Follow Us on Google
An up and coming afrobeat musician, Marvelous Ojo Obanijesu, known by stage name, Bela., has set fire on the industry rules as he dropped his debut project, ‘tHIs MiGHt coNfUsE yoU,’ on a Wednesday; a move described as a deliberate rejection of the global ‘new music Friday’ ritual.
He noted that releasing on a Wednesday was the first act of defiance saying, “Confusion is a language I speak fluently.”
Apart from choosing Wednesday as against Friday, which appears to be the norm, there is also the issue of the title with its broken letters, missing spaces, and deliberate imbalance, a visual contradiction designed to disturb pattern-seeking brains before the first note even plays.
But, perhaps, the loudest break from tradition is that despite having 10 tracks, Bela. has refused to call the project an album.
“I don’t want it referred to as an album,” he insisted. “That’s not what it is. This is a project. A container. A world. Something else entirely.”
In the midst of creative rebellion, Bela. still finds space to remember the country that shaped him. Track three is dedicated to Nigeria, written during a period of rising insecurity and national anxiety.
“It’s impossible to live here and not feel something heavy,” he said. “Track three is my conversation with my country. My worry. My hope.”
tHIs MiGHt coNfUsE yoU stands as one of the most unconventional Nigerian releases of the year, an Alté, Afro-fusion, experimental hybrid meant to challenge the music ecosystem rather than fit inside it. The project is cinematic, restless, unpredictable and proudly Nigerian at its core.
Whether listeners call it a project, a statement or a beautiful disruption, one thing is clear, Bela. is not here to blend in, he is here to change the rhythm.
tHIs MiGHt coNfUsE yoU is slated to drop tomorrow, November 26, on all platforms.
