The Art Of The Nonsense Remix Is The Case Of Davido And Osinachi

The remix has always been a popular part of the music industry and adds a different flavour to an already good song or gives a new lease of life to a song that initially did not perform so well. A remix simply means another artist’s version of a song where he or she must have added something to it. And while the remix mustn’t necessarily be better, it largely involves an ‘addition’ to the original song rather than removing ‘something’ from it.

That being said, some of the songs remixed in this country in recent times have actually removed `things’ from the original songs and one xample of this is Davido’s remix of Humblesmith’s Osinachi.

The young singer had already introduced himself to the Nigerian music audience with Chairmo and then in August 2015 dropped a career-defining single which he titled, Osinachi, featuring Phyno.

The song was an immediate hit and the fact it combined excellent Hip Hop elements with didactic lyrics was a plus and in that regard somehow similar to Korede Bello’s Godwin which led to the latter’s controversial invitation to some church programmes. Osinachi had an even cleaner claim to church performances but Humblesmith may have closed that door by allowing Davido to burden it with his Dubai-infected baggage.

Osinachi, an Igbo word, literally means ‘It’s from God’ and can be figuratively adapted to mean `Destiny’ or ‘blessing’. It’s also a beautiful name which many parents have gladly bestowed on their offsprings just like Godwin. A look at the original lyrics makes for an interesting read and further highlighted the very essence of the song as originally composed:

Plenty people don dey ask,
Na which baba do the jazz,
Say the baba do well for me oh,
Now my life don better
Not because I suffer pass
Not because I pray and fast
No be osho no be jazz, okwa chinenye

Also look at Phyno’s verse with some loose translation provided in brackets:

Ibe, ekene kenelum olisa bi ne nu igwe (Greetings to God in heaven)
Daddy ne mezi nu m obi oma (Daddy has made me happy)
Nwanne inee aya, n’ime ndum o (Brother if you look into my life)
Iga fu na chukwu emego nu aka boys achaa (You will see God has blessed boys)
God I dey beg you don’t leave me oh
Okwa ikwelu nkwa si na ima rapum oo (Remember you promised you won’t leave me)
Baba obi ni’gwe o-oo-o (Father in heaven)
Wee simu golibe oooo (Told me to enjoy)
Hey, nwanne okwa ima na oke chineke di okpotopo (Brother you know God’s grace is big)
Amamihe gi kam choro (I want your wisdom)
Maka m di ogogoro (Because I’m empty)
Some dey think say na jazz how the boy came up fast
Mana ha maro na ngozi gi na di ogonogo (But they don’t know you blessing is long)
Okwa, everyday nne kpe ekpere (I pray every day)
Chineke iwee nyemu the reason m ji enye ekele (God you gave me to give thanks)
Now m nanwuli with my family and friends (Now I’m rejoicing with family and friends)
Ayin n’eme the money down ka (We are doing the money down like)
Nwanne oburo jazz (Brother it’s not jazz)

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2:36:00 AM