experience. He lets his music pour out of him, showering us with the passion and self-love that he so much embodies.
Paradise Now is his latest album that he offers to those with their backs against the wall and heartens them to love warmly and fearlessly, to go for what they want and to walk proudly in their skin on this earth. The time for this is now, not tomorrow or yesterday! They cannot wait for those in power (whatever form that takes) to give them permission to pass through and find ways to live fully. For myself, the work to understand what joy looks like in my body, what peace feels like when I wake up each day, how loving opens me up to more possibilities than I could imagine takes courage. And each day I have to fuel that courage with the knowledge that I can be fully myself and that is a good enough place to start.
I think everyone who likes music from an artist should try see them perform on stage. Obangjayar's music introduced me to the world of afro-black rock. And Paradise Now is his love letter to us.